Center Feature:  

In Search Of The Past
A nostalgic look back at the deer hunter of yesteryear

Text and Photos by R.G. Bernier

“The hunting story is one of the most basic elements of culture, as basic as the love story, and perhaps even older. A good story of the hunter’s quest captivates the listener, engages mind and emotions, engraves lessons in the mind, and kindles the campfires of the soul, because the hunter is a hero, symbolically and mythically, as well as in real life.”
—James A. Swan, author of The Sacred Art of Hunting

The deer hunter of yesteryear not only knew how to tell a great story, they had great stories to tell. These dyed-in-the-wool huntsmen lived and breathed each and every titillating moment of their deer hunting quests. As Frank Forester writes, “The deer hunter is the epitome of manliness and independence whose untrammeled sense of individual will and power opposed the decadent corruptions of modern civilization…A man of energy, and iron will, and daring spirit, tameless, enthusiastic, ardent, adventurous, chivalric, free—a man made of the stuff, which fills the mold of heroes.”

These were indeed men that intimately knew the game they pursued and possessed little fear of the vast primeval forests they tramped. In fact, once on the hunt they seldom gave up as the German born deer-slayer Miller writes in his hunting journal, “I walked home. But where was my home? Wherever I happened to be-where I had erected a bark shed, or spread my blanket, or lighted a fire, or where the hospitable roof of a farmer or back-woodsman received me; though the next morning might find me with all my goods on my back—no heavy burden—seeking a new deer shooting ground, and a new home.”

They were also men of metal that enjoyed the chase that ensued to capture their prize as scribed by Judge John Dean Caton. “The pleasure of the sportsman in the chase is measured by the intelligence of the game and its capacity to elude pursuit and in the labor involved in the capture. It is a contest with sharp wits where satisfaction is mingled with admiration for the object overcome.” And chase they did.  We find by their own account that early trackers William Earl and his partner E. N. Woodcock were “seldom in camp until after dark,” and once in pursuit of a fine stag, “hustled from early morning until long after dark.”

Forgotten Lore

Huntsmen of our past paid little regard to their comfort. In fact according to Archibald Rutledge, “If a man be a hunter born, he will tolerate an astonishing number of inconveniences in order to gratify his sense of sport.” So much so as George Laycock points out, “They could pillow on the earth and sleep unsheltered under the canopy of heaven without thinking it a hardship.” Lacking all of the modern trappings that are so prevalent today, these hunters of resolve faced many hardships. When writing of his great grandfather’s hunting exploits, R. Getty Browning scribes, “His hunting expeditions must have been seriously affected by sudden climatic changes and the difficulties in traveling on foot through the snow for long distances in zero weather must have demanded the greatest resolution and endurance, even for one so strong and active as he was.”

Meshach Browning himself made the claim in his book, Forty-Four Years of the Life of a Hunter, “If a man undertakes a dangerous enterprise with a determination to succeed or lose his life, he will do many things with ease and unharmed which a smaller degree of energy would never accomplish.”

Have we, as a collective whole lost the primitive within us? Has the woods lore that was so ingrained in the fabric of our ancestral hunters become just a tattered piece of garment no longer fashionable or useful? Was George Mattis correct in his assertion declared nearly four decades ago when he penned, “Because wild game for food no longer plays a great role in our economy, much acquired outdoor lore has been lost to the modern hunter. The hunt now takes on a totally new significance in our urbanized society; it has become primarily a much needed recreation for a large sector of our outdoor-minded population.” Mattis goes on to assert, “There have been many changes from the days when deer hunting meant packing off to the woods for a full season’s stay in the old hunter’s shack. The call of the North Woods was once answered only by the hardy souls to whom the ruggedness of camping in the rough was accepted as a necessary part of the hunt. Though the chase of the whitetail continues, many of the sturdy qualities of the erstwhile Nimrod are no longer with us, nor are they entirely essential these days.”

Pampered Sportsmen  

One needs only to look back to gain a genuine perspective of where we have progressed, or have we? According to Mattis, “Convenience is the public cry in hunting…Today’s sportsman is so pampered with such an array of gadgets and attire for ease and comfort that deer hunting is no longer a privilege of the hardy outdoor clan…The practical deer hunters, and especially the newcomers, come to hunt the game animal where it is most plentiful, and many a bag is filled without the hunter straying a quarter of a mile from his parked car, a farm field, or a side road. The task of dragging in a deer killed even a mile back in from any road is becoming the exception today. Because of this easy hunting, out hunting force is inflated with many soft-handed members who make the outing not so much for their sheer love of hunting but for the ease with which they can assume the stature of a hunter.”

It seems that the exploits of our ancestral deer hunters lies in stark contrast to the hunter of today. We’ve become enmeshed in the intricacies of modern technology, ascribing to the latest, most efficient methodology in hunting whitetails. Our deer hunts are no longer campaigns, “making sporting history,” as Rutledge described, but rather a formula with success being almost a sure bet. Rarely do we find the same energy expanded as those that once tramped for endless miles as penned by George Shiras, “A sportsman’s life consists largely of three elements: anticipation, realization and reminiscence. We look forward to the trip by rail, by canoe and then perhaps a tramp on foot into the heart of the wilderness. Then comes the camp and its pleasant environments, and that lucky, radiant day when the early morning sun casts a glint upon the branching antlers of a mighty buck.”

According to historian Dr. Rob Wegner, “We need to look back on our heroic, distant past so that we can make claims to the future. Without tracing our personal roots and grounding our self-identity in some kind of a collective with a shared past, we will never acquire stability or a basis for a self-sustaining community. We need to return to the basic values of the early American deerslayer—self-reliance, hardihood, woodcraft and marksmanship—and forget all the mechanized gadgets and technological devices.”

If we are indeed to learn anything from those hunters of yesteryear and perhaps emulate some of their storied past, than we must never forget these parting words from New York’s most famed huntress, Paulina Brandreth,

“Hunting is a recreation and invigorating pastime that never should, through a super-civilized, over-artificialized state of living, be allowed to die out. In this age of neurotic haste it means rest and renewed health to the man whose brain and energies are being constantly overtaxed. It means stronger muscles, a more vigorous constitution, self-reliance, hardihood. A real man does not care for sport that does not involve difficulty, discomfort and sometimes danger. The trouble with modern life is that physically it is terribly softening. We need something to counteract the effects of luxury and too easy living. Hunting does this because it takes a man to places where he has to depend on first principles, and where he comes in contact with obstacles that tend to build up and strengthen his natural abilities and manhood. It makes his eyesight keener, teaches him patience, and unfolds many natural laws and beauties and wonders that otherwise would remain to him unknown. We all need something of the primitive in us in order that we may have a rock bottom on which to stand.”