What I really like about those early "Pioneers" is that fact that when they hunted with a six gun they did it on their own, usually alone, many times from horse back or a back pack. Many times they just slept in a tent, built their own fires, took a bath in the river, never seen another person for a week, maybe two weeks at a time & packed out their kills on their back.
Sometimes if they were lucky they had horses or maybe an airplane picked them up after several days alone. I know Al Goerg, Elmer Keith, Bob Hagel, & Larry Kelly did it that way. Skeeter hunted mostly the southwest but spent many lonely nights alone hunting Texas & New Mexico, no guide, no bunk house, some one to do their cooking, skinning, wash their clothes, etc. They did all those things on their own, that's real hunting.

The problem is, many people can't do that & that's why I've always said you have to start somewhere, if it's a game preserve or private hunting lodge, go for it. You have to get some hunting experience somewhere & then go for it on your own, that's when you've really arrived.

That's why I've invited so many people over the years to come to Idaho & hunt public land, free ranging, deer, elk, bear, moose, antelope, small game, etc. We've done it on foot, on horseback, flew into the largest primitive area in the lower 48 states & spent days backpacking & sleeping under the stars & everybody except one I've enjoyed. Most all have taken game & quite a few I've invited back, some many times.

Others I've gave advice over the phone or emails to where they could find good deer, elk or bear hunting. I think sharing it has been my way of giving the eastern hunter a bit of what I've taken for granted all my life. Many can't do what I get to do just by walking out the front door.

I've probably had 25 Texans share my campfires, some brought their wives. Moss Cosper of Dodd City, Texas, Dub Carney of Whitesboro, Texas, Merzon Culpepper of Collinsville, Texas, Ed Tressler of Whitesboro, Texas, Jimmy Lillis of Sherman, Texas, Billy Don Culpepper of Houston, Texas, R. C. McAfee of Sherman, Texas just to name a few. Russel Cottle of Oklamhoma, Tyrone Phillips of North Carolina, Sal Vasquez of California, Ken O'Neill of North Carolina, Glenn Swaggart of Kansas,Ernie Bishop of Wyoming, James from Jersey,Jeff Hoover of Maryland, Mike Barranti of Pennsylvania, a Marine Wounded Warrior from California, plus dozens of others.

Sharing a public land hunt with someone who's never hunted anything but eastern style hunting is an eye opener. Many places there is no game at all, you can spend a lot of time just finding an area that holds game. Many people won't tell you anything, if they give up their secrets they are pretty much shooting themselves in the foot compared to private land hunting. You really need to experience both types of hunting to really appreciate what hunting is really all about. Doing it only one way can give you some false ideas about what hunting is all about, I know it did me when I first got stationed it Texas back in the 60's. Wow!! Good hunting to everyone!

Dick