In another thread, one of our members shared his preferences of dogs and a few other things related to hunting.
I thought it was interesting to hear not only what his preferences were, but why.
What's your gun, dog, game, and any other preferences in hunting? Why?
Oh, and pictures is always better.
Brits, of course..Loyal, easily trained,great buddies..good bird dogs....Game? Pheasants, cuz I was raised shooting them, 2nd? Prairie grouse, all kinds..love chasing them in the sandhills of Nebraska and on the Montana prairies..Heading to Saskatchewan this year....Guns, Doubles...Lefevers...Brits. Like hunting alone, just me and a dog..or with a couple of good friends...
From the department of redundancy department...with thanks to Last Dollar.
Goldens, of course..Loyal, easily trained, great buddies..good bird dogs....Game? Pheasants, cuz I was raised shooting them, 2nd? Ruffed grouse, all kinds..love chasing them in the northern forests of Minnesota, Wisconsin/Michigan and in the Alaskan forests..Heading to somewhere this year....Guns, Doubles...French guns…hammer guns...410s. Like hunting alone, just me and a dog..or with a couple of good friends...
Dog--My Uncle's long deceased
Weimareiner. Shotgun--My Remington doubles. Rifle--My Ruger single shot. Game--Pheasants. Car--Mercedes Benz. Food--BBQ'ed meat. Drink--Bourbon. Tobacco--Cigars and pipe. Women--HOT.
Yay! Another hunting, dog and gun thread. For me, I like to hunt any upland game bird involving a bird dog. It seems I mainly hunt Ruffed Grouse and Bobwhite Quail. I like to hunt Huns a lot too but they seem more scarce than they once were. I have English Pointers primarily and a couple setters. I like moderately big running dogs for quail but 300 yards is about all I want in terms of range. Closer....100 yards in a woods. Intelligent dogs will tighten up in cover and move out in the open. I like English sidelocks for their grace and balance.....Hussey I'm fond of. It's not so expensive that if I damage it it would be the end of the world. I also really like Browning super 20 b. I guess because I have used one for many years. I do believe, and as outdoor writers have illustrated in the past, S x S shotguns point better in a dense dark background. I like a 12, 20 or 16 bore. The smaller gauges are cripplers IMHO but if you want to use one, be my guest. I like a 12 bore with one oz loads and I shoot that load in a 20 and 16 bore as well.
Labs. They truly are the most versatile dog. From the Canadian Border down Montana's coulees and watersheds, over her stubble fields and CRP, across the Dakotas and their Pot Hole lakes, cattail sloughs and shelter belts, into Nebraska and her corn fields and river bottoms and through Western Kansas big wheat fields, ground swells and drainage depressions, Prairie Grouse, pheasants, ducks or geese, the lab will find them all and bring them to bag.
Hardy, intelligent, kind and trusting dogs, they are. And it matters not how fancy or plain the shotgun you carry, just don't miss more than two in a row or the cold shoulder they will turn to you will freeze water.
Guns, well for forty years in was mostly British SxSs, but of late, I tote a wisp of a Lindner FW that is a quick as a ferret and deadly as a cobra. She is easy for these old legs to pack around and pretty to look at.
Thanks Chuck, good way to pass time waiting for another fall.
For me it's springers and pheasants. My board name is the name of my first springer. I've owned five over 30+ years, all around 30 lbs. give or take, all have chased ringnecks with headstrong joy that keeps me engaged and (mostly) smiling. My older dog will be semi-retired this season ... I'm thinking there might be an English Cocker in my future.
I like 1-1/8 oz. from a 6-3/4 lb. side-by-side -- a 16 ga. RBL or M-21.
Oh yeah, ruffed grouse too, in the early season, with a 28 ga. Parker Repro. The photo below is more than 10 years ago.
I like hunting alone most of the time, otherwise with my brother or one or two friends.
Jay
I hunt over Springers because I learned shooting over them, and they are versatile. I also got an outstanding breeding. I hunt pheasant, grouse, and woodcock, also some waterfowl. It's what there is in Vermont.
Labs...
Hardy, intelligent, kind and trusting dogs, they are. And it matters not how fancy or plain the shotgun you carry, just don't miss more than two in a row or the cold shoulder they will turn to you will freeze water.
