Hi all, well, it's that time of year again to revive this thread. Most of us will be hunting doves day after tomorrow, so a new season will be kicking off.

Lets see all those great posts, pictures and stories as we have in years past.

I want to wish everyone a great and successful season and most of all a safe one!

Good Luck to all of you!

Greg

Good for you Greg. My favorite thread every year!...Geo

Mine, too. I am grateful the Lord has gifted us with another year, and the prospect of more days afield this fall and winter. Whether I stay around for another season, or whether I go, I win. Philippians 1:21

SRH

Thanks for bringing this back Greg.

This is a 2016 pic with my 'Pocket Pointer' on planted birds. Gun is a BLE Sauer.

image free hosting

Hi all, I'm just passing on the torch. Tim Frazier is the one who originally started this post, so thanks should go to him.

Good Luck Again!

Greg

Great pic, Tamid. First one of the season! "Pocket pointer", I like that.

SRH

Tamid, great photo of pocket pooch. Here's Gordon a few years ago in Saskatchewan with Albert, a highly modified satchel size lapdog "retriever".

First day out on the grouse moors for my young dog in gods country. North Yorkshire.



A special Picture - Game bag given to me by my sister on my 21st. Gun First English gun i owned. Pigeon first bird taken with the new stock i made. Linsley Brothers 10 commercial street Leeds.



Going to break the rules and share some other pictures - Partridge and Duck open tomorrow and Pheasant next month.

Ive still been out with the gun this year, shooting pests species.

Shooting bunnies with the 101 super grade before i finished re checkering the for end - First gun.



1870 Black powder hammer gun, Willam Morton of London Luard street Islington, such a beautiful gun but cast heavily for right handed shooting - being a lefty i really need to part with it.



Sweet little box lock ejector gallyon and sons Cambridge.



Cant wait to be game shooting properly!

James, is the good-looking dog a Springer? From where I sit, your restocking looks great. Gil

This picture of the sunflowers will have to suffice until after tomorrow's dove opener.

Demonwolf444, fantastic picture of your young dog. I would frame that picture and hang it on your wall.

Tamid, I would like to know about your pocket pointer. Breed and does she or he really point and hunt?

I like this thread also with one complaint, please identify the shotgun you are using or is pictured.

Mother and Child


The little guy is already running in the woods.

My pocket pointer is a miniature wirehair dachshund. And yes does he hunt. At the time of purchase the breeders would only sell to customers who could prove they would hunt the dog. When the conditions are right (light crusty snow the big dogs break through or very heavy low cover) he will out do the big dogs on upland birds. He will retrieve ducks on land and water and pin down geese. Hobbes is his name and he does not point but rather flushes. He is also a Master Earth Dog. He is now 12 years old and after a couple hours fighting the terrain he needs a ride.

English springer spaniel about 2 and a half years old. Named Meryn ( pronounced "heal heal heal" )

Thank you for the kind words on my restocking i have been practicing self taught these last couple of years, all my previous stocks have been not quite there; this stock is not perfection but i am really quite pleased with this one in terms of the fit, finish, style and lines.

Not a bad idea i might just do that thankyou!

I concur. That is a real standout photo!

There was an Irishman on the defunct snipe hunting forum who used a teckel (dachsund) in the heather seeps for snipe and woodcock. He ran an unusual combination of a lurcher and a dachsund for upland game and the dogs did the job. Gil
While on the subject of "lurcher" (long dog)Here's a rollickin' I have a long dog, I'm a poacher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_UprvTJwU0

off to a good start, moved a big covey of blues this morning. Trusty bird dog, new shotgun and a bit of luck put two in the bag. So happy it is "that time of year" again.

My Superposed with 410 Cordy barrels

Mike, Steve, congrats on your first in wild birds. Mike, as many different guns as you use on dove, you'll never wear one out. Gil

Being a new Springer guy, I love that photo of Meryn. My puppy Kate is just four months old and equipped with needles for teeth. Her retrieves are limited to tennis balls and bumpers right now but I'm excited to get her onto a few birds next spring. Lots of pics to come.

Today
Winchester 1912 in 20 gauge, and 13 stripe forend
2 1/2 inch chamber
Made in 1913

Not exactly game but this is what I do for work. The dart gun is a Daninject IM loaded with ketamine and medetomidine. The rifle is a .470 that Butch Searcy made for me at a very friendly price as a contribution to lion conservation. It is loaded with soft points for this sort of thing, solids when working on foot and buffalo or elephants are a concern. Most of our capture takes place at night and there are usually other lions very close; for that I have an 11-87 equipped with a light and loaded with 3" Brenneke slugs. In fact, in 40 years I have never had a really serious issue with an animal but one has a near death experience every few minutes when driving the highways.




Bring your daughters to work day.

What are you packin' for your sidearm. That looks like a REALLY interesting job! This is my favorite thread every year! Good shooting everyone!

LGF,
That's some serious "catch and release" hunting. It's been awhile since we've seen photos of your girls. Gil

LGF,

Thanks for those photos. Could you tell us a bit more about what you do as far as lion conservation is involved? I assume you are collecting data on lions when you dart them? Must be a very interesting job.

Kinda makes opening day of dove season tomorrow a little .......... "tame".

SRH

Fun day
Very windy, did not use any decoys
Shot a limit with under a box of ammo
Winchester Model 42 410 2 1/2 #9s

Good shooting, Mike, with those 1/2 oz. loads.

SRH

Hey all, some great posts so far. Was able to get out today for some dove hunting, but, it was a bust, nothing, not one! Saw some birds, but not many and none that were in range. Of course the wind didn't help, a bit strong, oh well always tomorrow. Went out with my Number 2 son and my Number 5 daughter. It was great to get out and looking forward to more this season.

Anyway, here's Jim, he was using his 16ga AyA Matador



My daughter Teresa. This will be her first year hunting with a a gun, and I'm looking forward to getting out a lot with her. She was using a 20ga Condor Youth O/U. I have to say that this gun has served the kids well. Never one problem or issue with it, its been a good gun. It was/is my oldest boys first shotgun and he's letting Teresa use it while he's gone.



And of course, when it rains it pours. Got back to the truck and it had a flat, so here's Jim changing it. Never fails!



Hope to post some pics soon of some birds!

Good Luck All!

Greg

I heard from some friends, at the dove shoot yesterday, that South Carolina had lowered their dove limit from 15 to 12 for this season. Further, that they did so against the advice of the state biologists who said it should be left at 15. Stinks of politics, to me.

SRH

Stan, funny how politics enters game management. The allowance of deer baiting in Georgia had nothing to do with game management needs but was a purely legislative movement according to a DNR biologist interviewed on the O'Neill Outside show on WSB.

Now that's just plain braggin'. Nice.
JR

Took Lucy out for about an hour this morning. Only a single flush but we made good on it. I'm starting to bond with this little H. Clark BLE. At 6lbs with 25" bbls it is outside of what I usually shoot but that is turning out to be fine in this case.

Thanks for the interest. I have been working on African carnivores for 46 years; I bought my first shotgun (Brno ZP49 in Nairobi) when I was teaching myself how to dart hyenas and they kept ending up in dense bush full of other interesting creatures. A shotgun license was easier than a rifle, but I eventually got permits for the other guns.

S&W – the sidearm is a high capacity Paraordnance .45 souped up to take .460 Rowland, which is a .45 that thinks it is a .44 Mag. No pistol is much good for large animals, but I want something right at hand when I am crouching over a lion at night, usually with all her friends and relations right there and my shotgun or rifle propped against the car. It is compensated, so very fast and controllable compared to a big revolver, but I hope never to test it from under a lion.

Stan – all the lion work is directly for conservation. I studied various aspects of spotted hyena biology for 20 years but when I got into conservation I found that no one was interested in hyenas, even though they are the most interesting animal in the world. I switched to lions before everyone else noticed that there had been a serious decline, and have run a series of conservation research projects in Kenya. Before that, no one knew anything about lions outside parks, where they are heavily persecuted for eating livestock, the reason they have been poisoned and speared nearly to extinction in recent decades. We did a great deal of work with both very traditional Masai pastoralists and modern western beef ranchers on managing cattle to protect them from predators, mostly by modifying ancient African livestock management practices. Ranches in Laikipia County are a great conservation success, with healthy populations of herbivores and plenty of predators. These may be the only ranchers anywhere who actually want to maintain large predators among their cattle.

Modern GPS collars yield phenomenal data on movements: we used to fly for hours once a month to get a few data points from VHF collars, but today I can sit at my laptop in California and see last night's movements of the collared animals (one female per pride) and where they were an hour ago. Real time movements can be checked on a website running Google Earth, so ranchers can see where the lions are this morning and direct their herders to avoid that area. GPS collars have taught us a great deal about lion habitat use, particularly in relation to human activities like cattle herding, essential to developing better ways for coexistence between livestock and lions. I am currently working with colleagues doing state of the art biology using GPS collars that also contain an accelerometer. From these they can reconstruct extremely detailed behavioral data and energy consumption (keeping fed and raising cubs is much harder when you are avoiding people and cattle all the time). The real time data show us where the animals settled down last night, and we go out in the morning to find kill remains. Huge fun.

But I have never hunted doves and miss half a dozen ducks for each one I hit. Darting lions is lousy practice for birds.

Thanks for that, LGF. Very interesting.

Darting lions may well be poor practice for birds, but it's got to be an adrenalin rush, especially at night. We hunt wild hogs here at night, with night vision and thermal equipment. I know that little chill that you get when you are slipping up on a big bunch of hogs, and you hear that big boar's mating call behind you. Spine tingling.

