Was your dad a hunter and gun collector?

rangerider7 · Post by **rangerider7** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 11:59 pm

My dad was born in west central Texas. He loved to bird hunt and shoot jack rabbits. He only had one shotgun. I hunted around Woodson, Texas all my young life. I had a shotgun and 22. My dad worked for Swift & Co. in Fort Worth and Neuhoff Meat Packing co. in Dallas most all his life. I worked at Neuhoff every summer for 6 years and before that on a ranch in west Texas. We hunted often together with my trapper/blacksmith grandfather and uncles. I was the one that loved guns, even as a little kid. I had to see everybody's guns. I used to ask my grandfather if I could just sit in the bedroom and hold his 97 Winchester or 1894 SRC. I would do it for hours. I would work the actions and dry fire them. he was always cool about it. My Uncle Curtis was the best bird shot I have ever seen. We use to be in competition all the time. I sure had a great time outdoors and still do. We would hunt dove, deer, quail, rabbits, run trot-lines, gig and shoot frogs, tree raccoons with hounds, feral hogs, and turkeys. I can't help from missing those days. I'm trying to do the same things with my son and grand kids, but they are much busier than I was. To many outside interest, but they enjoy it when they can.

44magHunter · Post by **44magHunter** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:03 am

He still is, thank God.

I don't know what I would do if he wasn't.

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:08 am

No,
an electronics tech in the U.S. Army.
In my tenth year he bought me a Marlin .22 bolt rifle for Christmas, and I have never stopped aquireing.

cnjarvis · Post by **cnjarvis** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:12 am

My dad never hunted and rarely fished. I only recall seeing him shoot a rifle once somewhere between my 6th & 12th birthdays. I do happen to have his childhood 22 LR rifles though.

Sounds like you had a happy childhood.

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:26 am

My dad did some hunting. I remember him owning a shotgun and a .22 rifle. I remember him duck and rabbit hunting. What happened to the guns I have no idea.
Dad died in 1980 at the young age of 54.

Joe

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:40 am

Dad died when I was about to turn five years old and was more of a photographer and target shooter, but here's some pics of his mother and her father...

Grandma and great grandpa camping on our place

Grandma's brother and dad and maybe uncle fishing near the same campsite

They had all passed away by the time I was growing up, but I heard lots of stories about their activities and read lots of hand-me-down books of his over the years.

How I'd love to have met those people...!

bsaride · Post by **bsaride** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:49 am

Didn't know my dad. Mom and he split when I was three.
Mom says they shot a 41 Mag, other than that I have no
idea of who or what he was. Mom put me in Cub Scouts
and I learned to camp, fish and shoot bows and 22's during
summer camp. Went through Weblos, Boy Scouts and back
packing Explorer Scout post. Because of scouts I have always
liked guns. Bought my first at 21 and tried to buy one a year
if I was able. In 2003, 4 years after life dumped on me I had
to unload everything except a cheap 12 ga. In 2007 I started
buying again and decided to go vintage when possible and
feel like I'm close with posessions.

Mom was the one who encouraged me and kept me in the scouts.
No one that I know grew up with guns or collects. Last year mom
and I went to different indoor ranges here in SoCal and she decided
on an SP101 for protection. Since then she has deteriorated somewhat
with shoulder/joint problems and I will give her a 327 Federal Mag
since she doesn't feel she can shoot the 38's any longer. With her
shoulder acting up she was still able to shoot the 32 S&W in it. I hope
she will improve to 32 S&W Long but we will see, it's the least I can
do for her.

Nobody · Post by **Nobody** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:53 am

Gun Runner · Post by **Gun Runner** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:45 am

Was raised by my step dad. He was a hunter and fisherman. He had a Savage mod 99 in 250/3000 cal, Win mod 97 12 ga. and a semi 22 rifle/ A 12 foot sears boat and a martin75 (7 1/2 h.p.) out board. Not a lake around here I havant fished or area I havant hunted. My stepdad and I never got along very good but he taught me about the outdoors. His fav. comment was if you had a fishing hook and a .22 round you would never go hungry. In latter years him and I became good friends.

