Badger Deer Camp - Badger Sportsman Magazine

in 1942. I can remember always feeling excited when
I slipped my license into the plastic sleeve with the big
safety pin attached to the back of my deer hunting jacket.
Although it has been years since I last deer hunted; I still
have my bright orange license holder with the big pin. In
1945 the wearing of red clothing was required. For many,
in the 1950s and ‘60s, the red and black checkered wool
Mackinaw jacket became a symbol of the deer hunting
season. In 1951 orange hunting clothing was allowed
under the “red clothing law”. In 1953 deer hunters were
required to register their deer at checking stations. Sports
shops, gas stations and bars, throughout the northland,
became registration stations.
The stations became
places of great excitement
as hunters showed up
with their deer in trunks
of cars, in trailers, or tied
to the fenders, hoods or
roofs of their cars. There
was always a story to be
told. Some bragging was
always allowed. Then there was the shy
kid who shot his first deer and he was marked by the deer
blood smeared on his cheeks. The blood on the cheeks
was part of the rite of manhood for a first time successful
deer hunter.
Metals tags were issued to hunters for tagging their deer.
I still occasionally see some of them that have survived the
years and I think I have one or two somewhere in the
basement yet.
Bucks Only
Deer hunting was for “buck-only” then. In 1957
Wisconsin allowed the first party-permit. As I remember
it, if you had a group with five deer hunting licenses, then
you could apply for an additional permit that allowed
your group to shoot a doe. In those days some hunters
bought licenses for their wives to quality for the partydoe-permit
if their group wasn‘t large enough. Regardless
of how bad a season might be, at least the party-permit
put some meat in the freezer. But there was always that
feeling that real men shot only bucks.
Everyone wanted the big buck but deer hunting in the
1950s and ‘60s was as much about putting meat in the
freezer as it was the big antler spread on the wall. Many
of the people that deer hunted in those days had survived
LOOKING BACK
the Great Depression and deer hunting was a good way
to fill the freezer. Hunting exclusively for trophies was not
in vogue then. Of course, no one would pass up a shot at
a big buck but the little spike buck put meat on the table
and that was ok.
Also in the 1950s and ‘60s hunters did not use stands.
In fact they were not legal in those days. Everyone hunted
from the ground. Some hunters had a favorite tree stump
they sat on, or a tree they leaned their back on, while over
looking a deer trail.
Tracking Snow
One of the hottest topics of discussion in the days
leading into Saturday morning’s opening of the season
was whether there would be tracking snow. This was
important in those days and even the television stations
would track the snow so that deer hunters would be
informed. It is tough to imagine that television stations
today would do that.
Regardless, if you believe in global warming or not, it
seemed that we had a lot colder weather back in the 1950s
and ‘60s. Seldom did we not have snow for the opening
of the deer season or at least a good snow storm sometime
during the week of deer hunting. I remember one of my
first deer hunting seasons, in the late ‘60s, when we had
a major blizzard on opening day. It was a slippery and
harrowing ride back to our cabin that night.
It could always
be expected to be
cold. One year my
grandfather’s party
shot a small buck.
It was suppose to
get real cold that
night so he laid
the deer out like it was
standing up. The next morning it was frozen solid
and he stood the deer up like it was just standing there
and took a photograph of my cousin standing behind it
holding its tail. If you had not known that the deer was
dead you certainly could not tell it from the photo.
Going North
Deer hunting in the 1950s and ‘60s was a sport for the
northwoods. It conjured up visions of gray, bare hardwood
trees and bright green pine trees with snow drifts. Everyone
went north because that was where the deer were. No
NOVEMBER 2011 ❘ Badger Sportsman ❘ badgersportsman.com ❘ 21