doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Birddogs, guns, etc.-what's your pleasure and why?

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.

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.