SRH

My opener was yesterday in a 30 acre sunflower/corn field. I drew a marginal stand, but adjusted and found a spot just off the edge where the birds would leave the field after running the gauntlet. It was sporty shooting at incomers which to me are the easiest shooting. It was the first time in the field with this 90+ year old R-10 which went from a Damn gun to a Darne after a few shots. The state limit is 15, but the field limit is 12 with the group. I managed a limit of birds in just under a box or was it a flat? Well, somewhere between a box and a flat of Polywad 16's, 7/8 oz. of #7.5.

Birds were very thin where we were Mike, and though tempted, we did resist the urge to shoot the dekes.

Good restraint
Sometimes I feel a lump of birds is odd, so I switch up the pictures a bit, the Superposed 410 picture has a lump of birds,
the Win 1912 20 has decoys, you will notice I set the Win 42 on a box so as not to have it in contact with the concrete and rocks.
Mike

Today
Browning Citori 16 gauge

Opening day in SC with an early Parker 12 gauge lifter

Opening day seafood buffet lunch:



Forty inches of flood water at the Suwannee house courtesy of Hurricane Hermine:



The storm left a real mess in the yard at the Mouth of the Suwannee:



Hurricane Hermine hit the Gulf of Mexico coast Thursday night and the passed over my home in GA at about 3:00 a.m. that next morning. I got out of bed as the storm raged and walked through the house in the dark to see whether we were sharing our home with any big Pine trees. As always I was again amazed by the raw power of nature!

Good luck was we had no damage at home other than a few minor limbs down in the yard. Power was back on when we woke up Friday morning.

My fishing shack on the Gulf of Mexico took the full force of a Cat. 1 Hurricane though. The house is fine, but we had forty inches of flood water inside, and a real mess in the yard and in the water around the boathouses.

On the other hand, dove season opened Saturday with cool weather and overcast. The wind had not blown our birds away and we shot limits all around over sunflowers.

I said the heck with storm damage and spent the weekend with some friends at a Camp in Dodge County on the Ocmulgee River. We have spent Labor Day weekend there together for thirty years that I've been going but the tradition goes back way farther than that.

We had another great shoot Sunday afternoon again on sunflowers. Nothing short of South America beats an opening weekend dove shoot over a sunflower field!

Other than the shooting, we spent the rest of the long weekend fishing the ponds on the place and me, looking for arrowheads in the food plots and cotton fields.

The Camp is situated on a bluff over the river on a 'blue hole spring'. It must have been a perfect place for an Indian town or seasonal camping area for thousands of years. I've found points from the Clovis era down to Contact period and all in between on the sites along that bluff.

Another great beginning of the hunting season. This life and one more; Lord I do love it!...Geo

Geo,
Condolences on the Suwanee, but it sounds as if you buried your pain on the Ocmulgee. Hope you found some good points.
We had to cancel our shoot tomorrow as the birds are gone, including the pigeons and collareds. Sunday was okay, but according to landowner, a small fraction of birds appeared compared with pre-Hermine. I am aware of at least three shoots canceled because of lack of birds which is highly unusual this time of the year. Bottom line is that Hermine drove them out. Hopefully it is only temporary.
Mills,
Beauty of a gun and I know where you were. Gil

Thanks Gil. Not so much pain though regarding Suwannee. Several floods ago, we took all the drywall out of the house, replaced it with T-111 outdoor siding, put down commercial marine grade vinyl, raised the electric plugs to 50 inches. Now we just hose it out and run dryers till it smells better. We're just fishing down there. Yup, I picked up a pocket full of projectile points; a couple of dandies...Geo

WOW!!! Sorry for all the flooding

Tuesday
1893 Quality 3 L.C. Smith

Great looking Elsie Skeettx! Thanks for the thoughts on our flooding. Flood damage is never quite as bad as it looks at first. I've been through it before.

If you want to own things that are too close to the water, it just happens. It's the tough part of the deal. I'll face the cleanup expense as it comes. My place was built in a filled in salt marsh; nature reclaims her own.

The dove opener was still a great experience!...Geo

That food was good George. Birds really came in as I was leaving around 4. Sorry to hear about the fishing property

I would have to get that wallowed-out screw fixed.
JR

Mike,
Many will think that the gamebirds on that old Elsie are woodcock or Wilson Snipe. However, during the era that gun was made, shorebirds were popular and legal gamebirds in the northeast. Yellowlegs, knots, dowitchers, curlews (whimbrels), willets, peeps, plover etc. were all legal game. Some were longbilled, others shortbilled. Those birds look more like generic shorebirds, maybe yellowlegs, than woodcock to me. Great artifact of a bygone era. Thanks for posting. Gil

John, why would you get the screw fixed?
That would be the start of an expensive process,
Then the stock, then the metal finish, then the ......
What a deep hole

Wondered who 67galaxie was. Glad to see you posting here...Geo

Not game or gun, but still connected to the hunt: storms around the property on the eve of dove opening:

George, glad to hear it wasn't worse. Floods can be bad.

Canvasback, my 80 year old hunting lodge at Delta Marsh ,got swept away when flooding combined with 24 hours of 60-80 mph winds from the north west across a fetch of about 80 miles created 8 foot waves (eye witness 3 miles inland) rolling across the marsh. Nothing like it had ever been seen before as the flooding was the direct result of government interference. ie We will divert the flood waters from this area to save these people and building and flood these others we don't care so much about.

Ended up as a big pile of wreckage 200 yards away from the foundations. We were able to salvage almost nothing.

Even with money, it was irreplaceable. Practically my favourite place in the world.

That's a terrible story Can. Did you get any reparations from the provincial Guvmit?...Geo

Some, about 20% of the cost to rebuild the place.

I've moved on. Spilt milk and all that. It's just your pics and description reminded me.

So sorry to hear about that, James. On another note, I wonder how King will spin it?

SRH

Wingshooter16

Wonderful photograph--really lovely.

Please check this out--

www.nwcbiennale.org

Best

Berrien

Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Moore, and also for the link. The property is not all that far from Oklahoma, so it is not unreasonable to venture that we have viewed some of the same weather systems.

Building the first structure on the property (that the locals have christened the "world's largest deer blind") has afforded me numerous opportunities over the last ten months to capture the various moods and movements of the western sky. Here are a few more recent shots:

Beautiful pictures, Wingshooter.

LOL, Mike. I looked at the pics before I read your note. Was going to say "Nice blind" but you covered that.

Oh, I understand what you're saying, but restraint is a virtue.
That screw head is all I see in that picture.
JR

John, I do understand, please forward to me a new screw, properly colored and I will install it

Thursday Morning
I LOVE RETIREMENT!!!


John, ADDED
Zamacola Hermanos, Spain

Now THAT is a nice shotgun. AyA?
JR

Happiness is a wild sunflower field, a good dog, and a 1922 Sauer with AA featherlites......

Nice picture, Gary. I am going to introduce "native" sunflowers to my part of GA next January or February. I'm sick of planting these Perodovik types for the deer to eat 35% of the field before they get 12" high. Deer won't mess with those "wild" ones I am told.

Having a field of them repopulate each year with no more than a light harrowing would be nice. The kind we grow are too darn expensive to plant for the deer to eat them up.

SRH

We enjoyed another good dove shoot this afternoon. This time over a small burnt off corn field. A few Blue Wing Teal flew the field out of a small cypress pond in one corner. The Teal season opened today but I haven't bought a duck stamp yet so I held my fire. Guys picked up a couple.

I shot the fancy BSA I posted pictures of a few weeks ago and I'm glad to say it worked perfectly and it's a death ray on doves...Geo

Hey all, well today was our Grouse/Hun opener, I was out with my son Jim, daughter Teresa and a last minute buddy, Rick. It was a beautiful day, warm, sunny and nice breeze. We wanted to hunt one area, but couldn't get to it, got a bunch of rain that turned the road into grease. So we hunted another section of the ranch. We saw quite a few birds, but most were really wild, wouldn't hold point. But we did manage to get some to hold. Rick got one, Jim and Teresa didn't connect. I was able to limit. I was using my new 28ga Dickinson. Nice handling gun and an easy carry, I must say that I was impressed with the old girl.

Here's my birds and the Dickinson:



Here's Raina. She really did well. Had some nice points, held the birds (the ones we got!) and worked very well. I was really happy with her!



Going to go out again, so we'll see how we fair.

Best!

Greg

Amarillo Gun Club's favorite Curmudgeon Joe Lane Wood working on a limit of doves with his Webley & Scott....and I didn't have to give him any shooting lessons. I had to include one good gun in this, hence the 16 ga. 21

Today
Went Teal hunting in the morning
Then Dove hunting in the afternoon

Trap Grade L.C. Smith

Hey all, went out again today, much warmer than yesterday (in the 80's) Didn't see as many grouse as yesterday, but did see a lot more young pheasants. It was a good day for me, I was able to limit out ( I managed a double on one group, happy with that!) and my 14 year old daughter Teresa, got her first bird hunting. I was very proud of her, one shot (the only one of the day) and one bird. Raina did very well today, nice points and held the birds more often than not.

Anyway, here's the crew:

Rick Timmers:



My Son Jim and Teresa:



Teresa and her first bird. She was using a 20ga Condor Youth O/U:



My birds, I was using my Charles Hellis 16b:



And......Raina:



Best!

