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CLA Auction: FRONTIER HUNTING POUCH WITH POWDER HORN
By Cory Joe Stewart Pouch 9” X 5 ½” Horn 17” around the curve.
By Heinz Ahlers Photography by Gordon Barlow
Cory Joe Stewart has a flair for the segment of the longrifle culture that lived in the upcountry, above the fall line of the rivers and often over the Blue Ridge. These “over mountain” folk or “woodsies” were largely self sustaining. English or city made goods would have traveled 300 miles or more on a packhorse to reach their hands and be priced accordingly. In this environment you made what you could from what was at hand. You traded with a neighbor for those things they had a knack for making. The over mountain folk enjoyed art but they liked the simpler forms. Their schools of gunmaking, reflected this preference, the Bean rifles, the Bull family rifles, the early rifles of eastern Kentucky and upcountry Georgia. The young folks were outfitted in hand-me-downs, so simple things, well made and “lasty” were prized.
The pouch and horn Cory Joe has donated to the 2020 CLF live Auction exemplifies these values. This is a small game hunting bag, for family meat hunting, not extended long hunts. A wide comfortable canvas strap, that has been waxed and oiled and gathered some grit, suspends the bag. The bag is deer hide, and there is an iron buckled leather adjustment section on the canvas strap, perhaps salvaged from some harness. That touch accommodates different sized family members sent out to make meat.
The horn has a bit of style to it. A piece of deer antler tine has been hand filed and fitted for the spout. Some brass tacks (perhaps from the same harness that was salvaged for the adjustment strap) give it a little shine. Sturdy straps secure the horn to the pouch. It won’t do to have the horn dangle. The horn plug is quickly carved wood. The younger folks will let those plugs get away from them.
This is a nice bag and horn set. It will work as well as its ancestors and looks as good as it should. Would be right at home with an iron mounted rifle on a deer hunt.
Cory Joe Stewart’s contact information is: coryjoes@gmail.com
To see all the Artists’ contributions to the 2020 CLF Live Fund Raising Auction, visit our website at http://www.contemporarylongriflefoundation.org/2020-live-auction/
Larry Pletcher, editor