So how do you handle hens? When I'd take my golden to the put-n-take area I'd shoot both hens and roosters, then when I'd go hunt wild pheasants I could only shoot roosters. If a hen flushed I'd get the "Whatthehells wrong with you! I'm doing my part!" look. If I simply fired in the air, hoping to appease the dog, she'd give me the "Well, aren't we incompetent!" look. It was like I was damned no matter what I did.
Steve
I have hunted over RCC's labs several times, and he does not exaggerate.
My first dog, an American Water Spaniel, is now three. Together we've chased roosters and chickens, bobs and blues, dove and ducks too. On the bucket list are ruffs and timberdoodles.
I prefer a 16 sxs, with friends over good dogs. Biddable trumps breed anytime.
Here's Cocoa at just over a year old, having made her first retrieve on a prairie chicken in Eastern Nebraska; opening day my friend & mentor and I chase them with hammer guns.
I own 12 and 16 gauge SxS. All pre WWII. They are American, British, Belgian, French, German and Czech. I love them all.
I hunt pheasant, sharpies, huns, ruffed grouse and want to try my hand at quail. I love the open plains of Saskatchewan and Alberta and the fields and draws of North and South Dakota. I love the great northern forest that sweeps across North America from Manitoba to New England. I hunt marshes and potholes for ducks and big prairie fields for geese. I love it all.
I have had 4 llewellin setters, sadly three gone now. But I have hunted with other breeds, labs, GSP's, Springers etc. Am even conspiring with a hunting partner to acquire a Llewellin and a Gordon and see what gets produced. But mostly, I love them all.
Chuck, my preference is to be hunting. Fine guns, fine quarry, fine places, fine dogs, fine friends.
No finer way to spend the day!
Llewellin Setters, the epitome of an upland bird dog. Fox 16 gauge shotguns (any grade will do)there is not much comparison for handling, reliability and grace, however, honorable mention goes to Uncle Dan's Lefevers. Hunting, Kansas Quail, Prairie Grouse and Pheasant in that order but I do enjoy hunting the mountain grouse of the Colorado inter-mountain region.
Cancasback those are some good looking dogs that you have there.
[So how do you handle hens? Steve
Steve,
When the girls are working a hen, I tell those hunting over my dogs not to get trigger happy. It always tickles me a bit that so many folks over the years are amazed that I can tell them before the flush wherther the bird will be a rooster or a hen.
You must understand though, my girls are not allowed into the field until they will absolutely hunt under control and that they each have more than a hundred wild roosters a year shot over them in the 110 or more days they spend it the field each year. Under control means that when I call "no bird" they immediately ignore the flyer and go back to hunting. After a season or two, never more than that, they will have been called off enough hen flyers that their body language differs when they are working a hen they know will not be shot and a rooster which in all probablity will be.
This is Belle, now a pensioner who has brought more than 1200 roosters to the bag. I would have to look in her journal to tell you what how many more is.
Belle and one of those who have gunned over her.
Shelby, Belle's understudy, is now nudging a 1000 roosters for her gunners.
Tess is Shelby's understudy and because I did not feel she was up to my expectations, did not go afield until her second Autumn. Now four and a with a late start she is has learned from just a bit more than 200 roosters.
There are seven of them in my kennel and they hunt anything with feathers I ask them to and for many, many wonderful sports, some as young as 12 and some as old as 83 and in any kind of weather.
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Oh and yes there is an understudy for Shelby. She started on the job this spring and maybe she will hunt birds this fall.
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I've owned my last bird dog (can't take the heartache of losing them anymore) but I agree with my good friend TwiceBarrel about the rest, and fortunately I'm in a family where decent Labradors abound!
a·nach·ro·nism (-nkr-nzm)
n.
1. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order.
2. One that is out of its proper or chronological order, especially a person or practice that belongs to an earlier time
I think that pretty well describes how I feel about a few things. I own a fabric covered biplane, fascinated by the WW2 fighters rather than jets. I think that girls with tatoos are nasty, earrings belong on girls not guys, baseball hats should be worn with the brim forward, coffee is meant to be drank hot and black, beer cold, whiskey sparingly, wine with food. I think good bar-b-que (not grilled food) is finer food than chateubriand, beef wellington, or crepe suzzettes.