Greg

Greg, friends, feathers and family--doesn't get much better. Good to see the girl smiling.
Mike, you are to be commended for using the same screw in two different guns.
Great scene on the sideplates of the old Elsie--doing what the gun was made to do. Gil

Now Gil why do you have to be that way, some guys have a favorite tire iron they use on guns. Keeps me busy.

Gary... love the pic of your lab holding the dove. Great shot!

Adam

Gil, I know you are just teasing,
JR is the one with the screwed up issues

About the screws, I like them as I get the guns MUCH cheaper

Quality guns, one or two bad screws = great price.
And there is no degradation on performance.

When I can buy a Trap Grade Smith on the cheap because of externals
I do not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Mike

Mike,
In looking at the trap shooters depicted in your last Elsie's engraving, they appear to be in vertically striped uniforms. You suppose they were on a prison shooting team??
We all (well, some of us) have guns with warts. Why not? We owners could probably use some repair as well. Here's my favorite gun wart collection. It's on the scalloped stock of a Turner Light 12 made between 1875-87. There are at least 5 shot holes in the stock, some repaired with lead putty. I had Mark Larson repair a non-structural gouge near the fences, but wanted the shot holes unrepaired and visible, sorta like a Prussian fencer's cheek scar. If the gun could talk, I'd love to hear the story behind that shooting. Gil

Forget the frigging shot holes, what on earth is that? A "scalloped" stock? Wtf?
JR

John, two years ago somebody asked the same question.
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...true#Post392264

Gil, you're getting bad as keith about springing quotes from old threads where us old guys repeat ourselves...Geo

Well, maybe not that bad.

Geo, your name is familiar. Have we met? Gil

Monday
Less and less doves, and maybe RAIN tomorrow

L.C. Smith Specialty Grade

Doves to clean; provided by a 1955 Simson 12 gauge and a good Safari Cigars .375 H&H stogie to enjoy while cleaning. Life is good.

What, no Shiner? I think buzz & ed just swooned. (dead doves & tobacco) Cool pics y'all.


____________________________
I can feel a good one comin' on. Blackberry Smoke

I am off to the Canadian National Field Trials with my 2 dogs next week. Pray for me, touch wood and all the other good luck charms you can throw my way. When done they get a week in the Alberta sand hills routing out sharptails and Huns with me and my W C Scott Victoria grade hammergun 12 ga and BP roll your owns. Pics to come

There's an old saying where I come from: "Best to let sleeping dogs lie".

Best of luck David. I just whacked my desk for you. It's wood.

Tuesday
COLD, WINDY, CLOUDY
Doves are gone, whey you are at 3500 feet elevation, you must
hunt often before they are GONE!!
Krieghoff Drilling

Been so long since I posted a picture on here I can't even remember how.

eYe can't wait...

Could anybody post a pic if I sent it to them from my phone. I can either text it or email it. I'm at Reelfoot Lake teal hunting.

SRH

Reelfoot my azz. In those flip flops Stan has to be in Margaritaville. And I am teal green with envy.

There were some of the biggest bunches of blue wing teal this morning I have ever seen, and they worked great. First morning was clear with blue skies and no wind. Teal were few. Today there was high clouds and just a little wind, and there were bunches with 100-150 in them. They worked well, and we got good shooting. Left the blind at about 10:00 a.m. with 28. RIO Blue Steel 4s are working really good out of the old 30" BSS.

Thanks for posting that, Gil. We've got one more morning to worry them before heading back to Georgia. Maybe another pic tomorrow.

All my best, SRH

Very nice Stan! Try to get a few more pics for us! You gonna be at the the Southern SXS in Georgetown? I know it's harvest time for you.

Adam

They have been flying great this week

Had a great hunt for this guy last night....paid the price getting him out too! Nearly straight up and couple of hours later my hunting partner and I got him to the truck. My back hurts.....

Awesome buck Steve!

My new (to me) Hatfield Uplander and 7 birds from my first time afield with it (yesterday). One of the early St. Joe, Missouri guns (1987), it's a matched pair of 20 and 28 gauge barrels. I was using the 20 gauge barrels with 7 1/2 Federal dove loads - very effective on doves within range.

Pardon the random "GERMANY" hat, I recently returned from working with a Luftwaffe squadron and the guys were amazed we could just go hunting whenever we pleased. So, they sent me back with that hat and specific orders to wear it while hunting.

Welcome aboard on your first post. Nice gun. A leather helmet, goggles and scarf would have been more appropriate gift than a ball cap from the Luftwaffe. Gil

Stan took this photo at sunrise at Reelfoot. Bagged a bunch of bwt's and will report when he gets back:

Back home safe. Total tally for three days: 49 blue wings and one Woodrow. Great place to hunt with wonderful accommodations and guides. Anyone interested in the details can p.m. me. Glad to share names and places. Back to work for a bit, now.

All my best, SRH

Looks like you had a great time, Stan. Now, I want to hunt ducks one time in flip flops.

A September Teal hunt in the deep South is an odd experience compared to the usual Winter outing. The lilly pads are all still green as well as the rest of the pond vegetation and there are no Coots down yet, only a few Gallinules. The Gators are not dormant this early and patrol just outside your decoys. No dogs of course!

Then a big drove of Bluewings comes over the pond and splits off into smaller groups which each in turn give your decoys a look, and usually plop right in among them. They're all LBDs (little brown ducks) of course this time of year, but they are certainly good eating if you work around the pinfeathers.

The only other ducks around will be Wood Ducks and Black Belly Tree Ducks down here. They are not included in the early teal season in GA though. The Black Bellies mostly migrate to Florida or somewhere before the regular season comes arrives in November. We have lots of them all Summer nowadays...Geo

Nice buck. Tell us about the smokepole. Gil

an inline I built years ago(never did finish that fore end) on a Remington rolling block action I converted to side-lever. 100grs of triple seven and a 248 gr powerbelt bullet. I had seen some real monster bucks on a very small sliver of public land two years ago and have been trying to put something together there since. I hunted it last year and never saw the bucks though my hunting partner did when he was after them with a bow. The place I took him was close to town and just a gorgeous setting. The other night we made a plan to walk the piece slowly with one of us on each side of the road that divides the public land. I had almost finished my walk with only a single opening and about 100 yards of land left to work and came around the last Juniper and spotted him the same time he spotted me. I stepped back behind the Juniper to decide on a game plan and it became apparent very quickly that he was not going to stick around. I made a bee line for a slightly higher spot on a rock out cropping which would give me a clear view of him and to my surprise a second buck was there as well. They were beginning to head out so I dropped to a knee, lined the sights up and squeezed. I clipped the top of his heart and he only made it maybe 30 yards. Then the work began.... that was one seriously up hill trip to the truck.

Itch to shoot 1963 Ithaca M37 16 ga. Thursday



Darne good dove day Friday. 16 ga..

I agree there. Those old Hatfield's were nice. They always put a nice stick of curly maple on their guns including their muzzleloading 'Kentucky' rifles and shotguns. I believe their shotgun parts were supplied from Spain, (or Italy, possibly? as my longrifle I bought in the 80's had Italian proof marks on it) and stocked by Hatfield in St Joe, Missouri.

Joe, could you shed some light on that?

I like what the Luftwaffe hat represents, it says to all that the
freedom for us to hunt in America is honored in other location.

What joy!!

This week I was able to go duck hunting, dove hunting, skeet shooting, and fishing and totally without fear or interruption.

Mike

I was a little apprehensive about sticking my head up out of the blind on Reelfoot. The bluewings were strafing us so low that, at times, they would nearly knock your cap off your head. I'm not kidding, never seen them fly so low over a blind.

I survived ................ lots of them didn't.

SRH

Hey all, great posts from you all! Keep them coming. Went out today with Wade Burns, was a very nice day, but very warm (low 80's). We didn't do as well as in the past, but did get some birds, I limited and Wade got one. We didn't see all that many, Wades dog Lakota, had a wonderful point, solid, Wade got his out of that group, I blew my shot. Anyway, it was a fun day (always is with Wade!)

The dogs (mine, Raina on the left and Wades Wirehair Lakota on the right)



I was using my 16b John Wilkes SLE today



Wade and Lakota. For a change of pace, Wade used his 16ga 11-48 with the old Cutts on her



Just a fun day. Hope to have more with Wade!

Best!

Greg

Opening day dove shoot in Alabama's South Zone yesterday. It was a good hunt even though I had probably the worst spot on the field. I was smack dab between two flight lines...both just barely out of gun range so 90% of the birds flew by untouched by me. But fortunately there were a lot of birds on the field to make up for that. We shot a 40 acre harvested corn field and many of the shooters limited out. I managed to get 10. Got a little wet by a few rain showers butt we had a good time. I used my 12-bore Arrieta 803.

Hi all, went out today after Church with my daughter Teresa and hunted around the house here. Tough day for the dog, hot (80)dry and windy (25mph) Hard for her to scent, but I did manage to get a limit of Huns, but...........lost two (hate when this happens!)they dropped dead in some very thick cover, the dog couldn't even find them, so only one in the hand. Did see grouse, but spooky with this wind and they all flushed out of range. Oh well, just one of those days. Won't be the first or last like today. Still good to get out with my kids.

Raina and Teresa



I used my 16ga Carl Goluch (made by Franz Soda)



Best!

Greg

Made it through the first day. Only 5 more days and 8 tests to go. Note the shirt. I was there in 1985 as a worker bee.

pic upload

Fantastic Tamid!
Go get 'em!

Monday 19 Sept

Mike, would an appropriate caption be "Lonesome Gun"?