Gun Runner

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 3:03 am

No, he took off like so many others of his generation, but thanks to my mom I did get into Scouts, camped every month, winter or summer. Spent a lot of time "down at the creek" growing up, fishing or catching frogs and snakes. So I "hunted" but was never allowed so much as a BB gun (somebody could get an eye put out). Always wanted to learn to shoot but forgot about it until I was 47.

horsesoldier03 · Post by **horsesoldier03** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 3:35 am

While my dad did hunt and fish, I would not consider him an avid sportsman. Most of my memories always seem to involve him working to make sure the family had all of our needs met. He was influential in my love of the outdoors and promoted the intrest as well as gun safety. My first BB gun like most of my generation was a Daisy Red Ryder. I got it when I was 7 and then moved up to a Crossman Powermaster 761XL around the age of 11. That lasted me for several years when I was begging for a shotgun. At 14 I received my first shotgun, a Winchester 12 ga single shot, and at 16 was allowed to purchase my first deer rifle and killed my first deer that year. Guns, hunting and fishing have been a mainstay in my life ever since.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:27 am

My dad was not a hunter but was in a rifle club before I was born. He always encouraged me to shoot with air rifles and made sure I never ran out of pellets. Dad also allowed me to have a .410 when I was thirteen.
I still have the old BB gun he gave me when I was four, his brother gave it to him just after the 1st world war.

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:37 am

No, he didn't do much hunting. He had guns that Grandpa had given him but none that he had really persued and purchased like many of you and I have. I never had a BB gun growing up and never had a real gun of my own until I was out of the house and able to pay for it myself which was 7/28/2006. That's when I started getting into this firearm thing.

I have plenty to keep my little ones busy outdoors enjoying God's creation and I plan on doing so as much as I can.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:27 am

My Dad was a gun collector, but to my knowledge he never hunted. Growing up in Philly and then in Pittsburgh, urban to suburban areas, he wasn't exposed to many firearms as a youth. His father was a WWI veteran, and probably didn't have them around. He idolized his brother though, a WWII veteran, and started an interest in firearms then. Serving in the US Army and then as an FBI agent just furthered his interest, and he started collecting, ending up with a modest number of varied long guns and handguns. After he died when I was 16 we split his collection up three ways between myself and my two younger brothers. They ended up selling their portions to me, because like my Dad, I had picked up the collecting bug. I've since almost quadruppled what he had - partially due to you rascals here encouraging my levergun obession! My son, Y2K, has also started the collecting craze, with a collection I would have died for at his age! He has expressed interest in hunting, so this will be something we can pick up together.

In one week I will have lived 16,513 days - the same number my Dad did before he died...

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:55 am

My father only deer hunted when I was a kid. He would occasionally take me out shooting or go squirrel hunting. Definitely not a gun collector. He had one shotgun, one deer rifle, one 22 rifle, and one 22 pistol. To this day that is still all he has, with the exception of a Rossi 357 revolver that he bought about ten years ago.

Tycer · Post by **Tycer** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:56 am

Dad hunted birds and fished a little. He did not collect guns. We never hunted or fished together that I recall. Dad was into playing golf and gin mostly.

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:06 am

My dad did some hunting and was lousy at fishing. He had a Win. 70 in 270, that he could hit almost anything he put it on. He also had a Win. model 12, 12 ga. that I just loved. It was stolen years later. I can't say where my gun bug came from as there was only one Uncle I recall that did any kind of collecting and I didn't see him very often. My Dad still has the 270 and I'm hoping it ends up mine as my brother and sister don't hunt.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:17 am

no my dad and mom were anti firearms. I think dad had a pellet pistol when he was young but He did not hunt or fish. In fact, I don't think dad had a hobby other than to read. His father was a shotgun hunter.

jdad · Post by **jdad** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:24 am

My dad did not hunt or fish, but had an H&R 410 single shot and a 22 that were used for pest control. He grew up next to the Mississippi/Ohio rivers, in Cairo IL. Lots of cottonmouths and critters to worry about.

rangerider7 · Post by **rangerider7** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:05 am

Come to thank of it, my first gun was a Benjamin pump BB rifle (not pellet). You could pump that thing up enough to kill a rabbit. My buddy and I felt like Jim Russel and Tubo Smith of TVs "Soldiers of Fortune" when we went into a back pasture in Woodson, Texas. It had a little tank on it and there were plenty of critters around, turtles, frogs, rabbits, snakes, mice and sometimes feral cats. It was a real adventure.