I think every kid should learn at an early age where our food comes from. I mean they should visit places that process our foods, including the animal variety. It strikes me as completely incongruent that a 8 yr old kid will want to go to McDonalds for a burger and not know it's from a dead cow.
Dang! Did I get off track? Crap! My adult ADD is flaring up again.
Ok, I like sxs guns, good dogs regardless of breed, and good hunting grounds. I have a particular fondness to hunt wild California valley quail with a .410 and a dog. I like hunting them over my lab, but I recently acquired an English Pointer to see if that's how I want to hunt them and because the lab is aging and the heat is often a challenge for a dog here. The jury is still out on the pointer type of hunting. The reason I like hunting with the .410 is that I found it was more rewarding when I actually took game with it. Many times more rewarding to me. I have a particular affliction for the early 20th century American .410's and other small bores. That's a narrow selection, but I have a few.
I like hunting with just me and a dog, but prefer to hunt with one or two friends.
Here's the new one.
Me, my bro-in-law, my dogs. (Amarillo Mike's birds, our birds were too big to lug into the picture)
The double malt ... er I mean double gun militia
But Chuck, those earings and lip piercings just make a guys eyes daaaance!
Thats why we dont let Amarillo Mike hunt with us no more...Love those last pics Chuck!
RCC, Great pictures, especially the ones with the kids in them. Does my heart good to see all those little smiling faces. We need as many as we can get.
James
Great pics, great dogs....
Springers, of course! Dad raised 'em, I've had one most of my life o/t the college years. Lively, versatile, great companions and absolute retrieving machines.
Dad also was a diehard double man, shot a Meriden and was deadly on South Dakota roosters and prairie grouse. My favorite gun tends to be the next one, currently a 20 ga. RBL but I've got my eye on a 12 ga. SKB 280.
Waterfowl are a lifelong addiction (alas, a semi-auto does better there) but Colorado ptarmigan and Nebraska sharptails and prairie chickens will fill twenty plus days of my fall season again this fall.
An aside, why don't the ammo companies offer more 7's?
Steve
An aside, why don't the ammo companies offer more 7's?
Steve
So us hand loaders have a reason to feel smug and superior.
Because it is what I did growing up, sitting on a bucket in a fenceline between a cornfield and a large stand of pines on a warm September afternoon with just a hint of fall and a Lab at your side, waiting for those feathered fighter jets to flit by and make sure you used all your shells trying to limit out. Mourning doves are one of the great tests of shooting flying.
Back then it was a Mossberg 500 20 ga. with a Polychoke and a 10# trigger pull. Now if I could still go there (time travel required unfortunately), I would be equally happy with a Perazzi 20 ga. or a Fox 16 ga - both with 30" barrels and Mod/Full chokes.
But now I am quite happy on a wet November day after the leaves are down following a Brittany after wary grouse and unpredictable woodcock, or working with a pointer and a cocker putting up Gentlemen Bob from the tall stuff under those Georgia pines - 16 ga. Fox and 20 ga. Arrieta for those respective tasks, both choked Sk/loose Mod.
I don't think that there are any best dogs for hunters. I have seen good and bad dogs of every bird hunting breed. Actually the same could be said for coon dogs, too. There are lots of good dog owners out there that can bring out the best in a certain dog, and there are lots of owners who will Never own a good dog, no matter what they pay.
My personal experience has been with Labs, viszlas, Gordon Setters,German shorthairs and German wirehaireds. My two favorite dogs were both German Wirehaired pointers. Their disposition, talent, and personal relating to me was what I wanted in a dog at that time. One did everything right at age 3 1/2 months, the other took a year longer, but they ended up the same in my eyes. Their range was perfect for me, their pace was "smart" and they could hunt all day. Wonderful hunters and companions. I have had three others of the same breed that were not nearly as good with me. Unfortunately, both of those really good dogs are gone and I am hoping for one more good companion for the next 10 years. I'll be lucky if that happens, and if not, I still have two dogs for hunting companions that I can enjoy, but not maybe quite as much.
My thought, too, is that the best dogs are the ones that get the most chances. They need lots of chances.
