Jump to content
cactusjack

Elk hunting with Lee Marvin

Recommended Posts

Lee Marvin went on a guided elk hunt back in 1963 on my grandfather's ranch in South Western Colorado.  Here is a picture of him and my dad and granddad and the elk that he shot.  There is an article, supposedly written by Lee Marvin in Gun World Magazine May of 9164.  My grandfather is right behind Lee and my dad, 18 at the time, is sporting the tactical plaid shirt and glasses.  Just lost my dad last week, but photos like these keep him alive.  

 

https://culturepulp.typepad.com/culturepulp/2008/08/elk-hunting-with-lee-marvin.html

dad elk hunt.jpg

  • Like 17

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's really really cool Steve. I can see the resemblance between you and your dad. Lee Marvin was in some great western movies. I really like The man who shot Liberty Valance, "All right dude, this time right between the eyes". Did your dad or grandfather ever say if he was as tough and mean elk hunting as he came across in some of his movies?

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great Photo 

A motley crew there.

I prefer the new age; Swaro vision, bipod, tripod, Claw,  6.5x.284 with 20x scope, Kuiu, Samsung 10 with 16 pixel camera, hunting boots, disposable wipes to clean the blood and polish the antlers for "the" photo, a machine mule, a crew of 8-10 instead of a measly 4...Imagine where we will be in another 40 years.

 

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A great read.  My folks had a ranch in the Dolores area,  kinda cool to know old Lee spent time up there.  He lived in Tucson for years, a friend had the AC company that did his service, and told me that when his guys were out there changing his system, Lee pulled out a cocktail cart in the afternoon, and informed the crew it was quitting time and he wasnt drinking alone.  My room mate ran across him at the local liquor store one afternoon and the cashier asked him for ID to take his check.  He looked at her and asked   " You really need that?' in his deep voice, she looked up and started stammering. He then drove off in an old pickup truck.  Colorful guy for sure.

Sorry to hear about your Dad,  I keep my Dad's photo albums of his hunting and fishing trips and go through them every now and then myself, so I know what you meant.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Muledeer, ask your friend if he still has that 30-06. My dad told me it has a white streak on the stock where a horse rubbed against an aspen tree.  The white dust was pushed into the grain.   

Another part to the story, that is kind of mentioned in the story, is it was a elk and mule deer hunt in early fall.  My dad told me they were hunting during deer season,  elk wasn't open.  Lee's schedule didn't work for the elk season.  The guides were a game warden and a sheriff's deputy.   There was a Sony camera crew there to get the story. The whole "let the biggest one live" was a marketing ploy. They wanted to get hunters into the area.  And the one he shot had just shot his load in a cow, he waited until he finished,  was the gentleman thing to do. 

My granddad was told what booze to have on hand for Lee, but when Lee found out my grandpa didn't drink, he put it all away and didn't drink on the ranch.  He did smoke some big cigars, the one that my dad put a cigar load into, got a big laugh around the fire.  My granddad was in the army and was in the Battle of the Bulge, Lee Marvin was a Marine and was wounded in the Pacific.   They had fun swapping military tales at night.  This is all per my dad, who from that time on, was a huge Lee Marvin fan.  He raised me watching all his movies.  

 

 

  • Like 5

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's some really cool history. That was when Hollywood actors were men, educated, and war heros.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Viper said:

That's some really cool history. That was when Hollywood actors were men, educated, and war heros.

I remember watching Carson one night when Lee was the guest. They were talking about WWll, and Marvin said That Bob Sherran (sp) or Captain Kangaroo was the bravest man he ever saw, said he was directing troops on Iwo Jima taking fire and still standing there.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, cactusjack said:

Muledeer, ask your friend if he still has that 30-06. My dad told me it has a white streak on the stock where a horse rubbed against an aspen tree.  The white dust was pushed into the grain.   

Another part to the story, that is kind of mentioned in the story, is it was a elk and mule deer hunt in early fall.  My dad told me they were hunting during deer season,  elk wasn't open.  Lee's schedule didn't work for the elk season.  The guides were a game warden and a sheriff's deputy.   There was a Sony camera crew there to get the story. The whole "let the biggest one live" was a marketing ploy. They wanted to get hunters into the area.  And the one he shot had just shot his load in a cow, he waited until he finished,  was the gentleman thing to do. 

My granddad was told what booze to have on hand for Lee, but when Lee found out my grandpa didn't drink, he put it all away and didn't drink on the ranch.  He did smoke some big cigars, the one that my dad put a cigar load into, got a big laugh around the fire.  My granddad was in the army and was in the Battle of the Bulge, Lee Marvin was a Marine and was wounded in the Pacific.   They had fun swapping military tales at night.  This is all per my dad, who from that time on, was a huge Lee Marvin fan.  He raised me watching all his movies.  

 

 

I’ll ask him, I know when his grandma passed away a lot of stuff went in an estate sale, some guns were kept by the family.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very cool, Loved Lee Marvin. Love  the old stories................BOB!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, muledeerarea33? said:

I’ll ask him, I know when his grandma passed away a lot of stuff went in an estate sale, some guns were kept by the family.

 I lowered the Browning custom model and turned the Redfield variable back down to four-power.

My dad told me that Browning made him that rifle just for this hunt.  In 1963 most people had fixed power scopes and the Redfield Variable 3-9 was new and cost $100.00, about 2 times as much as a fixed power.

How it is specifically  mentioned in the article goes along with my dad's version of what really happened, imo.

s-l1600.jpg

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×