Post by **Chuck 100 yd** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:12 am

My dad is now 84 and no longer can hunt. He never was a collector and seldom owned more than one each rifle,shotgun,pistol.
He was one ell of a shot and I remember him taking Fox and Coyote at 200+ yards on the run.
He loved to set on the river bank and catch Catfish too.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:52 am

bsaride wrote:Mom was the one who encouraged me and kept me in the scouts. . . . With her
shoulder acting up she was still able to shoot the 32 S&W in it. I hope she will improve to 32 S&W Long but we will see, it's the least I can do for her.

Sounds like you had one heck of a good mom; good you're helping her now she needs it.

otteray · Post by **otteray** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:57 am

My dad started collecting Marlins, Winchesters and S&W way back in the prewar forties.

His grand daughter prefers an AR 15 and Glocks; so I'll hang on to the Marlins and stuff for a few more decades.

C. Cash · Post by **C. Cash** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:02 am

My Dad was born on the family farm in Knox Co. Texas, but the Depression soon moved them out to central CA. They were shotgun and 22 people as well.....they liked "Long Tom" single shot shotguns. My Dad shot and hunted growing up, and by the 50's was a certified gun nut. He didn't have a huge number of guns, but was always working towards something new. After serving 21 years in the Air Force, we wound up settling down near Mesa, AZ in 1969. We had a great time exploring, shooting and hunting(I was too young to participate in the hunts mostly) near the Superstition mountains and the area north of Phoenix. This was one of the 22's that we shot the heck out of, and that he passed down to me. Both of these belonged to my Grandfather.

here we are in Pagosa Springs, CO. He uses his 243 Husqvarna for about everything, but here with his 300 Win. mag while chasing Elk.

I feel for you fellas that have lost their Dads!

COSteve · Post by **COSteve** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:07 am

Unfortunately, Pop was not into guns. I, however, took them up for hunting at an early age courtesy of a good friend's dad who included me on their hunts. I even bought my dad a Win .270 for deer hunting when I was 16 but he never developed any interest. Sad thing about that is I never got to share any of those great memories with my dad.

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:16 am

yep!
he hunted....we like to eat!
and collected....and he gave me his collection..
as a matter of fact...I'm going to shoot a couple of them
later today at the skeet range...
I miss him!

Bogie35 · Post by **Bogie35** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:20 am

bsaride wrote:Didn't know my dad. Mom and he split when I was three.
Mom says they shot a 41 Mag, other than that I have no
idea of who or what he was. Mom put me in Cub Scouts
and I learned to camp, fish and shoot bows and 22's during
summer camp. Went through Weblos, Boy Scouts and back
packing Explorer Scout post. Because of scouts I have always
liked guns. Bought my first at 21 and tried to buy one a year
if I was able. In 2003, 4 years after life dumped on me I had
to unload everything except a cheap 12 ga. In 2007 I started
buying again and decided to go vintage when possible and
feel like I'm close with posessions.

Mom was the one who encouraged me and kept me in the scouts.
No one that I know grew up with guns or collects. Last year mom
and I went to different indoor ranges here in SoCal and she decided
on an SP101 for protection. Since then she has deteriorated somewhat
with shoulder/joint problems and I will give her a 327 Federal Mag
since she doesn't feel she can shoot the 38's any longer. With her
shoulder acting up she was still able to shoot the 32 S&W in it. I hope
she will improve to 32 S&W Long but we will see, it's the least I can
do for her.

What a wonderful testament to your mother (and scouting)!

God bless her!

bogie

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:47 am

My Dad was a hunter, but used guns as tools. He had one rifle (sporterized '98 Mauser) and one shotgun (Rem 870) Occasionlly a few M-1 carbines, .22 rifles and other shotguns came into the house but soon left if he was offered .10 cents more than what he paid for 'em.

In later years, as money allowed, he began to collect, but not in the sense of collecting. Accumulating is a better word as most of his guns were quality run of the mill hunting guns.