Steve, how'd you post that video? Very cool!...Geo
Geo., I uploaded the video to Photobucket and it imbeds just like the photos do. Cool!
BTW, Wingshooter shot the video with a tiny little pocket camera. It's neat to have. Also, that is his Ideal I'm shooting. You know, a $6500 "loaner."
Hey Steve, I did it too! Had no idea that was possible...Geo
Click on image for video of five thousand or so mallards lighting in our decoys after the six of us seen hiding under "grass skirts" had limited out. Foggy morning in a Saskatchewan peafield:
DISCLAIMER: Note to PETAphiles, no animals were harmed in the filming of this video!
Awesome! We may have to start a new topic for videos next.
Awesome! We may have to start a new topic for videos next.
'Fraid if we did that Mister Dave might fire us all for using up too much of his bandwidth!...Geo
I have owned and hunted most above; have chosen ESS (Springer) as my go to favored dog for upland hunting (phez, grouse, woodcock, etc.) Good bird finders and just like FBI on downed birds...they never give up. As for guns, if I had to choose one I might quit shooting. My "rotation" includes Super 20, Citori 16 SLF, M21 20, RBL 28, 16 and Parker Repro 20, 16 & 28.
George that video is fantastic. It gets to the heart of why I can't pick which I like best. Much as I love upland, that video sure reminds me of why all the early mornings, hard work and miserable weather of duck hunting is so much fun! Thanks!
When I was about 11 or 12 my dad and I used to go hunting in some fields within the city limits of Winnipeg and see that pretty regularly. It was 10 minutes from our home and the advancing suburbs were clearly visible. Don't know why but back then, no one else thought to hunt in the city.
a·nach·ro·nism (-nkr-nzm)
n.
1. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order.
2. One that is out of its proper or chronological order, especially a person or practice that belongs to an earlier time
I think that pretty well describes how I feel about a few things. I own a fabric covered biplane, fascinated by the WW2 fighters rather than jets. I think that girls with tatoos are nasty, earrings belong on girls not guys, baseball hats should be worn with the brim forward, coffee is meant to be drank hot and black, beer cold, whiskey sparingly, wine with food. I think good bar-b-que (not grilled food) is finer food than chateubriand, beef wellington, or crepe suzzettes.
I think every kid should learn at an early age where our food comes from. I mean they should visit places that process our foods, including the animal variety. It strikes me as completely incongruent that a 8 yr old kid will want to go to McDonalds for a burger and not know it's from a dead cow.
Dang! Did I get off track? Crap! My adult ADD is flaring up again.
Ok, I like sxs guns, good dogs regardless of breed, and good hunting grounds. I have a particular fondness to hunt wild California valley quail with a .410 and a dog. I like hunting them over my lab, but I recently acquired an English Pointer to see if that's how I want to hunt them and because the lab is aging and the heat is often a challenge for a dog here. The jury is still out on the pointer type of hunting. The reason I like hunting with the .410 is that I found it was more rewarding when I actually took game with it. Many times more rewarding to me. I have a particular affliction for the early 20th century American .410's and other small bores. That's a narrow selection, but I have a few.
I like hunting with just me and a dog, but prefer to hunt with one or two friends.
Here's the new one.
Me, my bro-in-law, my dogs. (Amarillo Mike's birds, our birds were too big to lug into the picture)
The double malt ... er I mean double gun militia
[IMG]
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c125/roaniecowpony/DSC_3266.jpg[/IMGI like what you said and how you said it too- great fotos- and dogs and dead birds and fine shottyguns and NO Females to screw things up-- As my Granddad taught me- there are things men do (they all start with the letter P) that are NOT for females- Poker, shooting Pool, Shooting Pheasants and Pigeons, Politics-- and also none of the Limey fops with their faggy looking tweeds and +pip pip+ crap- or the goofy looking dues (and dude-ettes) dressed like 1890 and carrying fancy shottyguns for shooting clay Discs-- BS- shotguns were made to KILL BIRDS AND Game-- let's keep it that way!!
Come on Foxy, "goofy looking dudes and dudettes dressed like 1890........shooting clay discs." Tomorrow I'll be dressed in bib overalls, T-shirt with yellow stained armpits, my favorite clodhopper boots, baseball cap, and shooting clay discs with my Brazilian go-to-gun.
