Do you remember?

[SNAREMAN]

Just wondering how many of you remember:lead shot for waterfowl,the point system,no early/late goose season's,the ball's for the draw at mang.area's?It's ok to show your age{I remember all of these}:lol: Anybody think of something I missed,or was before my time?Let's take a trip down memory lane:lol:

[William H Bonney]

I remember. Loved the point system. I didn't think much about the lead deal at the time.

[sean]

I dont remember lead or the point system, but I do remember the bingo balls at Fish pt, the early goose season and late season (when it first started)

Remember it was the "Experimental goose season". The late season boundaries were I-69 (south of)

I tend to "not" want to remember when I first started. No waders, a jacket that wasnt waterproof, no good hunting gloves. The excitement was still there, but most days I froze my butt off!:lol::dizzy:

[Mike L]

Oh yaaaa ! I remember all of those very well. I did not like the point system one bit !
I liked lead shot. The yellow balls at FP and Mr. Schafer running the draw. Area's 1,2,3 used to be area's 1,2,3,and 4. They used to be across from each other so effectively you would be shooting at each other. Waaay before that ? There was no draw at all. Now were going waaaay back when I was 15 or 16 ? Guys used to line up along the crick/ditch that runs on the North side of the camping/parking lot ? The ducks would fly low to the power lines and then go uuuup ? And then guys would pass shoot/skybust at them. When it froze out there ?
I counted 18 rooster pheasants in a row huddled up on top of the ice in the now non hunting refuge area. There were no area's per say to hunt, it was just one big marsh area at that time.
I took a shot at a swan and landed right on my butt in what is now area 5, and got soaked to the bone. Heck I didn't even know what it was at the time, I was dummer than a box of rocks way back then.....lol Man that was a loooong time ago.........:) Gonna be 58 this October so you do the math.....;)

[Daisycutter]

Yep, I remember all of those except waterfowling with lead. I think it had just switched to steel when I started. Maybe it was only in the managed areas at the time, I'm not 100% sure.

Also, Like Sean, some of those old memories are cold and wet...my gear was definitely not what it is today...:sad:

P.S. I loved the bingo balls....my favorite part of the hunt!!:D

[roger23]

were the days you could reload anything you wanted.plenty of land to hunt lots of ducks ,blues and snows would come and give us good hunting for a week or so ,big flights of Northern ducks ,not a lot of Canadian geese would get 10 or 12 a year. late divers by the thousands.and all you needed was a 870 or model 12 2 3/4 inch or maybe a 3 inch but a 2 3/4 worked fine

[daddyduck]

Yup, sure do. I started out with a 410ga.

[Dahmer]

Oh do I remeber the point system, bingo balls at Shiawassaee, and switching over from lead to steel shot. It was hard finding steel shot for a 20 ga. 2 3/4". I have a old duck regulation book from when I started hunting back in 1982. Good times.

[smoke]

I started my jorney waterfowl hunting in 1976. My dad and Uncle had these rubber decoys with a ring around the bottom and when thrown on the water would blow up and look something like a duck. But we were hunting in the woods where the canopy was clear and the ducks would come in with relentless disire. To those old rubber decoys that were more black than anything! Now a days the decoys look more like something you'd put on your mantle than hunt with. Painted to every detail!

How about the old thermos bottle with a cork for a stopper. I can remember the sound that it made when my dad was ready to pour him self a cup of brew. Squeaky sound and the smell of strong perked coffiee. I didn't drink it back them but I still liked the smell.

Our gun dogs always rode in the back of the truck back then but when my dad finally built kennels on the back of the truck we thought we were in hunters heaven and the dogs probably liked it to.

Unisulated converse waders 2 sizes to large so I could get 3 pairs of socks on trying to keep my feet warm, it didn't work!

Canvas hunting jackets and jersy gloves.