Lots of miles and miles in Texas

A pleasant afternoon in the Texas Panhandle with my 1870 W & C Scott 12 gauge. Amazing to think this gun was made before George Custer was assigned to the Seventh Cavalry! And it's still as effective as today's fanciest. Hammer guns and dove were made for each other.

Joe. Do you know what grade your Scott is. Looks perhaps to be premium grade but zoom ins are a bit too fuzzy to tell

Opening day was on the first we got 18 birds, 6 a piece, this Saturday is closing and hoping to go out with a bang.


Model 12 Heavy Duck, it's my model 21 of pump guns!

Hey all, played hooky from work today and was glad I did. Was able to limit in a couple hours. Tough hunting for the dog, windy today 18 to 20 mph, hard for her to scent. But, she did make a couple of very nice points, happy with her!

I was using my 16b Charles Boswell. I like to call this my "meat" gun. Can't seem to miss with this one.



And......Raina



Best!

Greg

I LIKE that pup,
I'm an incurable DOG guy, and I have taken great pleasure in following her development over the past season. Keep her in Birds , and combined with the outings with those Kids, I guarantee priceless Memories will be cast in stone.

Really Nice Boswell, very refined features, Classy !!, you could do worse than to have that piece as a "never miss meat gun"

Paul

Most of the doves have moved on now

American Arms Royal

Greg, I agree with Paul that Boswell looks really well put together. 28 inch barrels?

Raina and the Boswell make a classy picture!

Cheers!

Thanks Paul & Eddy for the very kind words. Raina is doing well, she has made a couple of mistakes, but overall, I'm happy with her. She will get better in time, of that I'm sure.

Anyway, just a little background on the Boswell. According to Chris Batha, who had the Boswell records, the gun was made for MAJ Stuart Maples and delivered on Nov 10, 1926. The cost was 38 guineas. Mine is gun number 1 of a pair, weighs in at 5lbs 12oz, 28" bbls choked IC/IM. I like her!

Thanks again!

Greg

Saturday

16 gauge 65mm GECO 30" barrels

Hey all, went out this afternoon after Number 2 son got off of work. We were out for about an hour and a half or so. I managed a limit and Jim got two.

I was using my 16ga Ugartechea 1030



Jim was using his 12 Victor Sarasqueta 3EC



Didn't get a pic of Raina, but she did well.

Best!

Greg

Hey Mike, nice look iron there. I would assume she's Spanish.

Who's the maker?

Best,

Greg

Greg,

Francisco Sarriugarte

Mike


http://www.shotguns.se/html/spanish_trademarks.html

Thanks Mike, I used to have a Sarriugarte. It was a good quality piece. But, one I sold, when I shouldn't have......you know!

Thanks again,

Greg

This one is a 12 Gauge Royal
I was able to buy a Silver 20 gauge barrel and forend on EBAY and
low and behold I was able to fit it to the action
I had choke tubes from a Brittany and they also fit perfectly.

YEEEE HAWWWW
Mike

For those of you that compete with your hunting dogs. Number 16 made it to the 7th series and 23 was a finalist! 23 was the youngest finalist at 4 years old. Now i'm waiting for Oct 1 when the sharptail season opens and the 15th when pheasant opens.


free photo upload

Just got back from five days at the property. A few odds and ends to take care of, but mostly hoping the front had pushed some dove down. Lots of pics of Cocoa with a face full of feathers- hope you don't tired of them, so they're interspersed with some other pics.

One of the "to do" items was putting a liner in the old concrete stock tank, and putting 500 gallons of water in it. While pumping the first 250 in, a dove flew within 10 ft. of me. That spurred me to get the 16 out. Two minutes later we had our first bird of the trip:



In between the morning and evening hunt/shoot, there were other things to do. One was having fun hitting the 200 and 330 yard steel plates with the Garand:



Mojos work, and the higher the better:






Lots of time in between birds...



and they didn't seem to mind the music. No one around to be bothered by it, and made the time enjoyable:



So this post is not too photo heavy, I'll put a few more up on a second one.

The obligatory bucket, birds, and barrels shot:



I had finished the evening shoot yesterday with a double, these two birds. Shot the first one out of a group of about half a dozen coming into the Mojo, swung around and took the second outgoing. This honey hole is an open area of about only 30 ft. by 40, so the shooting can be very fast and close.

Could you please tell me of the fine instrument ?
O.M

Great pics, and I have learned in the last couple of years how right you are about the Mojo dove working better up high. I had used them atop center pivot irrigation systems for years, then Gil S gave me a three piece pole made out of lightweight aliminum tubing to use in other places. It increases the effectiveness by a huge amount, IMO.

Another trick for doves is to tie the cheap inanimate decoys onto a reel and rod that has fairly heavy line, then throw the decoy across the bottom line of a powerline. The bottom line on all distribution lines is always neutral, so there's no danger there, as you can't throw it high enough to get it over the hot lines up top. Reel up the slack so that the deke is right up against the wire, underneath it, and just let your rod butt sit on the ground holding the line tight. Two or three of those will pull doves from hundreds of yards. They don't seem to mind that the dekes are under the wire ........ if you don't shoot, they will light right beside, and above, them.

My son will be arriving from Tucson in a few days and maybe he can figure out why the old man can't get pics to post anymore. I've got a pile of them saved up. I'm sure enjoying everyone else's tho'.

SRH

Am I to assume you mean the gun, and not the Bose Mini Soundlink?

An "Ideal" by Manufrance in 16 ga., 1937, two sets of barrels. The barrels in the photo were obtained from France in the white several years ago- fitted to the gun by Kirk Merrington, engraved by Doug Larson, and blacked by the late Doug Woodin. Round action with a retractable sling, it is a delight to shoot and to carry.

Mike, pretty 16 Ideal and pooch. American Water Spaniel or Boykin?? Neat tripod for the Mojo. I use short piece of conduit one end flattened and cut to a point and have a short loop of paracord through the stake for my foot to drive it into the ground. The thin walled aluminum tubing sits on top of the stake.

Not only is the up high Mojo better on bringing them to you, it also doesn't attract low birds like the factory stake does. An old retired Ga. Power lineman chewed on some folks' butts for using the neutral line for decoys. He says he has seen arcing and claims the potential for bad results. He also said it was illegal. I know folks who have done it for years without harm, however. On two fields I hunt, the owners rigged dummy "power lines" through the long axes of their fields. Here are two line decoys I carved. Floyd Robbins has nothing to fear by my carvings being competition to his. In the photos, they are rigged to sit on top of the line, but have been modified now to sit below the line. It’s easier to use than having to make it sit on top. Plastic ones work just fine. And as you write, Stan, it makes no difference. And, "no", Geo, that is not a woodduck nesting box but my diy dove stool. The gun is a 16 gauge, 1949 Ithaca M37R. Gil

If you're gonna sit on a wood duck box at least buy a cushion...Geo

I had similar thoughts- that's one tough hide to sit on that wood box for any length of time. The thin cushion that came with my store bought bucket long ago became too thin for comfort.

As to Cocoa, the eyes and size give her away as an AWS. I call her "Fat Dog" (I know, mostly my fault. This dog lives to eat), but my friend Milton swears I renamed her NO BIRD!

I understand about retrievers named "no bird". I've had pointers whose 1st name might as well have been 'dammit'...Geo

Mike, that's some pretty wood on the M-1. I bet that International Harvester or whoever made the metal didn't make the stock. Gil

1944 Springfield Armory. Restocked and finished it myself, shooting my own reloads. Glass bedded it too- it's a real tack driver, and a hoot to shoot.

That's a pretty gun Mike. Love those barrels! I can just picture Doug working his finger tips raw getting them polished. Looks great!

James, when you put all your money in guns something has to give. In Mike's case, it's footware. Gil

It most certainly is a very pretty gun.
I have never seen one in the flesh.
O.M

Too funny Gil. Those dogs have definitely seen better days.

Sad thing is they're not that old. Have yet to find shoes that last a reasonable amount of time. Tired of Nike lasting a few months, so decided to try New Balance. This pair was even worse.

I had had good luck with Vasque hiking boots in the past, but production has for a while been in China, and they don't last either. The longest lasting boots I ever had were WESCO logging/lineman boots out of Oregon. Still have a pair from the 80's I'll wear for rugged chain saw work, but they really hurt my feet in short order.

James, good to have you post. Hope you are feeling better, and look forward to seeing you in about three weeks.

Mike

James (canvasback) has one of the finest you'll ever see, and I hope to shoot it in about three weeks when we link up in Nebraska for sharpies.

The gun has a fatal flaw, however.

It's a 12.

Mike

Thanks for the kind words Mike. Not 100% yet but a little better.

BTW, when one like mine comes along, you don't quibble about gauge! LOL

Looking forward to seeing the 12 with some sharpies then James.
O.M

Moses, so am I!

His great-grandmother was my first bird dog.

Now that's what I call a pretty face! And right behind it are some pretty good instincts, I suspect.

Now we know where the old expression "pretty as a speckled pup" came from!

A beautiful pup.

Sorry for the slow response treblig1958, I'm in the process of a major move and work is busy, which sadly also limits my time afield!

You're correct, they had the barreled actions (for the Uplander models) imported from Italy (at first) and stocked and engraved them in Saint Joseph, Missouri. I believe the Uplanders at the end of the production run were sourced from Spain. I happen to originally be from Saint Joseph and have met the Hatfield brothers and the original engraver, so the gun has a little extra meaning to me.

