From hunting clothing to the gear and wild game that's hunted, vintage hunting photos and illustrations tell a visual story that's far more powerful than words can convey. Only in recent history do so few people hunt in human society. Today's culture is a drastic exception to the centuries of humanity who have relied on the pursuit of game animals for sustenance and sport.
These photos only tell the most recent history of the hunting culture, largely documenting the last two centuries. Each photo is published here courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.
Bird Hunting in West Virginia, 1900
One photographic print on stereo card: stereograph. Titled: Man with gun and dog in woods looking up a tree; bird in foreground., c 1900 Copyright by Theo. Brinkmier, Moundsville, West Virginia. (Library of Congress)
Bison Hunting, Currie & Ives art, 1871
Currie & Ives produced prints from paintings by fine artists as black and white lithographs that were hand colored. Lithographic prints could be reproduced quickly and purchased inexpensively, and the firm called itself "the Grand Central Depot for Cheap and Popular Prints" and advertised its lithographs as "colored engravings for the people." The firm adopted the name "Currier and Ives" in 1857. — Wikipedia
Titled: Man on horseback with rifle riding next to bison.
New York : Published by Currier & Ives, c1871. (Library of Congress)
Deer Hunting in the Adirondacks, 1903
Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Turkey Hunting in Florida, 1926
Photograph shows two hunters using a tree branch to carry five dead wild turkeys in Florida. (Library of Congress)
Family Hunt near Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1889
The photograph shows a family, perhaps out for the day, on a hunting trip near Broken Bow, Nebraska.
Photo: Solomon D. Butcher (Library of Congress)
Deer Hunt Featuring Native Americans Wearing Deerskins, 1603
Le Moyne de Morgues, Jacques, 1533?-1588. (Library of Congress)
Indians of North America--Subsistence activities--Florida--1560-1570
Coyote Hunting in Custer County, Nebraska, 1889
Art Pulliam hunting coyotes in West Union, Custer County, Nebraska.
Butcher, Solomon D. (Solomon Devore), 1856-1927 (Library of Congress)
Bird-Hunting Fashion Designer Featured in Vogue magazine, 1967
Ann Bonfoey Taylor, wearing hunting outfit, with bird in Colorado.
Taylor, who passed away in 2007, was an American aviator, flight instructor and fashion designer. Born in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, she grew up in Quincy, Illinois, with three brothers. When she was six years old her father introduced her to flying in an open cockpit biplane, and when she was 12 he hired an instructor to teach her to fly.
Photograph taken for Vogue magazine photo shoot for May 1967 issue. (Library of Congress)