12" flat bottom boats with 6 horse evinrudes. No 16' with 32 horse mud buddys back then. Slow but always got us to where we were going, but replacing shear pins was normal every trip at least once.
Just a few memories I can recall many! The good old days!!!!!!
I'm feeling old boys.
Smoke

[Bd7]

SURE DO !
# 4 0r 5 shot at 1300 fps or better killed ducks at 65 yards !
Weds @ noon or 10 opened the season (miss that) Not as many hunters on the opener.
Black ducks all over the place.
So many coots on the water shoot once ...kill 3 or 4 !
guys in sneak boats all over the lake !
On Nov 1st trappers checking traps made good duck hunting.
Oh Yes the 60S!
Nothing hurt before you got out of bed !:lol:

[Huron River Dan]

Lead shot, point system, no geese to speak of in my area; a newsworthy item if someone got one. Ahhh the good old days...LOL

Dan

[DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI]

1967 was my first year duck learning ( and gun deer hunting too). lead shot #4 's in peters paper shotshells with the paper shot wad( i still have some of them left). duck flights that would make the sky turn black and then that stupid point system. i hated the point system. i would watch guys shoot all day and then count their points up and know damn well that they left ducks floating because they didn't or couldn't I.D. the ducks they were shooting. although the point system worked well for the diver hunters, 10 duck limits would come off of hubbard lake all the time. and oh yes, i almost forgot a SPORTSMANS LICENSE cost 18.00$ back then abouts i bought one the first year they came out---maybe it was 1970----having a senior moment!
this will be my big FORTY come opener.

[RiverRanger]

Remember all of that, and also back in the day Bob at Nay. Point made everyone watch that video before the draw. Yep them were the good ole days.

[JUSTCATCHINUM]

How about the early teal season in the early 60's? Also Saginaw bay had less water than now.:confused:
Justcathcinum

[just ducky]

Smoke pretty much said it all. I started chasing ducks in 1978 when the pheasant hunting was drying up (my first love since a toddler was ringnecks) and a college buddy took me out chasing woodies and teal. Pretty much was hooked from the get go. I borrowed my dad's old 12ga Rem. Wingmaster, his brown canvas bird hunting jacket, and his Hodgman canvas waders, and went at it. Things were simpler then, even with the point system. So yeah, I remember it all.

And almost forgot, although I'm creeping up there (47 in a week), I'm not as old as Mike L. NOW THAT'S OLD MIKE! :evilsmile KIDDING MIKE. Hey Mike let's see if we can get Kevlar, Sean, Stacemo, and the rest together again for an outstanding trip to Fish Point so they can abandon us with our terrible draw to poke away at teal while they limit out in a dry field, just like last year. :evilsmile

[GoneFishin]

Yep, I started hunting in the early 60's, found SRSGA in the mid- 60's there was no draw just a big scramble area. Ya could drive down Miller Rd. to the big north field. We had a 10' pram that we put our 1.5 doz. styrofoam and paper machie(sp) decoys and gear in and pulled it in like a sled.

When they started the draw they had a pre-draw (this was for a year or two) What they drew determined how many ducks you could shoot that day. There was a two duck limit (any 2), a four duck limit (state reg. limit at the time), and the point system I think ya could shoot up ta 7 ducks on this system (70 pts I think, my old memory is a little foggy). Of course everybody was pullin' for the point system.

I really liked the point system, lots of 10 point ducks and if ya picked and chose ya could get a hefty bag and still 3 -4 Mallards. Geese where scarce for a while the limit was only one here's a pic of a three man limit taken on a farm near the manage unit in the 60's.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/541/1175Late_60s_Goose_Mafia.jpg

The whole "Big Woods" was open back then but only in the mornings providing a resting area for the ducks in the afternoon. We worked 2nd shift and loved hunting the woods in the morning as it literally held thousands of ducks at the time. The part that is now refuge used to be our favorite hunting grounds. Here's a pic of a 4-man limit of mallards (under the point system) taken in the 70's).

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/541/1175Big_Woods_Early_70_s.jpg

That year we kicked up thousands of ducks as we walked in from the transition that pic was taken near there.

With the advent of "steel shot" (the first shells where terrible) they allowed the use of lead in a 20ga. for a few years since they did not manufacture steel shot shells for the smaller gauges, our crew all went out and purchased 870 and 1100, 20's. The little guns performed almost as well as their big brothers and a lot better than the "steel loads".