If my dudette girly is nice I'll even put my Billy-Bob teeth in for her.
I'm a Springer man. Briar, myself and the late grate miss Maggie May.
And the new student, Lucy, who is Maggie's granddaughter. Lucy looks like she will turn into an excellent bird dog. I'm holding a Birmingham SLNE by Ogden, a nice shooter that fits well.
if the weather is decent in the pheasant fields you will find me carrying my old Holland, an early self opener built in the 20's with 29" bbls and weighs 6lbs 9ozs.
An imposing Scot enters an outfitters.
The nervous young clerk approaches.
"What would be your pleasure, Sir?"
With a scowl, the Scot replies
"That would be pigeons and fornication, not that it's any concern of yours. I'm here for a flat cap."
have a day
Dr.WtS
You're welcome to post a picture of the hat, but I really don't wanna see any of the pigeon fornication.
I agree with Daryl, breed does not matter as there are good and bad examples. Further he is right about the most important factor is getting the dog the experience. No different than quarterbacks or soldiers, the number of repetitions matter most.
You can't make a genius play at the top of their game without experience. You can make a journeyman look steller with enough repetitions. Most of us are journeymen.
On guns, my thoughts are about the same. I have seen some best gun performance from men with pumps and consistent mediocrity from high dollar guns. The difference comes down to how many rounds in experience the shooter possesses with the gun.
My one regret in my gun life is that I have owned too many guns. I wish I had brought and get fitted to a high dollar SLE when I was in my twenties, instead of the long trial of second and third tier BLNE and BLEs I went through.
I still remember the Purdey I held in 1985 with a $5k price tag that I could have afforded (pre-marraige). It was even a 16 which was part of the discount at the time (those were the days and I was too careful)
Shooting one gun alot is better than twenty more beautiful guns alittle.
What is that under over in the picture?
There is a big difference between a bird dog and good hunting companion. If you want a great hunting companion, you can't beat a Brittany. Mine goes almost everywhere with me, sleeps in the bed with me and even eats ice cream off my spoon. But when he hits the field he is a hunting machine. He turned three last month.
Pointing some quail in Fort Payne, AL in Dec. 2011
Riding shotgun on the way to the gun club with me.
From Fort Payne hunt, Dec 2011
Taking a breather after a hard day of hunting.
This was taken last night while I was watching the ball game.
Hanging out in the hammock.
My two boys after a long day in the field.
Very nice Chris. I couldn't agree more and that's a good looking pup. Thanks for sharing.
Eightbore, the O/U is a Beretta 686 Onyx in 28ga.
Adam
French Brits (a pair of them)
Pre-war German or French 16's, generally somewhat used.
The German guns have 29ish bbls, the French guns have 27ish bbls.
Prairie grouse, mountain grouse, huns, pheasant, chukar, snipe.
Good looking Brits. You don't see too many of the black ones in the USA.
Thanks Chris - yours too!
Hi All:
I am hunting over a pointer, Pudelpointer, that I rescued 7 years ago. He has become the best dog that I have ever seen!
For a gun, I have too many, Lol, but I get a great deal of enjoyment when using a 20 gage SxS.
This SxS is an old N.R. Davis that has a great story attached to it. I bought it from my wife's uncle for $200.00. He said that he would give it to me but I did not want to appear as a mooch. I picked the price out of thin air and thought that it was a fair price. Her uncle was a VERY wealthy person. I hope that I did not insult him by insisting to pay for it. I was always taught to pay my own way.
I sent the gun to mike Orlen to have the stock bent, barrels opened and the action tightened. It is a great gun for hunting stocked pheasants over my pointer. I often look at the gun and think about the story that is attached to the gun. The gun shoots to the poi, fits me well and is quite light at a little bit over 6 pounds. Of course, most of the bluing is faded to light "patina" but the wood is still very nice.
I wish that I knew how to post pictures so that you could see two things that bring me great happiness! Lol
Stay well my friends.
Franchi
Adam, that's not the under over I was referring to. What is the under over in the picture before the 686 picture?