Thanks Joe, beautiful Hatfield. You can always tell a Hatfield from a long ways off. That premium piece of curly maple stained a deep red!!!

Had a great hunt in South Dakota, my first for prairie chickens. A 20 ga. charged with an ounce of #6 ITX shot was more than enough gun, as the birds were generally holding for point before my setter. Gorgeous grassland conditions, and plenty of birds. I didn't miss a bird the first two days... no need to discuss day three!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37051140/PrairieChickens_Sal_SD_2016.jpg

See Grouse Guy above



Prairie Chickens, Sage-Grouse, Sharp Tailed Grouse and Huns,
WOW!!! What memories when I lived in Montana 1971-1976
SWEET land and SWEET people

Mike

---------------------------------------------------------------

ADDED

OK, Today



16 gauge Belgium double trigger O/U made in 1945

I like the picture focused on the corral and grasses and sky

Mike

Neat O/U; kinda a mixture of Belgian and Germanic styles it looks like to me. And it clearly kills stuff!

Opening Day yesterday


1982 BUHAG drilling 16 x 16 x 8x57R - new to me this year. First bird - a nice holdover. Shells: right = #6 Federal Hi-power paper, left = #6 Herters' 1 oz.

Mike: thanks for help with the photo. Interestingly, Montana isn't known to have any Greater Prairie Chickens today. There are records of them at the beginning of the 20th century in extreme NE Montana where they arrived "following the plow" and grain culture, but since then their range has contracted eastward back into the Dakotas.

Was repointing some brick at a customer's house (development with appx. 3 acre lots) when I noticed this guy lounging casually. He let me get within about three feet of him before strolling back into the landscaping between the fence and the pool.

Quail numbers are good again this year, and needless to say, am seeing them where they haven't been for years.




Mike

Hey all, well today was our Pheasant Opener and it was a good one. Rick Timmers, Wade Burns, myself and my son Jim went out to a friends farm. There was some light snow on the ground in the morning, so it was wet going as it melted. Wade brought his dog Lakota (and she's a darn good dog BTW) and I brought Raina. We all filled (except Jim, always in the wrong place at the right time as he says!) and we got a couple grouse also. Did see a lot of birds, more than I expected, a good day with some good folks!

Wade (left) and Rick (right), Jim left early for work so no pic of him



I used my Purdey 12b



Guess we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Best!

Greg

No exotic location or beautiful mixed bag, but our first trip to the field for the year. I say "our," but PA has a special junior hunter only season that gives anyone 12 to 16 years old a two week head start on birds, so just the boy was hunting.
It took all of 15 minutes for Kaiser to root out two state stocked birds. My son did his part, and we were headed home.



The bird in the foreground was a TANK. It was like a jake turkey.

Good Show Hoof!!! Glad your son did well, reminds me so much of my two boys. Best hunting partners I'll ever have, bar none. Keep it up, your doing fine raising that good looking boy.

Best,

Greg

Hey all, went out again today with Wade, Rick and Greg W. It was a very windy day, 20-25mph. Did see birds, but they were spooky. I managed a limit and Wade got two, Greg & Rick didn't fair well. Still a good day!

Wade and Greg and Lakota



I used my 12b F.A. Anderson



Going out again tomorrow, hope to do as well again.

Best!

Greg

Hey all, went out again today, it was a very nice day, lower winds, sunny in the 50's just about perfect. Took longer today to fill, for some reason the birds didn't want to hold well. Got a grouse as a bonus, but didn't see any huns. Raina did a great retrieve, went down a very, very steep hill (almost a 80 degree one) and got him. Good day!

I used my 16ga Arrieta 871



And.............Raina!



Best!

Greg

16 ga. Field grade L. C Smith, 32" barrels, Hunter One Trigger, ejectors

SRH

Ahh, Stan, The Long Range Puffer.
JR

Gorgeous Stan! I just came across 54 boxes of paper western 16g shells. My buddy shot his limit quickly with some. They are a treat

54 boxes! Man, what a haul!

SRH

Greg - glad to see that you are not wasting anytime getting out in the field!

I took my two boys up to NH yesterday to chase some grouse and woodcock. It was still a bit leafy and the flight birds have not yet started showing up in large numbers. But it was still a great fall day in the woods. The younger guy on the left was shooting his grandfather's Model 12 20 ga. (which Jim Wiegand brought back to life after 85 years of hard use) and scored the trifecta - grouse, woodcock and rabbit.

Might not be the favorite, but, so far, the only one from this year:



Northwestern Minnesota, Louise, my 2 year old setter, your's truly, and Darne 20 gauge. Photo credit to our own Lloyd3.

The afternoons were almost too hot, plenty of leaves, green and otherwise, and bugs, too. I wouldn't have traded any of it for anything, however. I had a great time.


Best,
Ted

Stan, that is a very nice "elsie". Out of over 38,000 16 gauges made there were only 220 with 32" barrels, it would be nice to know how many were made with the HOT and ejectors.
I have a Longrange 12 ga. Field Grade, 32" barrels, re-enforced loop, HOT and ejectors and is one of 30 made in that configuration. I'm sure yours is lower.

David, I have been told it is one of three (Field grades), by an L C Smith collectors association member, but I have no way of knowing if that is accurate. All I know is that it is the only one I have ever seen, but that is a very small "sample".

Susie and I hit it off really quickly. There was another 32", a graded Smith 16 ga. on the table that day, but it was priced way out of my reach. When I saw that Susie's date of completion was the same as my birthday I groaned aloud. James, the owner, asked what was wrong. When I told him he said with a grin "Do you know an omen when you see one?" ......... I did.

She went with me to the cottage at Rick's that evening, and I fell asleep with her beside me in bed. We "bonded".

SRH

Stan, I believe it. This year at the Southern, a friend from Louisiana brought his great uncles 16 ga. Ideal with 32" barrels, HOT and ejectors and had it on display at the L.C. Smith tent.
His great uncle bought it in 1924 from Von Lengerke & Antoine (Chicago) and used it for duck hunting for the "French Market". He had asked his uncle how many ducks he shot with it and the uncle said 3 car loads and he asked how many ducks fit into the trunk of a car, his reply was no 3 box cars. His great uncle along with other family members bought 1200 acres of marsh at the mouth of the West Pearl river and later the spot was called Hog Island. They knew what time the train came by and would meet it and load the ducks and muskrats for the markets in New Orleans.

A Research letter from our organization stated it was 1 of 148 Ideal Grades in 16 ga. with 32" barrels and only 83 made identical to it and only 4 like it produced in 1924.

I had asked him to write an article for the L.C. Smith journal and it was in the Summer 2016 journal.

A Research letter for yours would tell you the same.

Thank you, David. Perhaps I should become a member of the LCS association, and request that letter. I do know that the original consignee was Hazard and Gould Sporting Goods and Hardware.

Very interesting background on the 32" Ideal grade.

Thank you for the information.

SRH

Stan,
Although I don't encourage it you can order a letter without joining the LCSCA. The cost is higher, and, given the benefits you'll receive from being a member, you'll see that membership is a bargain !

I'm just going to join. I'd like to get the newsletter, anyway. Thanks, tho'.

SRH

Hi all, went out today and was able to shoot 3, but lost one, so only 2 in the bag. Hate losing a bird, rather miss than wound one. Anyway, a nice day, of course any day hunting is winner

I used my 16ga FN



Best,

Greg

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We finally got a little dry, cool weather with only a little wind. We moved a fair number of birds and was lucky enough to take a few home.

Hey all, went out today solo and managed a limit. Had to wait awhile as all the road accesses to my spots around my place were blocked off by law Enforcement. We have a bit of trouble with troublemakers (they call themselves protestors) who are trying to stop a pipeline from going thru the area. This has made things tough to get from one area to another. But, it was a good day. Weather was nice and Raina worked well.

I used my 12b Joseph Harkom



Best,

Greg

Good job Gregory!

Thanks! I do love my upland hunting.

Best,

Greg

We shot doves this Saturday in SC. Another member on here was there. I shot a Parker GH 12 gauge with an unusual Prince of Wales grip. It did very well

Mills, Nice gun! Sorry we didn't get to chat after the hunt as I was the anchor man out of the field. After moving from a location of dove drought, I was out fairly fast all things considered. They were thick like fleas in the upper field where I ended the day. Gil

They started off slow for me, but were buzzing in like flies toward the end. I moved a few times myself

The Lab shot isn't fair, Mills. Still hurting from Jake's death. Age and circumstances won't permit me another Lab. I'm dependant now on the kindness of my friends. Hunting without a dog is . . .well, you know.

Gator is getting old himself and I am not sure how his future looks. We have an awesome new vet who helped us get his weight under control and that has helped his arthritis. He loves hunting more than anything and now can do it without being in pain.

Yup. Going from having a healthy hunting dog to nursing a sick a terminal one is at best, the worst experience of my life so far. I guess I've been otherwise lucky so far.

We have a dove drought up here in NC

Two of my sons, John and Trent and I flew out from under Hurricane Matthew Saturday the 8th and into the snow in Saskatchewan for a duck and goose hunt. I've been going up there for a week or two every Fall since 1993. One of my sons accompanied me in 1998 when he was 16; now Trent is 34. No outfitter, we just freelance and stay in a camp house my buddy bought and we share expenses on in one of those disappearing high prairie towns along the railroad tracks.

