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A successful hunt

2K views 23 replies 16 participants last post by  Potter Co. Joe 
#1 ·
Fred Hess was an outdoors man who made his living building camps up here in the Adirondacks for city folk who could afford them, and did a bit of hunting and fishing in his spare time. The picture is dated 1880.
 

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#2 ·
That is a great pic. What I can't figure out is how he killed that buck without a scope, camo, sent blocker clothes, a climbing tree stand and GPS.:grin2::smile_big:
 
#14 ·
My ancestors were big game hunters who documented a lot of their exploits through photos and journals from the late 1800's into the 1930's. They were from Beaver County and hunted for months on end in PA, through New York, the Adirondacks and into Canada. My grandmother (who is now deceased) transcribed their journals for me when I was a teenager. One entry that always made me chuckle was... "We stopped hunting the Adirondacks in 1900 because there were too many other hunters." So I guess hunting pressure is relevant to the times we hunt.

The 1st picture was taken in the late 1800's after a successful hunt. The 2nd picture is also from the late 1800's taken in NY State. They had a bear raiding their camp every night so they trapped him. Somehow (no idea how) they brought him back to PA and made a pet out of him. His name was "Jim Bear." My grandmother said he was the family favorite and all the kids played with him.
 

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#21 ·
The 1st picture is from an 1887 expedition into NY (don't know what part). It's the entire crew. I would love to have that bear trap. The only artifact I possess from any of my ancestors is a compass from the man standing in the middle of this picture. I was told it was his most prized possession and he never went into the woods without it. (I sometimes carry it to set deer stands in accordance to wind direction even though the app on my phone will do it.) For the life of me I can't figure out what the two guys on the right are holding.

The 2nd picture was also taken in NY in 1900. Getting ready to put down a trapped black bear.
 

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#23 ·
This moose was taken in 1902 somewhere in Quebec. According to the journal the language barrier was one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. The guides only spoke French and they secured supplies from Cree Indians. I can't imagine the camera equipment they had to carry back then to capture these images. I tried to run down this moose about 10 years ago to no avail. I know the mount was donated to a Moose Club in either the Beaver or Wampum area post WW2. It was killed by Austin Wehr (distant uncle) holding the hatchet. Any information anyone may have about these clubs would be greatly appreciated.
 

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