Just realized I posted a picture of more than one O/U. The one you're looking at is a friend's 16-bore Woodward with 24" bbls. It's one sweet little quail gun!
I will be after Bob White, Blue Quail, Partridge, Sharptails, and Pheasant pointed by my French Brittanys Molly, Belle, Red, Ginger, and Buddy. I hunt with French Brittanys because they are also my house pets. I will use an assortment of sub six-pound SxS guns in gauges 28,20,and 16, of English, European, or American manufacture all with correct double triggers. I like light guns because they aren't heavy. Of course on many of these hunts I will have my shooting student Joe Wood. I bring him along to carry my birds, shells, and also water for the dogs.
This is Ginger, taken two seasons ago when she was a pup.
Last year I drove to Kansas and instructed Last Dollar, Joe Wood, Chuck H, SKB, and Daryl Halquist in pheasant hunting. That is Belle, Red, and Ginger. Molly was so exhausted she wouldn't stay in the picture but kept loading up in the truck. My shooting student Chuck H. took the picture. That is a Parker VH12, 32" barrels choked full and full and weighing eight pounds. A light sixteen would have done as well.
Molly pointing a Bob when she was just seven months old.
An H Bissel 20 gauge with 26" barrels, weighs 5lbs 2oz with ejectors. Of course it is just a Birmy Boxlock
A Fox XE grade sixteen, weight 6lbs 5oz, 28" barrels. Three Texas Panhandle Bobs.
Left to right: Molly, Belle, Dubya, Beau, Red
You can just barely see Beau in the middle of the valley. This was taken near Slaton, Texas by my shooting student Joe Wood. There had been an ice storm and the mesquites were covered with a coat of ice and looked like crystal trees
Beau stole the point from his daughter Molly. As my wife points out Beau was a dead beat dad and generally lousy father.
Gallyon sixteen (Birmy Boxlock) with West Texas Quail. Weighs 5-3/4 pounds, extractors and 28" barrels
Ebrall Brothers, Shrewsbury sixteen singleshot hammergun with a Bob Taken near the Salt Fork of the Red River, near Quail, Texas. I usually shoot brass hulls loaded with black powder and 7/8 #7s in it. Has 30" barrels and weighs 4-3/4 pounds
Lefever Damascus sixteen and a West Texas Bob. Nice bird gun which I foolishly sold.
Eleven Kansas Pheasant I killed few years ago, posed between Joe and our host. The Lab belongs to our host.
Old picture with the late Brie on the right and a young Beau on the left. That is a Ugartechgea twenty.
Belle pointing a Bob with Molly (black) and Dubya backing.
This is my shooting student Joe Wood with a Lindner Daly Daimond sixteen stolen from me, our host's Lab and my Molly and Red. I shot the BobWhite of course.
Mike, in the photo which depicts the rear of the SUV with the dogs on top of a long drawer. Does Joe ride in the drawer? If so, is in air conditioned?
Here is Joe Wood going in to flush a Bird Belle pointed. Molly backing. On Joe's family place near Lubbock:
My Friend Chubby's German Wirehair. Obviously a versatile breed:
Red and Bell perform synchronized shaking after a dip:
Took this while Blue Quail hunting near Deming, New Mexico. Oddest thing, there a a house size rock at the base of the mountain and a spring bubbled up right in the middle of it. Got up a covey of seventy or eighty Blues right next to it:
Field trial in Amarillo a couple of years ago. The gun is a very nice Fabrique Nationale twelve with 26" barrels, weighs 6lbs 2oz. Me and Red, taken by the lovely Leia:
Fox A Grade sixteen. Weighs 5 lbs 9oz, 26" barrels:
Fox XE sixteen:
My son Taylor and Beau. Taylor is holding his AyA No 1 twenty, 30" barrels 5lbs 14oz.
Ithaca Flues Grade 4 sixteen, 28" barrels, a magic wand
The late Brie in the back of the Expedition:
Points all over!
Red, water cup, Bob, and a Parker VH sixteen with 28" barrels, all original, weighs 5-3/4 pounds. It is choked 6 and 12 and the chokes taper all the way to the muzzle so I think that is how it left the factory:
Mike, in the photo which depicts the rear of the SUV with the dogs on top of a long drawer. Does Joe ride in the drawer? If so, is in air conditioned?