1st pic just shows the view from my shooting stool in the blind. Yeah I know it ain't a sxs but it sure kills the birds!:



Next pic might give some idea of how cold it was for three south GA boys:



This one's the boys and I in the blind:



My buddy and I shot with the boys every morning and then left them with the blind to shoot the afternoon while we spotted for the next morning's shoot This one shows one of their afternoon bags and I think the joy of the experience::

[/URL

Trent and I with a morning bag of canadas and ducks:

Mills,
Very happy to see the little boy in the back of the pickup truck. If you take your children to the woods and lakes, you won't have to get them from jail.
Mike

Thanks Mike

George, looks like you had a great time. I have some buddies that go to Canada about this time every year and it is something I want to do.

Glad you went off topic a bit Geo. Nice set of pictures and looks like a good time. Truth for me is that it's been a bit since I shot at ducks with a double, and that time the barrels weren't lined up side by side. I'd rather be out in the field than over worry about what I'm toting.

Geo, no double gun? Say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so!!!

A man's gotta know his limitations. I love doubleguns more than most, but sometimes the best tool wins. That Beretta is the finest shotgun I've ever owned!..Geo

Around here well to do wildfowl hunters pick either Beretta semi or Benelli semi. I would take Beretta because Benelli uses spring recoil system that would kick living shit out of me and that would truly suck.

Modern Beretta semi-auto is the best fowling gun fella can buy. Wildfowling Steel shot ammo can be bought 24/7 at Walmart except for those located in the "Da Hood" where ammo sales curfew starts at 10pm. Not sure when they start ammo sales in am.

What about all the jamming in severely cold weather? Then what do you do? However, We are getting off track here, I'll start a new thread.

Doesn't jam...Geo

You could let jam dry in a Beretta and it wouldn't jam.

(Copied and pasted from an old thread here:)

"I have a strange quirk that has happened to me several times in my life. I am of the habit of getting my "bathroom business" done first thing every morning. Well, getting up very early to hunt ducks sometimes interrupts the flow of things, shall we say. More than once I have been all trussed up in chest waders, standing in the water in the pre-dawn, only to have the "urge" hit me hard. If I try to ignore it, or restrain it, I eventually get faint.

Eight of us had put the boats in at the landing at Bayou Meto, AR, at 4:30 a.m., motored aways down the canal, drug the boats another several hundred yards to our hole, and had just begun killing ducks. Then, that old familiar feeling hit me. I knew I had to "go" somewhere, but where? There was no land that wasn't under two feet of water within 1/4 mile. I suppressed it, that faint feeling started, and I headed for the boat, thinking I would just have to soil the boat and incur the wrath of several of my buddies. Before I got to the boat I passed out, my Beretta 390 went down into the mud, submerged. The icy water woke me back up quickly, and I continued to the boat. Getting there I found a few old rags, and was about to climb in to do the dirty deed when I spied a huge root wad, we call 'em "harrikins", of a blown down oak. I climbed up on it, happy as could be, and called out to my buds to not look that way unless they wanted to be deeply offended. I looked like a rooster perched up there for a few minutes. Afterwards, I poured the mud and water out of my gun. The action had frozen shut and I had quite a time getting it open. Barrel was clear, so I reloaded it, waded back over to the hole and killed a limit of ducks. That 390 never missed a lick, ejecting and feeding perfectly, great testimony to that design.

I hope my buddies have been able to put that picture of me perched up on top of that root wad out of their minds, 'cause some of them just couldn't resist looking and laughing."

SRH

[url=[URL=http://s1090.photobucket.com/user/txhuntermn/media/IMG_0573.jpg.html][/url]]photobucket[/url]

Rehash from the current 28 gauge thread, Gamage London 2 1/2" 28, reproofed for 5/8th oz Nitro in the fifties. Loving this little 4 1/2# wand!

Hi all, went out today after work for a couple hours with my 15 year old daughter Teresa. I managed two and Teresa got her first pheasant! One proud papa, she got it with one shot over a nice point by Raina. Looks like I have a new hunting partner.

I was using my 16ga Garbi 100



Teresa and her first Rooster, she was using a 20ga Condor O/U



The birds, the daughter and Raina



Best!

Greg

James, aka canvasback, getting ready to embark on his first Nebraska Sandhills adventure:


Hopefully more pics to come over the next three days.

Mike

This has to be my favorite thread

Just want to be clear. That's not my dog.

Not my gun either. Problem getting my form 6NIA form approved so Mike (Wingshooter) kindly lent me his Ideal 314 16 gauge. What a lovely gun! Thanks Mike!

agreed

James,
Well, it seems clear to me, at any rate, that the wall along the border needs to be ten feet or so higher. Darned Kanucks keep getting across, and never bring me any LaBatts.
Take as many sandhills as you want back across with you.

Best,
Ted

Look at her big smile she certainly does look happy Greg!!!

Greg, it's always great to see photos of your children's sucesses. What a smile!
James, I wish my emergency back up gun was a 16 Ideal.
And by the way, you stole the line "that's not my dog" from Peter Seller's The Pink Panther.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SXn2QVipK2o
Have a great time in the Sandhills with Mike. Gil

Steve Voss getting ready to fill water bottles at the Ballard Marsh spring- some of the best tasting water you might ever have:

Start of the next day:

















Five birds between three guys- all hard won through many miles of boot leather.

And yes, there is a dog in the last pic.

Mike

Mike, James, Steve, keep these photos rollin' in. Looks like a grand time on the prairie. Gil

Gil, I have to tell you. The prairie is my favourite place to be. I miss it every day I spend in the east. This trip is good for my soul!

Big sky and the subtle beauty of the plains. What's not to love?

Hi all, well today was a special day. My Number One son Will is home on leave from the Army. He only has a couple days, so we went out and did the thing we love the most.....Pheasant hunting! Wade Burns was also with us, so a good friend and a great son, who could ask for more, well, birds I guess. I was bale to get 2 and Will got 1. Was a bit tougher hunting as the wind came up and started blowing in that 20+ mph range. Still a wonderful day for me!

My son and me



Will and Wade



Will and Raina, Will used his 16ga Sauer Royal



I used my 12b Henry Atkin



Best!

Greg

Ted, just getting my feet wet. Can't wait to miss birds in the company of you and Lloyd!

Greg, I think that is my favorite that Henry Atkin of yours.

Greg, your season just seems to get better and better with so much to be grateful for. Gil

Another great week filled with friends, food, ( a few cocktails), our great host Liz, 3200 acres of Wild birds and 14 eager pointers and flushers-
Thanks to my buds Don, Grumpy, Bruce, Jackie, Bobby, Greg, Harlon and to Eva, my two year old Vizsla , that made good on all her field trial training on the broad grouse plains !
Best Regards,
JBP

first day with the Fox 16



Last day bonus grouse courtesy of Eva



275 daly featherweight and heavy proof garbi 101

Greg,
Be sure to tell your son, we appreciate his service.
Mike

Beginning of our second full day, and the second to last- heading back to Lincoln tomorrow after a morning hunt. This pic shows some of the country, but milder than where we hunt:



I was concerned that Cocoa was not in sufficient shape for the Sandhills , but she hung in there, and helped bring a number of birds to bag.






Lunch time


Cocoa comes through on a double by Dad:



And a welcome sight on the way home:

Sharing a sandwich with the dogs after a hunt is a tradition I've had for over 40 years. I've shared a lot of sandwiches with some great English setters.

The wife snapped this photo of me and Timber last night. Gentry had his bites already but was hoping for another.

A few more pics for now, as I really need to get some sleep.

Bill that's a great tradition. Hope you are able to carry it on for many more years. Love the look of your setter.

JB, love the guns, love the dog rig and love the pheasants. Sounds like a great trip.

CB, that little Frenchy you're holding looks swwweet. Does it even weigh a pound?

What's the gun your hold'n CB?

Georgia deer season opened this weekend. My sons George Jr., Trent and John and I were in the woods to cool 43 degree mornings. Trent passed up a 4 pt. fork-horn with his bow yesterday afternoon which I had passed up as well Saturday morning.

John took a nice 236lb. nine pointer Saturday morning:





I've got to teach those boys where to put the sun when they take a picture! Sure can't teach them any more about deer hunting...Geo

Wow, that buck is a HOG. I didn't think they grew 'em that big down south.

I see you shiver with antici........pation.




Sorry about shooting the hens, but they are stocked birds that won't procreate anyway. I was also dealing with a severe bout of poor marksmanship.



CHAZ

Looks like that 236 lbs. was with the guts in.....?

Yup...Geo

George, that is a hoss of a Georgia deer. Congrats to John. Gil

He is on the road still as I type, so I'll chime in for him: James is holding my Manufrance Ideal model 314 (a grade 4). We switched for the last two days: I took the 314 and he used my No. 5 Ideal, also a 16. Without the pad, they come in at 5lb14oz. He shot decent enough considering the LOP was way too long for him. Everybody came home with birds, and I am already enjoying some of mine:





James had not ever shot a pistol, so after lunch we pulled out a .22, and 1911's chambered in 9mm, 38 super, and .45. He's a natural, shooting very well right out of the gate:









Mike

Wow what a great buck! Good job guys!

I prefer to think it was my outstanding coaching. After all, just look at that awesome grip.

Also encountered lots of fauna: bald eagles, turkey, yotes, muleys and whitetail, fresh bobcat tracks, and of course pronghorn









And one more of Cocoa:

Birds look tasty. What's the recipe?
Kirk

Very simple- marinate in Italian dressing for 30 to 60 minutes, grill/sear on high
heat for about a minute a side. Seared rare they are scrumptious.

