doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reflections on a Season Completed

Good Evening All,
Well here it is....the end of the first day since the last of the Texas Gunning (hunting) Seasons closed at dusk last evening......For 6 full months, since the Dove opener on the First of September, I have an opportunity to gun our migrant and native fowl.
I fear withdrawal may soon set in.... It already has for my young Pointer gyp..... she looks anxiously at the hunting rig, wondering why we did not pursue Bobwhite yet again today.....The older campaigners have seen this before, they are resolutely accepting the annual calendar ritual which brings our Shooting outings to a close.

I can only hope that all you like minded sportsmen and your families had as good a '25/'26 Season as I was blessed with.

Never idle, we will continue to run the dogs on birds, sans gun, until temperatures prohibit, and nesting season beckons the quarry.
I will find myself occupied with habitat work that hopefully keeps this property on track to provide me a chance for another bountiful season to come.
The Best of the "Off Season" to you all.

Sounds like a superb season, may you have many more to come.

Nice "eulogy" to the '25-'26 season, Paul. Isn't it wonderful to still have the enthusiasm to begin counting down the days until the '26 dove opener?

In the last few weeks since the ending of duck season I have busied myself with some gun projects that I had been planning . . . . refinishing some gun wood, and making plans for the metalsmithing repair of the 30" barreled 16 ga. AE grade AH Fox I bought from the son of a dear fiend, now deceased, that many of us remember from this board, Doug Woodin (PA24). It will be getting a micro-welding job on the forend lug by a friend about an hour and a half from me, then I will refit the forend iron to the action knuckle and the repaired forend lug, then spot blue it. The first time I took that gun to a dove field it seemed to have a life of its own, so to speak. Man, it wanted to knock doves out of the sky, and did so, rewarding me with a quick 15 bird limit. I can't wait to see it in action again this fall.

I took my Allison boat to the river yesterday afternoon for the first time since last September. The 260 hp two stroke was running rough so I popped a new set of NGK plugs in it and then she ran like a top. Lots of trash in the river, logs, etc., so I kept her under 60 mph. Summertime will be here soon and we'll be basking on the sandbars and "letting the horses run" every now and then.



Good to hear from you. Don't be a stranger.

Beautiful boat Stan.

Yeah...it is an adjustment when the gunning stops. There are the final preparations made to the freezers to get all the birds (& fish, & venison) properly set for the long term, but after that...nothing. Because of this incredibly mild winter we've had so-far, I've continued with the daily long walks but...it's just not the same.

I still shoot sporting clays a few times a month, we've started several house projects here (long overdue) and we have a son graduating college in May. His departure for his fist "real" job back east will follow thereafter. When the dust settles from all of that I'll pick up my flyrod and start wading rivers again.

September will be here before you know it.

That Boat would have been called a "Chick Magnet" in my younger days....Glad to hear about your Vintage Double gun pursuits.
Stay Healthy.

Stan has his boat, I've got an old car (which I'm reminded needs a tune-up). Life fills in around the more-deliberate fun stuff very quickly so you must plan for the good stuff well in advance.

May your vintage car's tuneup amount to no more than what my Merc needed, a set of plugs. 🤞

Mel,
I too am reminiscing this past season.

Farming most of the land that I hunt in my home state of Georgia, I saw enough young birds adding to hearing reports from plantations in my area of of different age groups to make me believe that we had 3 hatching in my area this year.

With two fine Beeline Brittney’s I trained all summer for a hunting season to remember!

Started the season in Montana and the dogs and the birds did not disappoint!

Lots of birds and nice work by the boys! Limit of Huns twice and Sharptails once. Many days of mixed bags and no off days. Drove home with high hopes for the remaining season. Excellent start.

Then a break in the hunting with harvest to take care of, my next hunt was Bobwhites in Texas.

Once again the birds nor the dogs disappointed!

Finished the remaining couple of months in my home state of Georgia. South west Georgia.

Big disappointment!

Where did the birds go?

Not sure but finished the remaining couple of months of the season running dogs with very few bird contacts. Saw a total of four coveys of birds. Shot twice and picked up zero quail for the season finally.

Disappointed? Yes! Mostly for the dogs.

Already planning for next year!

Guys, I think we just need to think bigger. There’s always Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, etc. Closer to home there are pigeons. (Don’t knock decoyed pigeons until you’ve tried it. It’s a lot of fun). No such thing as the Off Season!