1966 Unit 3B Hunt

[Jeff Welker]

I was going through some of my Dad's photos and found this one from his Antelope hunt in 1966.

 

 

Dad is in the middle. No B&C bucks; however, they had all four tagged by 8:00 AM opening morning. Note the hunting car and tent in the back ground. Their hunting hats and interesting camo shirts/pants tell how things certainly have changed in the nearly 50 years since this photo was taken. As best I can tell from Dad's notes, they were hunting in what is now Unit 3B. Dad shot his buck with a pre-64 Mod 70 (no big deal back then) that my mom bought him for Christmas in 1959. It was originally a 30-06; however, he had it chambered to a 30x338. Strong medicine for those speed goats.

 

I hope you find this as interesting as I did.

[tjhunt2]

Thanks for sharing. We had a tent like that when I was growing up. Looks like they had a great day. Do you still have the rifle your Dad used?

 

TJ

[Jeff Welker]

Thanks for sharing. We had a tent like that when I was growing up. Looks like they had a great day. Do you still have the rifle your Dad used?

 

TJ

 

My Dad still has the gun in his safe. He turned 86 this year and can't hunt like he used to; however, we still get out and blow the dust off this rifle a few times every year. Both myself and my oldest son took our first big game animals with that rifle. In 1959, the 300 Winchester Magnum cartridge did not exist. Accordingly, guys like my dad that wanted more horsepower than the 30-06 would provide often had them rechambered to the 30x338. As dad tells it, if the 308 Norma Magnum (nearly identical to the 30x338) had not surfaced in 1960, Winchester would have introduced the 30x338 as their new factory magnum in 1963. Instead, they felt it necessary to come out with a different case - thus the 300 Win Mag. While both the 300 and 30x338 are very close in performance, the case dimensions (i.e. longer neck) give the 30x338 a slight advantage with greater flexibility on seating depth compared to the 300. An advantage that only reloaders can enjoy and many will argue doesn't make it worth the effort of case forming and reloading. Obviously, my crew favors the 30x338

[CouesWhitetail]

Cool photo! I like how you edited the colors. Was it originally a color photo that you turned the background to black and white or vice versa?

[Chef]

Great pic with some awesome memories for your Dad.

I too noticed the same things as you mentioned such as the 2wd car and the clothing.

 

Ahhh, the good ol' days.

 

Thanks for sharing with us. These old pics are always my favorite.

[Jeff Welker]

Cool photo! I like how you edited the colors. Was it originally a color photo that you turned the background to black and white or vice versa?

 

The original photo is a color transparency/slide. I scanned it into my computer and did some quick PhotoShop work to make the background monochrome. It is not my best effort as I was rushed at the time; however, I think it makes the photo look more interesting.

 

My dad just laughs at all the camo clothing my son and I have accumulated over the years. He always wore some type of denim trousers with a plaid shirt - he still has taken more big game than my son and me. He tells me all he ever did was keep himself downwind as much as possible and the quarry really didn't care what he was wearing. His hunting buddy on the right was an USAF fighter pilot (flew F-104's) and shot his speed goat with .38 special S&W pistol. Dad said he would rarely hunt with a rifle and preferred the challenge of getting into pistol range. Both he and my dad shot on the USAF Rifle/Pistol team. They were very good shots with either weapon.

[Elkaddict]

Love the way you did the photo!! Very good!!

[BRYCE CANYON]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[CouesWhitetail]

Cool photo! I like how you edited the colors. Was it originally a color photo that you turned the background to black and white or vice versa?

 

The original photo is a color transparency/slide. I scanned it into my computer and did some quick PhotoShop work to make the background monochrome. It is not my best effort as I was rushed at the time; however, I think it makes the photo look more interesting.

 

My dad just laughs at all the camo clothing my son and I have accumulated over the years. He always wore some type of denim trousers with a plaid shirt - he still has taken more big game than my son and me. He tells me all he ever did was keep himself downwind as much as possible and the quarry really didn't care what he was wearing. His hunting buddy on the right was an USAF fighter pilot (flew F-104's) and shot his speed goat with .38 special S&W pistol. Dad said he would rarely hunt with a rifle and preferred the challenge of getting into pistol range. Both he and my dad shot on the USAF Rifle/Pistol team. They were very good shots with either weapon.

 

 

Very cool. I just got the new Photoshop elements and it has some neat new features in that I want to mess with.

[Coach]

Awesome picture - I agree, the way the hunters and the animals stand out is amazing but you can tell it's an old photo. Thanks for sharing.

[elpepe25]

awesome, love the monochrome background. Nicely done

[billrquimby]

Nifty photo that brings back memories, but I thought this was supposed to be vintage! Heck, I was 30 years old when that photo was taken. As for the tent, it was a new style then. The vintage ones had gable roofs with poles at all four corners, as well as front and back and across the top. Guy ropes ran to stakes all around. Don't think Concho existed in 1966.

 

Bill Quimby

[Jeff Welker]

Nifty photo that brings back memories, but I thought this was supposed to be vintage! Heck, I was 30 years old when that photo was taken. As for the tent, it was a new style then. The vintage ones had gable roofs with poles at all four corners, as well as front and back and across the top. Guy ropes ran to stakes all around. Don't think Concho existed in 1966.

 

Bill Quimby

 

Bill:

 

While I was slightly younger than 30 in 1966, I can remember a tent older than the one in that photo. BTW, your book "Sixty Years a Hunter" has a place of honor in my humble library. As an Arizona native, I sincerely enjoy reading and re-reading your great stories of hunting in my home state and some of the places I've dreamed of. If you keep professing to be an elderly hunter, I'll expect you to post a photo of yourself and O'Connor sitting on the porch at the Slade Cabin

[billrquimby]

Hi Jeff.

 

I AM an elderly hunter. However, I never had the good fortune to meet Jack O'Connor -- he already had moved to Idaho when I left Yuma to attend the UA in 1954 -- but I did know a lot of people who knew him well. He was my mother's English teacher her first year at the UA, for example. I also got to know to know his good buddy Carrol Lemon, and several members of the old Tucson Rod and Gun Club who shot with him.

 

I spent most of a day a few years back with Bradford O'Connor and his wife, showing them the SCI museum here in Tucson. He said he had visited Slade Cabin again earlier that year.

 

Thanks for the kind words about my book.

 

Bill Quimby

[SirRoyal]

What a great photo! Thank you for sharing!!!