Mike

16 hours flat. Lincoln, NE to Port Hope, ON

Happy to be out of the truck but well worth it. A great trip with a couple of great guys. Steve, Mike....thanks for having me along.

Mike, they look scrumptious. I had a bait of doves Friday evening. Ten of us guys got together and cooked 130 doves in gravy, for several hours. We had grits, biscuits w/scuppernong jelly, buttermilk pie and carrot cake. I broke my previous record of eating 14 dove breasts grilled ........ I quit this time at 17. Not many things I love better than doves, but your birds look mighty fine!

SRH

a little slice of heaven.....Lucy after a day on the prairie with a couple of Sharpies and a rooster. Great weather and dog work. I always wish I could stay longer, but I will be back.

Looks good Steve. What were you shooting?

An early 12 bore H&H Royal self opener.

Nice!

Draper, South Dakota -- All Wild Birds

10 hunters from St. Louis, and one each from Colorado and Virginia. Limited each day, once 36 roosters in 3 hours. Weather was warm and we hunted in t-shirts and light gear. As usual, I was the only one using a SxS -- my Remington 1900 12 gauge.

JERRY GOLDSTEIN

Nice to see you're still making your annual trip, Jerry. I remember that 1900 well.

Great pic Jerry, looks like everyone is a happy camper! Good Show! Boy, there are some really great pics and stories, just love looking at them. Thanks guys!

Went out today solo, just me and the dog. Was a cool day, but low winds. For some reason, the birds were really spooky, but did manage a limit. Raina did very well today, she's earning her keep.

I used my 12b Sam. Allport



And of course Raina. The bird on the left was an old bugger, he had some long black spurs to go along with the nice tail feathers



Best!

Greg

Finally got Photobucket to play nice.
Here is a pic of Dixie (one of Coco's distant cousins)and her 5th rooster of the season.
16ga Husqvarna 201 and roll crimp Cheddite papers.

Hey all, went out after Church today for a little bit and was able to get a couple and a Hun. Should have gotten one more, but oh well can't always limit. Was tough for the dog today, winds were in that +18mph range, made scenting hard, but she did fine anyway.

I use my 12b Cogswell & Harrison Konor



And Raina



Best,

Greg

I sometimes forget just how beautiful the country is, how beautiful the birds and dogs are, and what a privilege it is to share all these things with good friends. All photos are courtesy of Coral Studer, a fine professional photographer from Bonner's Ferry , Idaho. She walked along with her husband, Brad, and friend, Pat .

Hammer guns used were a Woodward 12 bore, a Scott Premier 12 bore, and then a hammerless Lajot 16 bore. I think we'll choose to use hammer guns again and again.

After the hunt, my wife, Anne, and I prepared dinners of pheasant marsala, and pheasant picante. A wonderful way to enjoy a meal of those birds. Of course a Rhone wine and others to go with.

Finally, it is nice to be reminded of how beautiful those birds can be. All wild in country as pretty as they are.

Those are some seriously great photos Daryl!

Preserve chickens in Chambersburg Pa. on Saturday. Me, my boy (Hank - 18 yrs.), GSP (Gus - 10 yrs.) and a couple of 100+ year old Lefevers. This will have to do until S. Dakota wild birds later in season.
Daryl, this is my son I bought the 20 gauge Lefever from you for, a few years back. He decided to shoot one of my 16 gauges this trip.He appreciates and prefers the old 2 holers, which makes me happy!

Fritz

I had forgotten about the 20 ga. Lefever. I guess I have had more than my share. The 16s are really nice in the Lefever line and usually have the 20 ga. sized frame.

The highlight is having your son with you. My son did not make it hunting with me this year as he lives 13,000 miles away in India. I miss having him and my grandson along as well. Congrat's on your shared day.

Thanks for the kind words. It is getting harder to connect and get him out as time goes on. The time goes fast. This is Hank and Gus on another preserve hunt 4 years ago.

I hope everyone has a great hunting season.

"YOU'RE NOT LEAVING ME BEHIND!"

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Huck with my Winchester Model 70 in 243Win, customized and set to benchrest standards by Gordy Gitter. Sorry its not a double.

Another nice one from the farm tagged Saturday morning. Twenty-five years of QBM keeps paying off. Don't shoot the little ones. keep the does in check, and make sure they have something to eat. Simple enough...Geo

David, it may not be a double but it's a great pic!

Great pic for an ole' fashion caption contest. "Just in case" comes to mind.

Mike

Neither is it a black gun forum.
O.M

Had a great snow goose hunt in western WA, with five of us taking our four bird limits in half an hour. Birds were very close. I took a couple with my Husqvarna 12 mod. 50 and a couple with my damascus Husky mod. 44 16 using 7/8oz ITX #4's:

Hi all, this post will have a few pics on it, as it covers this past weekend (Friday - Sunday). Anyway, Friday noon was our Deer gun opener. It was a very warm one, 70, both Friday and Saturday. My son Jim and daughter Liz were the only two who drew tags, I didn't draw one, first time in many, many moons. So, I did some bird hunting while the kids hunted deer. Tough deer hunting, but the bird hunting was very good. I was able to limit each day, except Sunday. Sunday was windy, 20mph, so tough for birds and deer. So, here are the pics:

My hunting partners, my son Jim and daughter Liz:



Jim managed to fill his tag on Opening day at 10 minutes before ending time. He used his Browning A-Bolt in .25WSSM:



Friday's bird limit. I used my 12b F.A. Anderson the entire weekend:



Saturday's bag and yours truly:





Sunday, I did get one more but lost him, a shame:



Anyway, still have to fill Liz's tag, wonder if I'll try for birds again?

Best,

Greg

Love that camo job Mark. Classic!!!

I am sorry to wander so far off topic, but my daughter killed her first whitetail this past weekend, and I can't help but share. She was using a crossbow since the report and recoil of a rifle still bothers her a little (she is only 9). She made a great shot at 25 yards and the recovery was only about 60 yards.
I deserve any derision you want to give me about allowing her to shoot such a little doe. While I would have much rather she shot a larger deer she got a perfect opportunity and she took it.

Yeee Hawww
Thank you for sharing
These are the BEST of Times
Mike

Started my season in South Dakota,near Huron and Hitchcock, good numbers of birds. Hunted with my Fox CE and Parker 16ga GHE

Then traded the Fox for a Fly Rod and did some Steelhead fishing in South Sandy Creek in NY

After fishing traded the Fly Rod for the Super Fox and have had some great duck hunts on my marsh in Central NY.

No derision from me, Hoof. Congratulations to her........ and Dad1

SRH

Taken on the Thursday after I took my Maine Moose on Tuesday. Took an entire day (Wed.) to get it to the DEC and the processor so we figured we'd have an few days to hunt grouse.

Little did we realize there are no grouse in Maine. Rather, they have an upland game-bird that looks remarkably similar to ruffed grouse except it doesn't fly. They call them "Pahtridge" and must shoot them on the ground. So when in Rome...








Tasty little things, next time will leave the 2" 12ga, Hellis at home and bring the Savage 24 .22/20gauge with me...if I ever draw a second moose tag...

No derision from me! Your post is what this annual thread is about as far as I am concerned. Congratulations to your daughter and to you for raising her! Besides her doe will eat better than anything else you see some one bragging about here...Geo

Hey all, only had a very short time to hunt today, have a wedding to go to, so while I'm waiting for my wife to get ready! I thought I'd post today's gun and game. Was a wonderful day weather wise, birds were wild in one area we hunted, but did manage two before we had to get back.

I used my 12b J. Blanch (with those dangerous damascus bbls!)



Best,

Greg

[img]https://goo.gl/photos/iZyH7KP5xH8KWKza9[/img]

Some ducks my Holland shot

Edit- apparently Google Image links don't work

Hi all, went out today solo, was a windy one 20mph, but did manage to get a limit. Raina worked well in spite of the wind, made a good retrieve on a bird that lead her on a merry chase. Good day overall.

I used my 12b H&H Royal:



Raina and the days bag:



Best,

Greg

My Cabela's Dickinson downed two pheasants this week.



gold40

Took a few Bob White Quails this weekend.

Used a E.J. Churchill 20 gauge, Premiere SLE, 28 inch barrels, RST shells, #7 shot.

First time I used the gun in the field and it was a delight. Great weather and great dog work too.

Sorry for lack of pictures. I will check and see if my IT guy gjw (Greg) can post a picture for me

1912 Husqvarna Model 51 in 16 gauge. Straight stock courtesy of Mark Larson.

dollysods,

I look forward to your nice pics of woodcock and hammer guns every year.

Thanks, SRH

Greg, some folks have safe queens; you have Pheasant and Sage Grouse Queens. Great looking guns. Rick, I second Stan in anticipation of our season. Gil

As much as I envy the seemly endless variety of beautiful doubles Greg pictures, I admire that they are photographed in the field with game. Were they with someone else they may languish in a safe, negating their purpose for existence.
I had one double that was "too nice" to rough hunt with. I sold it when I realized that I felt that way.
CHAZ

Thanks GLS and Hoof for the very kind words, they are very much appreciated! I've been blessed with being able to own some nice guns and do get them out every season for either hunting or shooting clays. They may get out only once, but they do get out. IMO, it would be a shame for them to just sit and not do what they were intended for. But, I do understand some folks have safe queens, a matter of pride in ownership, so my hats off to them also, without them, some very fine guns would not be around, but would be trashed by someone who would not appreciate the fine art that they truly are.