As Joe fought in the Great War I have to be careful of heat stroke and his arthritis. I generally let him ride in the cage with the dogs as long as he doesn't molest the female dogs.
In light of Joe's foot injury, I hope that you cut back on the number of guns he has to carry for you next year in the field. Maybe you would permit a pull golf cart with oversized tires and let him take more frequent water breaks. As far as the allegations regarding your female dogs,in Joe's defense, you can't believe everything a French Brittany says.
The truth is Joe's wife pays me $400 per day plus expenses for every day I get him out of the house. If it requires buying him a four wheeler or a Mule I know Mrs. Joe will happily pony up the bucks for it.
Great pictures Mike. Nothing beats a good Brittany. I prefer the American Brits, but wouldn't turn down a good French one either.
I really enjoyed your pictures Mike, especially the Texas photos. Made me a little homesick for the mesquite thickets of west Texas for sure. The photo of the wire hair pointer with a face full of porcupine quills made me think of an episode with a Brittany Spaniel a few years ago in the grouse woods. We think of these porcupines mainly as a nuisance but these quills can actually kill a dog. Some hunters from Virginia who go to the same grouse camp where I go had a young French Brittany get into one of those nasty porcupines a couple years ago. They took their time removing the quills like we always do and thought they got them all. The next day they hunted their pup and he acted ok at first and then acted like he had no stamina. Shortly thereafter, the pup dropped over dead. Apparently a quill worked it's way into a vital organ, presumably the lungs resulting in death for this pup. I had never heard of such a thing but apparently it can happen. Lesson is, one should take great care removing ALL the quills. I always carry a pair of hemostats with me on every hunt just in case!
Chris that Brittany of yours is good looking dog and obviously a fine house pet and hunter.
My Ginger jumped into a sage with a porcupine in November and got a pawful of quills. I bungie corded her to the bars in the back of my Expedition to keep her from biting me and pulled them out. You never heard such howls.
Buzz I never shoot a porcupine in front of the dogs as I don't want them to think they are a game animal. Several years ago I killed a 50 pound pig that Molly chased by me and now she thinks we are hunting them.
One place we hunted quail in the Mojave, there is cholla cactus. The quills are usually 1 1/2 - 2" long. There are places that it was so thick you couldn't ride a horse thru the "forest" of these things. Its not a porcupine, but I'd trade it all for hundreds of porcupines.
My lab hadn't been around it before that hunt. She ran thru the stuff first covey we came up on. She stood still and never made a peep while I pulled probably a hundred quills out of her.
Yes Chuck, I think the cactus can be dangerous too. I had a very excellent pointer (btw, it never happens to a sorry dog) get either a mesquite thorn or cactus quill into his hip joint.....ie, penetrated the hip joint. The dog came up lame on his back leg. At first I had no idea of what had happened. This ignorance was complicated by 2 ?incompeyent vets who said it was 'arthritis' and maybe 'hip dysplasia'. I finally took the dog to Purdue Univ Vet school and they opened up the joint and found a staph infection. It was clearly from a needle or thorn penetrating the hip joint. It took a little time and several weeks of antibiotics, but this one tough dog had a complete recovery! Lucky! Taught me to check these dogs over after every hunt.....there are lots of sticky things out west.
Ummhhh, that's some bad looking stuff. Gives a whole new meaning to "rough shooting".
Glad to be from Jawja. 'Least heah all we've got to worry about is rattlers, cottonmouths, 'gators, big hogs, skeeters, gnats, 100% humidity, you know......... small stuff.
SRH
Beautiful pics, Dennis. Thanks. They stir the rambler in me.
SRH
Sweet Model 12!!! Our military sure loved them. Can you get a better reference than that???
http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=672By the time World War II began, stocks of shotguns were too small to support the mobilization and new orders were placed. The well regarded Winchester Model 12 trench and riot guns were again procured with a total of more than 80,000 guns ordered by the U.S. Government by 1945, more than any other combat shotgun of the time. The Model 12 remained as the primary combat shotgun, used heavily by the USMC in Korea and until the Vietnam War where they again servedhttp://olive-drab.com/od_other_firearms_shotgun_m12.php
My favorite gun a 16 Ga. #2 AyA and I shoot hand loaded RMC brass hulls. The gun feels just right and the patterns from my hand loads in the brass hulls are the best I’ve ever seen.