I have been mesmerized since I was a little kid about guns---still am. I thank my father for that. Like Ysable Kid and a lot of you boys here, I miss my Dad a lot. He died a couple of years after I took this picture of him and my son in elk camp.---------Sixgun

Bogie35 · Post by **Bogie35** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:52 am

My dad has always hunted and fished (and played golf). We mainly hunted quail and dove (Fort Jackson and surrounding farmland) and fished for crappie (Lake Wateree). I think I can count on one hand how many birds I've seen him miss! He was the guy on the dove field who refused to shoot unless he knew he could hit the target. Basically, 12 shots and 12 birds. The rest of us, well, 2 boxes and 8 birds!

He's somewhat of a minimalist: 1 shotgun and 3 rifles. Diehard Remington 1100 fan. He bought and restored 2 old 8mm Mausers, and he bought an M1 30cal. carbine made by Singer from the Rock Island Arsenal. He has nothing against leverguns, he simply doesn't own one. He always wanted a semi-auto 308 Win., but just never got it. He's never been a fan of the smaller caliber big game cartridges (243, 270, etc.). He says "they go right through the deer and don't leave a big enough hole".

Although he once owned a Pointer before I was born, we always "stomped 'em up". And, we had a Lab that we would send back and forth through the thick lespedeza, running up quail and jumping the occasional rabbit. You become a pretty good shot when you can never anticipate the flush!

We ALWAYS fished for crappie with cane poles and live minnows. None of those new fangled jigs for us!

We used to catch some serious "slabs"!

bogie

morgan in nm · Post by **morgan in nm** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:21 am

My dad wasn't much of a collector untill he came back from Vietnam. Before that, he was a ranch hand and a gun was nothing more than a tool. When he rotated back, he started collecting. Unfortunately, when I was growing up, he sold most of his collection off to put food on the table. He was always a hunter.

Barcelona Rick · Post by **Barcelona Rick** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:23 am

My dad was a hunter his entire life. He used an old British Lee-Enfield .303 for deer and turkeys until he bought a Remington 725 .280 in 1958 or 1959. He used an old no name shotgun until he bought a Remington 1100 the first year they came out. Ever year he would hunt the Monday - Wednesday before Thanksgiving and kill a couple of deer and a couple of turkeys....we ate the turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner....(lunch for my northern friends). He never really fooled with pistols/revolvers much until he retired. He played around with gun trading for a few years after he retired and had some pretty neat stuff. He gave me my first firearm (Stevens 940A .410) for Christmas when I was 8 years old. Daddy was a meat hunter and always said that "You can't taste antlers in venison sausage.." He loved to peasant hunt and would drive all night to hunt for one or two days....he also loved to fish. We would stay a few days at a friends cabin in Red River, NM during the summers. Daddy had a Bambo fly rod from Vietnam and would catch a few trout most mornings for breakfast. Most of the time he fished for crappie or channel catfish...always with minnows or bloodbait. He was allergic to fish but my momma and us kids loved 'em. He died 13 years ago at age 71...he battled cancer for many years but my moms death took his will to live away....moma went 13 months before him. I have his '94 30WCF from 1949, my son has the 725 and my brother has the 1100....I would really love to be his bird dog again in some tall corn that took us all night to drive to....or watch him hold that old flyrod and roll cast that creek....

jumbeaux

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:53 am

My Dad hunted as a boy. Birds and rabbits mostly. He never hunted as an adult as far as I know nor did he own any guns. Every once in awhile, when we visited relatives in NC, he'd take a few shots with his Uncle's rifle (.22LR) but that was about it.

jjames · Post by **jjames** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:39 pm

Dad wasn't much of a collector but he was a wild man. Didn't seem any beast scared him. Got bit by his pet rattlesnake when he was a teenager, had no fear of sharks when skin diving often jumping into schools while his buddies huddled on the boat , and used to smack moray eels if they were in the way of his getting to an abalone. Dad was a Merchant Marine as a medic in WWII as his eyesight was too poor without glasses for the other services.

Dad loved hunting, fishing, and skin diving all of which he passed on to his sons. Enduring lessons dad taught beyond safety were sportsmanship, killing only what you would eat, and leaving places better than you found them. The trips we took together have never been matched since.

Boy I miss him. It has been 20 years since he passed away and several strokes took a lot of him over the prior ten years.

Post by **Hobie** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:18 pm

My dad was raised on a farm. After the service he shot skeet extensively with a 16 ga. SxS choked modified and full and did pretty well (still have that gun). He didn't collect, nor did his father, but had a .22 and a shotgun (for everything else). Then he became a forester. We hunted some but more as I got older. Shot skeet as well. While his priority was paying the bills he didn't get guns but when he was older he bought a couple and enjoyed my purchases.

