ztc92
WKR
- Joined
- May 8, 2022
- Messages
- 335
Yes, it is pretty awesome to find old casings in the exact spot you decide to set up.My coolest thing was while hunting elk in Wyoming about 25 years ago. We were in the middle of absolute nowhere in the mountains, and came upon a good glassing knob that looked across a wide valley. I knelt down to start looking and found an absolutely ancient and deteriorating Winchester 45-75 casing! Some old timer apparently thought this was a good spot to look too, and took a shot at something.
It still sticks with me today and was a pretty powerful connection to past hunters. Hard to tell it's age, but that's a long obsolete caliber, so she'd been sitting there a while.
(Not a typo for those questioning. It's a 45-75, not a more common 45-70. The former was only chambered in the Winchester 1876 rifle and was designed to "improve" a bit on the 45-70's performance. Fun read if you want to look it up.)
OK...you win! The toe bones make it so, way cool!A few years back, my dad and I were on a fly in sheep hunt. We came across a caribou that we couldn’t pass up.
Half way through breaking it down to pack out, dad had to “go set a bear trap” (aka taking a dump)
Enjoying his mountain side bear trap taking in the veiw, he looks over and see’s an old leg hold mossed into the mountainside. In it, 3 toe bones still.
Only thing we can think of, is the trap had a marten in it, and maybe a wolverine drug it up above treeline? We were km’s away from the nearest marten type habitat / timber.
We ended up forgetting the trap on a rock by the lake, luckily the next year we flew in, it was still there, with toe bones intact.
Looks like Laetiporus sulphureus A.K.A. Chicken of the woods.
Speaking of the old 45 calibers, My father found a loaded 45-70 a half mile from the stones and I found this old 45-60 case maybe two miles away.My coolest thing was while hunting elk in Wyoming about 25 years ago. We were in the middle of absolute nowhere in the mountains, and came upon a good glassing knob that looked across a wide valley. I knelt down to start looking and found an absolutely ancient and deteriorating Winchester 45-75 casing! Some old timer apparently thought this was a good spot to look too, and took a shot at something.
It still sticks with me today and was a pretty powerful connection to past hunters. Hard to tell it's age, but that's a long obsolete caliber, so she'd been sitting there a while.
(Not a typo for those questioning. It's a 45-75, not a more common 45-70. The former was only chambered in the Winchester 1876 rifle and was designed to "improve" a bit on the 45-70's performance. Fun read if you want to look it up.)
That's a hunting blind. Tons of them all over the Mountains in AZ.Went trout fishing on the Black River, south of Springerville, AZ last month. Beautiful country for sure. About 100 yards uphill from our campsite were these two rock fortifications constructed against rock outcroppings. They even had rifle ports in the outward facing walls and, at one time overhead cover. Would love to know the history behind them and would love to hear they stories they could tell.
John
Hadn’t considered that. I suppose it could be. There were two of them within 100 yards of each other.That's a hunting blind. Tons of them all over the Mountains in AZ.
For the win!!A few years back, my dad and I were on a fly in sheep hunt. We came across a caribou that we couldn’t pass up.
Half way through breaking it down to pack out, dad had to “go set a bear trap” (aka taking a dump)
Enjoying his mountain side bear trap taking in the veiw, he looks over and see’s an old leg hold mossed into the mountainside. In it, 3 toe bones still.
Only thing we can think of, is the trap had a marten in it, and maybe a wolverine drug it up above treeline? We were km’s away from the nearest marten type habitat / timber.
We ended up forgetting the trap on a rock by the lake, luckily the next year we flew in, it was still there, with toe bones intact.
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A lot of water sources in AZ have more than 1 man made blind on it. I sat on a small tank (man made pond) and when the sun came up spotted another blind 70 yards directly across the water from me.Hadn’t considered that. I suppose it could be. There were two of them within 100 yards of each other.
John
Apologies in advance for a long post. I used to work as a bounty hunter. Back in ’95, I was tracking a group of escaped convicts into Montana's isolated Oxbow Quadrangle. I never found the men, but I did find a scrap of cloth, enough blood to paint the sheriff's office, a shotgun shell, and an old-fashioned Indian arrow. Seemed odd, so I took the arrow to an archaeologist who identified it as a replica of the arrows used by Cheyenne Dog Soldiers.
After much research, I found a long list of people who had disappeared into the Oxbow, including the story of a wild Indian child captured in the woods in the early 20th century. I know it sounds crazy, but eventually I returned to the Oxbow with the archeologist and began searching for a lost tribe of Indians.
After a week, we were maybe 50 miles in and nearing the end of our supplies. While packing our gear to head back to civilization, we were attacked by Cheyenne Indians who took us to their encampment in a valley only accessible through a tunnel behind a waterfall.
It was scary. They even shot my dog with an arrow. But eventually, tempers cooled, and I learned that the “wild Indian child” from all those years ago was now their tribal leader.
Befriending a hardy band of Native American Dog Soldiers who escaped the 1864 Sand Creek massacre and had been living in isolation for 128 years in the Montana wilderness was a unique experience. But if I had to pick, that secret tunnel through the waterfall was the coolest thing I’ve found in the backcountry.
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I saw that movie. "Last of the Dog Men".Apologies in advance for a long post. I used to work as a bounty hunter. Back in ’95, I was tracking a group of escaped convicts into Montana's isolated Oxbow Quadrangle. I never found the men, but I did find a scrap of cloth, enough blood to paint the sheriff's office, a shotgun shell, and an old-fashioned Indian arrow. Seemed odd, so I took the arrow to an archaeologist who identified it as a replica of the arrows used by Cheyenne Dog Soldiers.
After much research, I found a long list of people who had disappeared into the Oxbow, including the story of a wild Indian child captured in the woods in the early 20th century. I know it sounds crazy, but eventually I returned to the Oxbow with the archeologist and began searching for a lost tribe of Indians.
After a week, we were maybe 50 miles in and nearing the end of our supplies. While packing our gear to head back to civilization, we were attacked by Cheyenne Indians who took us to their encampment in a valley only accessible through a tunnel behind a waterfall.
It was scary. They even shot my dog with an arrow. But eventually, tempers cooled, and I learned that the “wild Indian child” from all those years ago was now their tribal leader.
Befriending a hardy band of Native American Dog Soldiers who escaped the 1864 Sand Creek massacre and had been living in isolation for 128 years in the Montana wilderness was a unique experience. But if I had to pick, that secret tunnel through the waterfall was the coolest thing I’ve found in the backcountry.
View attachment 735050