FROM THE BOB MUNDEN ARCHIVES: (2008) Q: Do you hunt? Bob Munden: Absolutely! Hunting opportunities was one of the primary reasons I moved our family to Montana in 1978. Becky and I discovered Montana in 1969 when we first went on tour performing for school assemblies. Our first show was in Freedonia, Arizona. Then we traveled up through Utah doing sometimes 4 shows per day at schools in different towns. The schedule was really tough. After performing all over Utah, our schedule took us to Montana, where we covered that state quite extensively as well. It was love at first sight. You know that we don’t have anything to say about where we are born, but we do have a lot to say about where we end up. Montana is where I wanted to end up. Here in the Rocky Mountains there is still an abundance of wildlife on public land and more freedom to enjoy the shooting sports without the hassles and expenses encountered in some other states. Every fall we plan our family get-togethers around the big-game hunting season. The season ends around Thanksgiving, which works perfectly for socializing and hunting. Our daughters and grandkids love to hunt with me, I think mainly because I have great eye sight (would you believe better than 20/20 even at age 66?) and I have a knack for finding game. I have been hunting all of my life, first in my imagination, later with a pellet gun, a bow, shotguns, rifles and handguns. My early years were spent in Anaheim, California where I hunted with a slingshot or pellet rifle among the walnut groves. At that time there was a bounty on crows because of the damage they were doing to commercial crops. I used to hunt where Disneyland is today. It was nothing but orange and walnut groves. In fact, I watched them bulldoze the trees to start building Disneyland. A side note here: When Walt Disney cut the ribbon to open his park in 1955, I was right there. I had sneaked in through the area of the Jungle Cruise attraction . The park wasn’t surrounded by fences yet. Later, when my family of four brothers and one sister moved to the San Bernardino Mountains, I was in hunter’s heaven. We lived in Big Bear, California which, at that time, had a very small population. I roamed free and studied and hunted deer and birds. I mowed lawns and did other odd jobs to make money, then I bought a bow and became quite proficient with it. My uncle Floyd gave me a rifle so I could help feed my family. Though we were quite poor because my Dad was severely injured during WWII and couldn’t work for a long time, we never starved. When I could, I would go down to the desert to hunt as well. Though I was just a kid in high school, I helped other hunters find game. Word got around that I knew the habits of deer and could guide hunters. A few came up from “down the hill,” in the Los Angeles area, to hunt with me. I charged $50.00 to guide and $100.00 for a successful hunt. The money I earned paid for my school clothes and shoes and all-important basketball shoes. I hunted all over those mountains and later “down the hill” in Hacienda Heights and the Hollywood hills, which are now filled with homes. Sometimes I would ride my bicycle from Big Bear all the way down to Apple Valley and back. Those were the days… In the middle of my Fast-Draw competition years, I suddenly found myself married with a baby girl. Hmm… A wife, a baby – and in between jobs while living in Central California, our cupboards were as empty as my wallet. So what did I do? I took what little money I had, bought a small bag of marbles and a Wrist-Rocket slingshot; sought out some quail – and put meat on the table. Crawling through prickly brush with a mouth full of marbles is not something I recommend. But, I fed my family. I love to hunt mule deer because they are crafty. They are very challenging physically and mentally to hunt. If possible, I hunt every year with our daughters, son-in-laws, grandson and granddaughter. My wife Becky hunted with me for years but has retired from it. Still, she really enjoys the play-by-play stories on our return. We hunt mainly close to home, driving 40 to 50 miles to our favorite spots. We drive the roads, use binoculars to search the area for game and then trek up the mountains to stalk and make a good shot. Because we have all put in the time at the gun range to practice and be ready, the hunt is usually successful. For me, hunting season is the best part of the year. Sometimes it is just two of us and sometimes we all go in several vehicles. Some of the best memories of my life are of hunting with my family. I have hunted in several states and in New Zealand. I have flown to Alaska several times over the years to hunt and bag big game. When it is feasible, I hunt with a handgun. I favor my nickel-plated, S&W .44 magnum model 29 with 8 3/8 inch barrel, or my stainless-steel, Freedom Arms .454 Casull with the 7 1/2 inch barrel. I don’t use a scope on my handguns. If I am close enough to use a handgun I don’t need a scope. I made a video of a 75-yard shot with my Freedom Arms on a Brown Bear on Admiralty Island in 2001. Do, I hunt? Yeah, I do. – Bob Munden
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 17:37:53 +0000
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