doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Tower Pigeon Shoot in Marion, MI This Weekend

Haha. Nope, though I felt like it at times! She tried to clip my wings, so I flew the coop.
Rs,
K.

Destry and Kerryman, I occasionally shoot woodcock in a bit of a different way here in Jawja. In my area of the Coastal Plain there are hundreds of low, swampy areas, called Carolina Bays, which hold water in the center, have muddy and grassy areas around the periphery and many times second growth oak and gum just adjacent to that. They range in size from 2 or 3 acres up to the big ones, like two which are within a mile of my house that are 500 and 1000 acres respectively. When the woodcock move down in late winter they must find these bays much to their liking as I can just walk them up by walking the edges. Shooting is split-second and instinctive for the most part.

The most memorable day I recall concerning woodcock is a day we were hunting birds around the 500 acre bay, known as Oliver Pond, and the dog pointed in the oaks in a fairly open area. I could see the ground plainly ahead of the dog and all I could see was oak leaves. As I approached to the rear of the dog the leaves erupted with a whir of wings and THREE woodcock spiraled upwards. I was so bumfuzzled at the sight that I missed. But, lo and behold, they flew about thirty yards and came right back down in plain view. Next approach they weren't so lucky. A brace of mature, well-fed woodcock is a fine sight in the hand, is it not?

A double on woodcock!!!??? That's a rare thing for certain. I did it once when I was about 18 and had no idea how seldom it happened. I'm really not much of a woodcock (or any upland game) kind of hunter, but if I was going to pick one as my favorite woodcock would be it.

Destry

Destry - Please don't tell us that you like eating them as the French do - guts included

We tried doing some snipe that way once when I was in Scotland, gawd they were awful.....

DLH

I saw Destry's Model 11. He brought four guns with him from Ypsi on Sunday- Chuck our host had his "Cowboy Caddy" parked under the tower, so those who wanted to swap between stations could. Destry offered, and I accepted- three fine guns of his for me to try- first his sweet old Hammer Parker 10 (wish we had some 10 skeet loads instead of the No. 2's), later that Churchill 8 bore with the 36" tubes- one of the nicest boxlock doubles I have seen in a long long time- both the Parker 10 and that Churchill were immaculate- His "Money Gun" was his Parker DHE 12- 32" DT, and mine was a Smith in the same specs but with a ventilated rib-I saw him shoot that Remmie Model 11- when he first came walking back from the truck to our stand with it, at a distance it looked like a Over-Under- that magazine tube went near to the muzzle-that one I didn't shoot, although he offered- Not a autoloader or O-U man-but he did explain what I guessed, with 12 shells in that cannon, JUST A TAD muzzle heavy. Legal to use today- sure- Law says three shell maximum capacity between chamber and tube- so just cut a longer piece of 1/2" or 5/8" dowell- the magazine spring inside that cannon must be something else, to push the follower from full compression when "stoked full" down to the last few rounds-worth the trip just to see those guns of his-and FYI- Chuck may host another one in late April-clays are great, but nothing warms the cockles of a shotgunner's heart than a big wad of feathers hangin' in the breeze and the solid "Thump" of a dead bird grassed-Boys, it don't get any better that that-IMO Fox