My favorite dogs are Labs and Britts and I’ve had some great ones. I like these breeds because they are easy to train, great family dogs, biddable and all of mine have lived fo the hunt.
Annie, my French Brittany is a fearless hard hunter and has learned how to outsmart a running pheasant.
Nice dogs and brass loads. Can you please educate me as to how your crimp the brass shell to keep the paper card in place? I have never tried to load brass loads and I don't know how involved it is. Thank you in advance.
BillK
Hunting birds,any birds, over my Draht. They call them ugly dogs for a reason! I believe Kaiser and I are kindred spirits, neither of us looks too good, we aren't much into style, but we get the job done.
My favorite shotgun to hunt with is a different one than last time.
CHAZ
"Nice dogs and brass loads. Can you please educate me as to how your crimp the brass shell to keep the paper card in place? I have never tried to load brass loads and I don't know how involved it is. Thank you in advance."
BillK
Thank You Bill.
As King wrote, but with the following: The OSC's are 1 gauge oversized and glued in with Fletch Tight. Brass hulls are easy to reload with simple hand tools, no press. The preparation process is more involved than paper or plastic, in that the hulls should be cleaned of powder residue at the hull mouth and some of us like to tumble the hulls for maximum shine. After hull prep It takes me about 30 seconds to produce each load.
Thanks, Stan. I'm glad you enjoyed them.
The Model 12 was Dad's, is now my son's, and three generations have taken pheasant with it.
Jim-16's with RST shells (can't get them in Alaska so load something equivalent) are about all I shoot. Your brass shells look top notch. Can you share your load?
Brass hulls have become very expensive.
SR4756 has been discontinued.
The following recipes are for 16 GA
7/8oz shot, 16.6 grains Green dot, Win primer, Card wad with fiber filler.
7/8oz shot, 16.5 grains Unique, Win primer, Card wad with Fiber filler.
Both loads are rated at 1190fps, 2 1/2drams. Equiv.
I have not shot or patterned the 7/8 0z. green Dot load.
*3/4 or 7/8 oz shot, 18.3 grains Unique, Win primer, card wad, fiber filler.
1230fps, rated at 2 3/4 Dram. Equiv.
Load them all at about 40 lbs. pressure on the wads.
*This load patterned outstanding in my AyA and my friends Parker and is perfect for Blue and Ruff grouse. I also use the load for dove, Huns and Quail
I have shot, patterned and chronographed the loads listed below.
Shot wt. Vel. Powder Gr. Wads PSI
1 1178 SR4756 28 card & fiber 5780
1 1238 SR4756 30 “ 6440
1 1328 SR4756 32 “ 7440
1 1/8 1325 SR4756 32 “ 9620
1 2 ¾ dr Trail Boss 23 card and fiber
1 1/8 3 dr Trail Boss 25 card and fiber
Card and fiber wads for each load are: 1 over powder card (OPC) 2 cushion wads (CW) and 1 oversized (14 Ga.) over shot card (OSC) and 40 lbs. pressure.
Jim,
Great information. Way more than I expected. I wish there was good smokeless data for the MagTechs.
I have an unopened can of SR4756 and with only 10 RMC 16 cases it will go a long way. I have a Manufrance whose right barrel is rifled and when I bought it I expected it was a ball and shot gun. It appears, however, that the rifling was meant for control of the shot pattern. Anyway, half of the RMC's are loaded with paper jacketed 435 gr conicals and the other half with round balls. I have not tested these and with what I now know I will probably disassembly them for shotshells.
Thanks for taking the time to post the data. Incidentally, the pheasant population in western Nebraska is pretty amazing-like when I was a kid there. Just across the border for you. The CRP land we were hunting was positively devilish and we had to keep Pepe booted the entire time. Combination of head high sunflowers, thistles, impenetrable tumbleweeds and other things that clinged, scratched and poked.
You have a beautiful French Brittany.
Dennis
Thank you all for the explanation on brass shells and loading.
BillK
Dennis and BillK, Thank you.
