Vintage Hunting Gallery - Volume 9

The Rifles They Carried

From family heirlooms to sporterized military surplus rifles, the guns that hunters carry always tell a story. You can see that in the following vintage photos, these men and women pose not just with their winter’s meat, but also with the tool that helped bring home the bacon. Enjoy this trip down memory lane.

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1 of 10 — Colorado, Early 1900s

At their cabin on the Williams Fork River in northwestern Colorado, these men each have a dog and a rifle—it isn’t clear which one they like more. Rifles from left to right are a Winchester Model 1885 single-shot rifle, a Mauser bolt-action repeater, and a Ballard No. 5 Pacific single-shot rifle.

Featured in Hunting the American West. Courtesy of Museum of Northwest Colorado.

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2 of 10 — Wyoming 1930

Grancel Fitz was a hunting legend. A writer and commercial photographer who lived in New York City, Fitz traveled the wilds of North America with a .30-06 Remington Model 30. Here, with signature pipe and rifle, he poses with an incredibly wide typical elk from Blind Basin, Wyoming.

Featured in Vintage Hunting Album.

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3 of 10 — Colorado 1893

The name Augusta “Gusty” Wallihan evoked fear in Colorado mule deer in the late 1800s. Gusty was a crack shot with her .40-70 Remington-Hepburn single shot and didn’t mind posing for photos in her Sunday best.

Featured in A Mule Deer Retrospective.

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4 of 10 — Ontario 1955

On the porch of a cabin in Cedar Lake, Ontario, Francis Buckley shows off his typical whitetail that scored 160-3/9 points. He killed it with a .348 Winchester Model 71.

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5 of 10 — Montana 1927

With a 53-2/8 spread, Paul H. Temple’s elk was one for the books. His son entered the elk years later. He killed the Jefferson County bull with a Savage Model 99.

Featured in Vintage Hunting Album.

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6 of 10 — Colorado 1911

Hunting near Dallas Divide in Ouray County, Colorado, Sophie N. Golden shot this non-typical mule deer in mid-September 1911. Boone and Crockett's records indicate that she was shooting a 170-grain bullet with her custom 32-inch .32-40 Winchester made in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1894.

Featured in A Mule Deer Retrospective.

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7 of 10 — British Columbia 1935

This massive grizzly had paws eight inches wide and fat on its rump five inches thick. R.H. Johnson was hunting the Iskut River country when he used his .300 Savage to kill this bear with a bullet between the eyes—at eight feet.

Featured in Vintage Hunting Album.

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8 of 10 — Wyoming 1961

Lavonne M. Bucey-Bredehoeft was only 12 years old when this whopper non-typical mule deer stepped in front of a bullet from her Springfield .30-06. It scored 269 points and weighed more than 357 pounds field dressed.

Featured in Vintage Hunting Album.

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9 of 10 — Colorado 1951

Even without brow tines, W. E. Canterbury’s typical mule deer is an absolute stud at 203-4/8 points. He was hunting the West Creek area near Howard, Colorado, with his .30-40 Winchester in October.

Featured in Vintage Hunting Album.

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