We all hated the demise of the bingo balls and the switch to the printed computer sheets as our crew seemed luckier with the balls. :lol:

Ya had to be tolerant of the cold back then there was a little bit of the poly filled clothing around and wool. Most of us wore Army Surplus stuff and the OD green fatigue jackets as our camo (ya learned to be still). We would go through a pair or 2 of the canvas waders a season tearing 'em up on debri in the "Woods". Very little boot insulation back then and wool socks were about it.

Ah, yes those were the days young enough to hunt 5 - 6 days a week and work on a few hours sleep a day and the ducks were plentiful, heck now-a-days if I go huntin' it takes me a few days to recover and I'm retired. :rolleyes: :D

[Shlwego]

I remember most of this stuff, but nobody has mentiond the late "bluebill-only" season that we used to have. It would go into January, if my memory serves me right. Some of the zone 3 lakes would still have open water and would just be PACKED with scaup. With the decline in Scaup numbers over the past ten years it seems hard to believe that once upon a time we had such liberal bluebill regulations. Does anybody know when the last late bluebill season was? I think it was 87 or 88....

[dpossum]

I remember Lead shot and the point system. I started out hunting Harsen's Island but we only hunted the marsh. There wasn't a draw back then and the dikes were open to hunting. Guys would get off of work and stroll out to the dike in their street shoes and hoepefully knock down a brid. I don't believe they gave much thought to actually retrieving anything.

Hen Mallards and Blacks were 90 points and as I recall Pintail were 10 points. We hunted over a rig with Ben Schmidt, Jim Foote (made from WWII life rafts) and my father's cork decoys. I still remember the smell of the zippo when my father would light up another Parliament.

[SNAREMAN]

Thanx for shareing guy's.Keep'em comeing:D

[stacemo]

Steel shot was phased in. 12 gauge being first. So I switched to my 16 double barrel so I could keep shooting lead legally for one more year.

The point system: No CO was ever caught without their thermometer.

[just ducky]

...The point system: No CO was ever caught without their thermometer.

:lol: That reminds me of the old joke...a guy is out duck hunting here in Michigan, he shoots a duck and retrieves it, gets back to the blind, and out pops a CO. The CO introduces himself and asks "can I see that duck", and the guy hands it to him. The CO proceeds to stick his finger up the rear of the duck, pulls it out and inspects it, and says "that's an Arkansas duck...ya got an Arkansas duck license?". The hunter looks at his licenses, and says no, so the CO proceeds to write him a ticket. He looks at the other ducks lying in the blind and asks to see them. He sticks his finger up the next duck, pulls it out and inspects it, and says "that there is an Ohio duck...ya got an Ohio duck license?". The hunter again looks at his licenses, and says no, so the CO writes him another ticket. He picks up the next duck, sticks his finger up that bird, pulls it out and inspects it, and says "now that there is an Ontario duck...ya got an Ontario duck license?". The hunter, who is now pretty pissed off, says "hell no I don't...just write me the damn ticket!" The CO looks at him and says "you aren't very smart now are you...where abouts you from?" The hunter drops his waders, pants and underwear, bends over with his rear towards the CO, and says "you tell me!".

[Goldy]

I started duck hunting when I turned 12 back in 1971. So yeah, I remember all that stuff. What great memories through the years!

[SNAREMAN]

LMAO:lol: DUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Long Spurs]

Shure do wish bluebills were still 5 or 10 pts (don't remember).:D Lead 7.5's out of the layout boat!!!!!! It was worth setting up a rig then. Teal all day long at 10 pts. Them were the days!

[smoke73]

Yelling out "shake em' up" during the bingo draws.

Pass shooting was more common than hunting over decoys.

If you had more than 3 doz. decoys, you had allot.

The old goose decoys weighed more than twice as much as todays do.

[Huntsman27]

Lead buckshot No4 and 00.........oh the shots we made back then. Nothing like hunting from a lawn chair along the fence of the refuge!