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:19 pm

My dad grew up hard in the depression, and his dad died when he was only 7yrs old. My dad was not what I would call an avid sportsmen, and he only kept the guns he needed, and never sold one. As a child he ran a trapline, farmed and hunted, basically for survival, because they were pretty poor. In the depression, there was not any large game, like deer, but there was a lot of small game. As a kid, I remember him telling me that when he went hunting, he never shot over 1 or two of anything, because they didn't have a refrigration, so food wouldn't keep long.

When I was a kid, he did hunt some, and he took me hunting, and taught me to shoot. He is still going strong at 75yrs, and he still Buys Fur Fish and Game magazines, so I recond he still likes to read, and sometimes talk about trapping and hunting, but mostly about how they did it in the old days.

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 3:30 pm

Hey boys,
'Ya know somethin'? We are a bunch of spoiled middle aged brats. Just look at all the guns, ammo, and fun hunting we all do. After reading all of the posts, I have come to the conclusion that 98% of our Dads were hard working responsible individuals who were more concerned with feeding their families than having fun.

Thats why they called them the "Greatest Generation", and rightfully so.

No, I don't feel guilty for the fun I'm havin'---I feel thankful for the sacrifices of our Dad's generation. There will be no more like 'em. Just pockets of good Dads here and there.

Yea, Terry, your in that bunch.

-----------------------------------------Sixgun

C. Cash · Post by **C. Cash** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 4:05 pm

Very true indeed Sixgun! No victims in that group....all doers.

RKrodle · Post by **RKrodle** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:23 pm

Dad was born in 1918 and was 42 years old when I was born, mom was 45. I never saw dad hunt although every once in awhile he would shoot some. I know he hunted when he was younger but he didn't talk about it much, dad never dwelled on the past. The only rifle I know of him having was a Winchester 62 pump 22, shorts only. I don't know how many rounds of ammo I put down range with that rifle, my brother has it now. My older brothers hunted and shot some and I would tag alone, oldest brother is 21 years older then me, they mostly hunted rabbits and squirrels. I had a cousin that was a big collector and shooter and always looked forward to him coming to the house because he would bring an assortment of guns to shoot. Mainly I just got the bug from an early age. Everyone in the family owns guns just not to the extent that I do. All my nieces and nephews (15), and their kids, look on me as the gun nut of the family.

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:03 pm

Sixgun wrote:Hey boys,
'Ya know somethin'? We are a bunch of spoiled middle aged brats. Just look at all the guns, ammo, and fun hunting we all do. After reading all of the posts, I have come to the conclusion that 98% of our Dads were hard working responsible individuals who were more concerned with feeding their families than having fun.

Thats why they called them the "Greatest Generation", and rightfully so.

No, I don't feel guilty for the fun I'm havin'---I feel thankful for the sacrifices of our Dad's generation. There will be no more like 'em. Just pockets of good Dads here and there.

Yea, Terry, your in that bunch. -----------------------------------------Sixgun

I said in my post above that my Dad didn't hunt as an adult but he did take me camping and hunting as I grew up and through my teens. He actually bought that Winchester for me back in 1956 when we were on our way to a hunting camp up in North Georgia.

Anyway, most of the men that I knew as I was growing up in the 1940s and 1950s used their guns as tools for hunting and back then a deer or two or an elk would fill out the family food locker pretty good. Most guys bought a rifle and a box of ammo and the ammo lasted them a darn good while -- years. Yes, it was true. Guys would buy a rifle and a box of ammo, use three to five rounds to sight it in and then use a round a year maybe two for one or two deer.

My Dad was born in 1912 and passed in 1999. I miss him.

86er · Post by **86er** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:28 pm

My Dad took me hunting exactly 3 times. Before I was a teenager, Dad was a bird hunter and we always had a bird dog. I went hunting with him the first time when I was 7 years old. We went rabbit hunting once with my friend Chris when we were 13 years old. One more time bird hunting when we were 14 years old. Dad never took me again, and he never hunted again either. His guns consisted of a Remington 870 Wingmaster 12 gauge, a single shot Savage 12 gauge and a Westernfield pump action .22 rimfire. I still have those guns. Since then Dad became a handgun target shooter. He has a bunch of handguns I gave him, a .25 auto, a .38, a .357 Mag, a .22 short.

