Domesticated animals aren’t the only types of animals that provide sustenance to humans. The human species has been hunting wild animals for over 1 million years for food, but also for materials for clothing, and even for tools! Humans also fish in waterways, lakes, ponds, and oceans. Our archival collection is filled with photographs of people fishing and hunting in and around Oxford County. We also have a “Wild Life Cook Book” in our collection that includes recipes for the hunted game that we are familiar with currently, such as deer, rabbit, partridge, duck, etc., along with game animals that many of us no longer consume in North American culture, like muskrat or squirrel. Along with providing food for people, hunting and fishing have also become a hobby and sport, with people taking part in derbies and other competitions.

Featured below are a few of the hunting and fishing-related archival records from the Oxford County Archives’ collection and some recipes from the “Wild Life Cook Book”.

Source note: The “Wild Life Cook Book” was compiled by the Oxford Fish & Game Protection Association in Woodstock, Ontario. Published by Gateway Publishing Co. Ltd. (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Circa 1970s.

An unidentified boy measuring a fish he caught, circa the early 1950s. Photo taken for the Woodstock "Sentinel-Review" newspaper.

Two boys proudly displaying the fish they caught somewhere in Oxford County, circa the early 1950s. Photo taken for the Woodstock "Sentinel-Review" newspaper.

Men showing off they fish they caught somewhere in Oxford County, circa the early 1950s. Photo taken for the Woodstock "Sentinel-Review" newspaper.

A man posing with a large fish he caught, likely a Northern Pike, 1940s. Photo taken for the Woodstock "Sentinel-Review" newspaper.

Charles Swartz deer hunting, mid-1900s. Source: West Oxford W.I. Tweedsmuir volume 1.

Mr. Hambly landing a pike at the mouth of Reynolds Creek in West Oxford, circa 1900. Source: West Oxford W.I. Tweedsmuir volume 1.

A postcard featuring a woman fishing on the Thames River outside of Woodstock, circa the 1910s.

The Wildlife Cook Book, published by the Oxford Fish & Game Protection Association.

Quail recipes from the Wildlife Cook Book, published by the Oxford Fish and Game Protection Association.

Rabbit recipes from the Wildlife Cook Book, published by the Oxford Fish and Game Protection Association.

Skunk recipes from the Wildlife Cook Book, published by the Oxford Fish and Game Protection Association.

Squirrel recipes from the Wildlife Cook Book, published by the Oxford Fish and Game Protection Association.