[Mike L]

Gee's now you guys have got me digging for some old pics. I ran across this one and the guys that know me should get a kick out of it......lol The year is 1974, and like ducky mentioned ? There's an old bird hunters canvas jacket. On warm days I will still wear one, just force of habit I guess. The locatioin is at the end of Nebobish Rd in Hampton Township.
That used to be the spot for birds "Big" time. All along the shore for a mile in both directions was good, as there were pot holes in the whole area. While digging in the basement I ran across some old lead shells that I reloaded ? They have so much chamber pressure they would break my double side by open when they went off. Needless to say I put them away.....lol Wow would those puppies kick.......:) I found some old peters paper shells, and some long brass remingtons. A few super X 's I don't have many, I just keep them for the heck of it.
The barrel on that winchester is 36 inches long and it's a full choke. I couldn't hit poop with it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/MikeL/sept07.jpg

[ScavengerMan]

Remember all of that, and also back in the day Bob at Nay. Point made everyone watch that video before the draw. Yep them were the good ole days.

That was only a handful of years ago......

[HunterHawk]

awwww its old guys like you that kept this sport going thanks:D haha j/k guys... i love these old pics and stories.... im just a newbie to the sport really.... i remember when i shot my first duck in the youth hunt when i was 14... does that count? haha and my dad said get ready the other one is going to fly back by... there goes another 3 shells haha and there goes the duck... oh well.... i have come a ways since then but still have plenty to learn.

and ducky that was hilarious thanks

[jacduck]

Yup remember all that plus. Started waterfowling in 52 I think. I hunted the big woods when it was dry. Growing up in Chesaning with many friends out north of town it was great.

Went into uncle sam's service in '59 and came back in '62 and some damned fool had channelized the Shiawassee and ruined some of the best hunting ever, including the later great years at Shiawassee. That channelization was for flood control and to develop the state game area. Guys like Marv Johnson and Harold Dykema wanted a green tree reservoir like Ark. Never figured on the ice ringing the trees and killing them all.

The balls were present when we were issued 10, count 'em 10 steel shells per day on the trial basis. How many of you took the duck ID classes in St Charles as well as elsewhere in preparation for the point system?

I liked it a lot better when we could drive the hay bridges all the way south to the Miller Drain and then walk in to the south field to hunt. Hated it when we had to wait for the farmers to get the grain out before flooding could start. Hunted Fish Point for the 1st and 2nd early teal and NQP, camping in a tent for the 3rd and then waded out to the end of the marsh in water about the same as it is right now. Maybe a little deeper then. Drove my 16' Thompson through the channel at the end of NQP towing the layout we built from measurements taken at the Pt. Moulle show. Scramble project that was.

Worked afternoons and hunted at least 4 mornings per week. Got snowed out on the last day at Shia on my birthday Nov 3..... I think the season was 25 days that year. Man those were the days. Almost as good as now for my opinion is that any day I can duck hunt, operative word hunt not kill, is a great day.

[8nchuck]

Grew up on Harsen's Island. Used to go to the early draw 4:30AM?, if we got a good spot we'd skip school and hunt if not, go back to bed and get up for the school bus, or if was on a weekend get up for the afternoon draw. Hop ( bald headed guy) used to run the place . That was when they used to draw from the old barn. Tornado took it down. Yea, the point system.

My buddy and I used to ride our bikes, down the road, to the marsh with 1/2 dozen decoy's each and shotguns across the handle bars. Man, they would call out the swat team now. LMAO.

Used lead in 12 ga then switched to 20, then to steel and then quit hunting ducks. Mostly due to time but also to the amount of cripples we saw after the change to steel. If you never hunted with 3" 12ga 4's lead for ducks you don't really know the true meaning of " A dead duck"

Who remembers coupon books for Canada duck hunting? I still have my dads book from the 50's

[Herd Bull]

Yep, I remember those days. Ping Pong balls at the Todd Farm, man that took for ever. Like many others did I bought a 20 ga. when steel came out to avoid having to switch, then I think I bought a 16ga. to avoid the switch another year if I remember right. I started duck hunting in '75 sure wish they would have had Gortex back then.

[Kevlar]

I pretty sure you guys missed the best part of the old days at managed areas.