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:48 pm

My dad was neither, but all three sons sure are.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:02 pm

jumbeaux wrote:My dad was a hunter his entire life . . . He loved to peasant hunt and would drive all night to hunt for one or two days....he also loved to fish.
jumbeaux

I wouldn't speak much of that unless you're sure the Statute of Limitations has passed. . .

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:06 pm

Dad was a big time hunter, and a average fisherman.Every year for 3 weeks we went to Baskatong Reservoir/Quebec on fishing trips.!
He really kept only a very few guns that he used.
As for collecting many guns----No
Every year we hunted deer/bear/small game etc.

marlinman93 · Post by **marlinman93** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:09 pm

My dad grew up in very rural area of eastern Wa. and hunted from the time he could walk until he moved to the big city in his 20's. He gave up hunting then, as he said it was just too crowded in the woods. That was mid 1920's! Can't imagine it being crowded in the woods of western Oregon at that time, but compared to where he came from, maybe it seemed that way.
He never collected guns, as he saw them as tools and you only needed what tools you used for specific tasks. He did appreciate my collecting though. He was always interested in whatever new old gun I bought, and he did get back into shooting after I was in my 30's and he was retired. My mom on the other hand never understood why anyone would collect guns, or "throw money away" on old guns. She never did see the interest, or value of old guns.

Barcelona Rick · Post by **Barcelona Rick** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:21 pm

AJMD429......you gotta remember Texas is a very big state and the roads in the late 50' and very early 60's did not allow you to drive fast (no interstates back then).....if you are referring to a hunting license he always purchased an out of state license where he was gonna hunt....back in those days the farmers were always willing to let a man kill a few peasants. Course Texas now has a pretty good huntable peasant season in the Panhandle....which is only an all day drive from where I live....

jumbeaux

O.S.O.K. · Post by **O.S.O.K.** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:06 pm

Yes. He was a hunter and still a collector. Of his three sons, I am the most bitten by the bug. But my oldest brother is an avid hunter as well.

My great uncle was the one that infected my Dad. So it goes.

geobru · Post by **geobru** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:48 pm

Dad was a hunter, but not a collector of guns. He was very practical and owned one rifle, a sporterized A3O3, one shotgun, a 16 guage Winchester Model 12, one 22 Stevens bolt action, an Erma 22 automatic pistol and his one extravegance, a model 1886 in 40-82 that he bought when he was a kid, and never shot.

KWK · Post by **KWK** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:59 pm

My dad had a .22 LR in high school, but I believe he never shot it after leaving for college. As an adult, he had little interest in guns.

bogus bill · Post by **bogus bill** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 12:08 am

Dad was born in 1913 in a huge farm family. Dad had 6 or 7 older half brothers and sisters and was the oldest of 10 more. All my uncles and dad were avid hunters and fishermen. We were raised in wisconsin. While dad didnt have a huge colection like I do, he still liked quality guns, and kept all the basics. 22, 12 gauge pump, couple of deer rifles, a bring back mauser and a couple hand guns. Dad shot his last buck at about 87 years old and lived to 90, dieing in 2003. Dad was a big man, (6ft 5"s) but as gentil and queit as he was big. He taught me a lot.

Pathfinder09 · Post by **Pathfinder09** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 12:25 am

My Dad was a hunter and gun collector. He died when I was 2yrs old. His guns were passed down to me and I still have them all, I'm 58 now, he died when he was 27. I grew up cleaning his guns making sure they were in good shape. I have pictures of my Dad's den with guns on the wall and mounted animals around the room. I heard stories growing up from my Mom, and his brothers and sisters( he was one of 11) about how he loved to hunt, and the outdoors. I guess I have the genes because I have always loved the outdoors and been interested in hunting and guns. My step father never hunted but he fished. I had my hunting license as soon as I was old enough to get one. I grew up to be a professional Forester, gun collector and just have a great love of shooting and hunting. So even though I never really knew my dad he did pass down his lifes passions to me. I try to pass that passion along with my dads guns and mine to my son. It is my hertitage and I'm very proud of it.