Hunting featured on classic Successful Farming covers

Farmers have hunted on their land since humans first made the shift to agrarian culture some 12,000 years ago. Today, conservation practices allow farmers and hunters to work together to preserve habitat and species, ensuring the future of hunting in rural America.

Since hunting and farming are so intertwined, the topic has been covered in Successful Farming from the beginning, and has been featured on many covers, including these from 1911 to 1965.

• READ MORE: Revisit the past with vintage Successful Farming covers

November 1911

This simple yet beautiful drawing captures the satisfaction of the hunt. This farmer has already bagged Thanksgiving dinner for his family, and the sun is barely up.

November 1912

With a smile on his face and thoughts of rabbit stew on his mind, this farmer heads home from a successful hunt.

November 1914

These two chaps have sent their dog into the brambles to scare out a rabbit. In all the excitement, they seem to have missed one scampering off into the distance. Charles A. MacLellan created this illustration; he is best known for his Saturday Evening Post covers.

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July 1916

This little boy likely got a little too rambunctious playing hunter around the barnyard geese, and now he's in a hurry to get away. Not much is known about the artist, Rolland Atwell Galliher. Research shows he was born in Ohio in 1879.

November 1916

A young man and his trusty hound are off on a hunting adventure together. It looks like a windy, cold day, but his hand-knit scarf is keeping him warm.

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January 1923

Every farmer can feel the pain of getting hung up in a barbed-wire fence. Unfortunately for this lad, it happened just as a big, juicy rabbit dashed past. The illustration, entitled "Hard Luck," was painted by Ross Sieber for Successful Farming magazine. Not much is known about this artist either, although research turned up another cover he painted for The Peoples Home Journal, published in New York in July 1923.

February 1925

What a lovely winter scene. This hunter has hiked into the timber to hunt. He spies tracks on the other side of the creek, but even though there's snow on the ground, the water isn't yet frozen. Do you think he went across anyway?

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November 1934

This little guy set out on a pretend turkey hunt with his plunger bow and arrow, but from the look on his face and the looming shadow, he may have gotten more than he bargained for! The artist was W.W. Arnold.

October 1935

Rooster and hen pheasants fly out of the bush on this colorful cover. The ring-necked pheasant is an Asian species that was first successfully introduced to North America in 1881 in Oregon, according to the National Audubon Society. By the 1930s, they were established in their current range.

January 1936

The cover story in this issue was, "Conservation is Youth's New Goal." The young man on the cover is setting his traps under a bridge. The book lying in the snow and the low angle of the sun tells us he's likely on his way to school. Will he have captured any game to take home by the time school's out?

October 1936

This lovely fall scene shows a hunter and his dog looking across a field, no doubt searching for signs of pheasants or other game birds among the corn shocks. The artist's signature, which reads, "Bade," matches the one from the January 1936 issue.

October 1937

This month's cover story was, "Happier Hunting Grounds." The farmer in this painting isn't quite finished with chores yet, but both he and his dog are looking longingly toward the pond, where several ducks are making their landing. They both wish they were done with chores and hunting instead.

October 1938

"Game Fits In" was the October cover story in 1938, and the illustration, again by Bade, shows a beautiful English setter on point. The American Kennel Club (AKC) says about this breed, "The merry English Setter is known as the gentleman of the dog world but is game and boisterous at play."

November 1940

The photograph on this cover features a farmer identified as J.R. Campbell, who is pictured on a hunt with his trusty Irish setter. The AKC describes this breed as, "famously good family dogs: sweet-tempered companions for the folks, and rollicking playmates and tennis-ball fetchers for the children."

November 1946

The caption for this cover photo reads, "Townsman Kant and farmer Nick Fox of South Dakota check the bag." According to South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, approximately 130,000 people hunted pheasants in the state in 2021, harvesting more than a million birds.

March 1948

Two brothers and their trusty dog, members of the Gillespie family, hunt on their farm in the Rock River Valley in this cover photo. This area of northern Illinois is still popular among deer and pheasant hunters.

November 1959

Hunters take aim at a pheasant on the wing on the Warren Gregory farm in Mills County, Iowa, while a chocolate lab patiently waits to be told, "Fetch it up." There's a reason labs are America's most popular dog breed: they are famously friendly, eager, and athletic.

February 1961

A Mahaska County, Iowa, farmer and his son are on a rabbit hunting expedition along with their beagle. Beagles were bred to hunt in packs, but their lovable, happy nature makes them the most popular hound dog in America, according to the AKC.

October 1965

This issue of Successful Farming included an article with tips for hunters entitled, "Be a better shot." Here, a German shorthaired pointer searches for game. The AKC describes this breed as, "an enthusiastic gundog of all trades who thrives on vigorous exercise, positive training, and a lot of love."