That Darn video they forced us to watch.... :lol: :lol:

After about 3 trips I had the whole video recited word for word. I was glad when they got rid of the video and the coast gaurd out in the parking lot checking if your canoe that you were going to pull in ankle deep water had a couple lifevests in it. :lol:

Kev

[GoneFishin]

That Darn video they forced us to watch.... :lol: :lol:


Heck they didn't have VCR's back in da 60's, we didn't have ta watch the video til later. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[huntingmaniac45]

Yup I remember it all. Rubberized vulcan waders, no draw at Harsens, just line up along the dikes, lead shot, point system, shoot a hen mallard, and the next duck you were done. How about when waterfowl season meant shooting all waterfowl, duck and goose were the same season, not split up like today.:)

[WoodchuckSniper]

My very first duck hunting experience took place at Shiawasee. We played Bingo and then headed for the fields. The guys I was hunting with about messed themselves when they saw what I was wearing.

I was new to hunting. My mom had picked me up a nice used RED insulated hunting suit at some second hand store. :hide: Yeah..........I put up with a LOT of ribbing that day.
I really thought I was something though when I upgraded to a camo Army field jacket. :rolleyes:

Seems to me steel wasn't required everywhere at that point but was required on the managed areas.

I remember the days of the 100 point hen Mallards.

I sure wish my shooting would have improved as much as my equipment has over the years.

[ScavengerMan]

I pretty sure you guys missed the best part of the old days at managed areas.

I was glad when they got rid of the video and the coast gaurd out in the parking lot checking if your canoe that you were going to pull in ankle deep water had a couple lifevests in it. :lol:

Kev


Don't laugh, I got a ticket in ankle deep water for no life jackets only a couple years ago :mad: At least the managed areas have a ditch!

Fought it in court and only ended up with the fine. Believe it or not, no life jackets is a misdemeanor even in water that isn't as deep as your bath tub. :rant:

[sean]

I pretty sure you guys missed the best part of the old days at managed areas.

That Darn video they forced us to watch.... :lol: :lol:

After about 3 trips I had the whole video recited word for word. I was glad when they got rid of the video and the coast gaurd out in the parking lot checking if your canoe that you were going to pull in ankle deep water had a couple lifevests in it. :lol:

Kev

Man I hated that video!! That video took longer than the draw. I almost forgot about it....:lol::lol::lol:

[duckindude]

ima youngun so can anyone fill me in on the point system??
what is it and all that?

[8nchuck]

Ducks where allotted certain points and you could shoot 100 Pt's.

Black Duck, Mallard(hen) = 90
Drake was 30?
Teal = 15 ?
I think but god it has been a long time. so you could shoot a drake and then a hen and be done. Cans / reds off limits. blue bill Pt's.

[Shiawassee_Kid]

Ducks where allotted certain points and you could shoot 100 Pt's.

Black Duck, Mallard(hen) = 90
Drake was 30?
Teal = 15 ?
I think but god it has been a long time. so you could shoot a drake and then a hen and be done. Cans / reds off limits. blue bill Pt's.

teal/pintail and few others were 10pts. 3 of us use to skip school and do the 30 teal hunt couple times a season.

[Swamp Boss]

How about the high waters of the mid 80s?

[just ducky]

Gee's now you guys have got me digging for some old pics. I ran across this one and the guys that know me should get a kick out of it......lol The year is 1974, and like ducky mentioned ? There's an old bird hunters canvas jacket. On warm days I will still wear one, just force of habit I guess. The locatioin is at the end of Nebobish Rd in Hampton Township.
That used to be the spot for birds "Big" time. All along the shore for a mile in both directions was good, as there were pot holes in the whole area. While digging in the basement I ran across some old lead shells that I reloaded ? They have so much chamber pressure they would break my double side by open when they went off. Needless to say I put them away.....lol Wow would those puppies kick.......:) I found some old peters paper shells, and some long brass remingtons. A few super X 's I don't have many, I just keep them for the heck of it.
The barrel on that winchester is 36 inches long and it's a full choke. I couldn't hit poop with it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/MikeL/sept07.jpg


Man, Mike, now there's a retro picture if I ever saw one. I remember how hot and uncomfortable those old rubber waders were, and the canvas jackets were heavy, especially when wet. I have a similar picture of a pheasant hunt I was on in about 1974. If I had a scanner, I'd post it too.

Maybe we should make a calendar of "old days" pictures and sell 'em at the draws? Even better...we could sell 'em to support the DNR staffers who are gonna be on unemployment until all of our politicians on both sides of the aisle can "play nice with their toys".