But I'm not the only one with some good ones. There have been some mighty nice guns posted here in this thread, kind of wish I could own some of them!

Again, many thanks!

Greg

A few pics from yesterdays hunt. At 9 years old Emma is at the top of her game. My woodcock numbers have fallen as the season draws to a close,but she found 3 birds and the little 16 ga Husqvarna brought them down. In the thick hawthorn sometimes they don't make it to the ground.


Emma with one of her birds.


Two of my three bird limit. The other bird I "centered" too well and regrettably was all "shot to he!!".


All in all it was just about as perfect as a day could be.

Neat pix; neat gun!

I guess I can now see why Continental makers used to make special guns for woodcock with "Spreader" barrels: 1) not to miss at close range, and 2) not to hit TOO well at close range! (I suspect that's happened to just about everybody--a side effect of caffeine?).

A follow up to the dog in the gun case. Huck missed the deer hunt but got in on the duck hunt the following day. Classic deer hunt. Sat down and let others unknowingly push this buck to me. Not a large guy but excellent meat. Then a stroll across the same field next morning for ducks. The double is a Fox B in 12 ga.

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My Husqvarna 12 gauge SxS with two Illinois roosters.



JERRY

Hi Guys:

I just got back from my first pheasant hunt in South Dakota. I don't know what took me so long to get there. It was a great trip. I hunted with Dukxdog (Bobby)and stayed at his home that he advertised in the "for sale" section here. Very nice accommodations and Bobby is both a good cook and a very capable hunter. He was a big help to a newcomer. In fact, all the guys that stayed there were very nice. Here's a few photos from the hunt. Bobby is the guy behind my brittany Tilly that is on point.

Tom, that's a beauty of a Britt. My two Britts have more orange than white which can make them harder to see in cover than Tilly's coat. Gil

Gil, thanks for kind remarks. Tilly's breeder is breeding for more white so they can been seen more easily in the woods. We are mostly grouse / woodcock hunters in northern Wisconsin. No wild pheasants here.

Today's the opener of the first of the split duck season in GA. Up at 5 ..... left home with Cady, my black lab, at 5:55 ..... arrived at little "woody hole" at 6:05 ..... waited until shooting time at 6:31 ..... shot three times (RIO BlueSteel 4s) and downed three "Woodrows" ..... three fine retrieves by Cady. Back in the house with the BSS already wiped down and put away at 7:22, sipping on the second mug of joe. I swapped the flip-flops for waders this morning, Gil. I'd call it a decent start to the season.

Two of the still warm woodies and the ol' BSS.



SRH

What a way to start the day. Thanks, Stan.


Mike

Stan, I can almost taste those birds. Nothing better in the pan. Good start. Thinking of going you-know-where to run the MuttPak after a covey or two. Gil

Good luck, Gil. Say hello to Abby and Willa for me.

SRH

Great picture of your BSS and wood ducks, Stan. I wonder if the term "woodrow" for woodies is in use generally or just another southernism?...Geo

Hi Jerry (gold40). Can you tell me about that Husky shotgun? I've never handled one, and it has (to my eye), all the aesthetics that I think of with a classical double, slim forend, boxlock, DT's, etc. What model is it, chamber length etc?

Thanks,
John

I've heard it used up as far as Reelfoot Lake, TN. But then, that's still the South ........ ain't it? Never heard it in Arkansas.

SRH

Lots of memories for me today. I shot my first deer fifty years ago this week. Last evening just at the close of shooting time I shot my first running deer ever at about 225 yards. One of the largest does I've ever harvested. It just doesn't get old.

Well done Steve!

Good shot Steve. A running deer with a rifle is tough. Look forward to some good Winter venison...Geo

As the woodcock season draws to a close here in Pa, Emma and I are still making memories.









My infatuation with the little 16 gauge Husqvarna continues. If you've never carried a back-action hammergun through the woods you don't know what your missing. Words like slim, lithe, and svelte come to mind and my Grulla 216 roundbody 16 gauge fells almost "clubby" in comparison.

That is a very nice 16 Ga hammer gun. I am sure it makes the memories even more special. I have a back-action Charles Ingram hammer gun and although it is a 12 Ga, it feels very slim in my hands, balances wonderfully, and it is very quick. There is something addictive about pulling those hammers back!!!
Happy Thanksgiving. BillK

The nice thing about all the Huskies I've played with, you can easily get both hammers at once with a bit of practice.

Hey Steve, is that the donor rifle?

Good shooting.

Yep, that's the one. And I still don't have a .257 Roberts.

Hey all, hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Anyway, went out today solo, was able to limit in an hour and forty-five minutes. Good day, low winds, nice temps and blue sky. Raina did well, she coming along.

I used my 16ga Ugartechea Model 1030





Best,

Greg

Hey all, went out today with my son Jim and daughter Teresa. Boy, it sure was hen day! About all we flushed were hens (that's a good thing!), but did manage to get up some boy birds. I should have limited, but blew the shot. Did get 2 however. Teresa and Jim, had a couple shots, but missed. One the birds, fell smack dab in the creek, but Raina, did a nice water retrieve on him. We'll what tomorrow brings.

Teresa and Jim



I used my Arrieta 16ga 871 today



Best,

Greg

Triple barrel dove hunt:
16 Ga. A. Ilsley SxS (bottom gun)
C.G. Bonehill single-shot 16.

Nice pic Gil. You should be in fine form for the approaching woodcock.

Hi GLS,
I too shoot a C.G. Bonehill, albeit a SLE. How do you like the single shot? How is the balance and handling qualities?

This was the first time I shot the gun. Despite weighing 5 lbs, 6 oz., it handled well with its 30" barrel. After a couple of birds down with the single shot, I went to the double as most of the shots needed the C choke of the double's right barrel. The single-shot was a little too tight for most of the shots I took. Gil

Love those British singleshots. And yours is hammerless! Very cool.

Thanks Gil.

See my thread- "Help" just above this one, as I had my friend Raimey Ellenburg post a foto from Nov 5th- 2016 bird hunt with pal Brad Bachelder- Don't know how to move it to this site, so we'll go with it as is- good foto of Brad and his two fine older Labs- and I am holding my Grade 2 12 gauge NID, not a Model 12--

Hey all, well today was a good day, got a mixed bag of Pheasants and Huns. Raina did a nice job today, she tracked one down and got him when I thought he was lost. Can't complain about the day.

I used my 12ga Siace 350G (Self Cocking Ejector gun)



Best,

Greg

Greg, I don't recall seeing you posting photos of Huns in the past. How common are they in your area? Gil

Francis, saw the photo Raimey posted for you in the other thread. Looks like you and Brad had a good day.

BTW, Happy belated birthday!

Walking the two track on the South end of the property I had the gun in just the left hand when a small covey of bobs got up on my three o'clock at about 15 yards. Just had enough time to get the gun up and almost pick one bird out of the group. Pulled the front trigger and 3/4 oz of 8's connected, sending a small puff of feathers floating in the 18 mph wind. Went to where the birds got up and Cocoa got the command to "find dead," with the stiff wind at her back. I was sure the birds went to my 2 o'clock, but she went down a ravine to my 10 o'clock. Came back strutting in about 10 seconds with the bird in her mouth. Never would have found it without her.

Hi Gil, I have posted some in the past, but Huns here are a bonus bird. They do range the state, but the population is low. A few years back, you could find them more, but a couple hard winters, knocked them for a loop.

I was just lucky to bust a couple of coveys that got up in range.

Best,

Greg

Training Boys & Dogs with planted quail. Benjamin & The Wrath of Khan


Boys Ellenburg and huntress for planted quail.



Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Gotta bring this thread back to the top of the heap, fellow hunters!

This is where I hunt grouse in NC on the TN border. Elevation is just under 4,000 ft. The Black Mountains are in the distance. The arm is a 16 bore DMB. This is the site of the only 12-bird flush I have ever experienced. Where was my autoloader? My dog is a WPG out of NorthStar Kennels in Michigan.

Nice picture Mr. Owen. That's some wild looking country. I'm impressed with the David McKay Brown and love the wirehair. I don't have a DMB, but I do have a GWP named Willy...Geo

Thursday was my first upland game hunting experience. I had a great time. Released pheasants at Johnson Sauk Trail State Park in Illinois. Flushed these two out within 15 minutes of each other on my last drive before calling it a day.
Stoeger Uplander 12ga. 26" IC/M barrells.
Kent Fasteel 3in with 1 3/8 oz of #4 steel.

Welcome to the "Dark Side" Stephen, you're gonna like it.

Stephen,
Welcome to the fold, with it's inclusion of more guns, gear, and hunting memories!
Karl

Flash must have been tired, after I killed this bird, he fetched it to "Old Smokey" and jumped in ! Done for the day..

Beautiful day in the lowcountry rivercane with Billy and my two best girls, Abby and Willa, aka Brittcom MutPak. C.G. Bonehill 16 gauge SXS.

Maybe I'm just too hamhanded, but I know I couldn't set a gun down on bricks or rocks without something bad happening. Pretty gun and birds.


Mike

Mike, Thanks. As for the gun and bricks. I have to remember to lift up and not drag it. Gil

That is an interesting pattern for the cheek checkering. Is it possible to provide a close up picture of them? Thanks.

Gil's gun is carefully resting on the moss.

That's not moss, it's algae.. Poor guy lives in Savannah. He's not exaggerating when he calls it the 'low country'...Geo

Moss, algae.....whatever.

What I do know is Wingshooter is hamhanded and can't be trusted not to bang up his own guns. LOL

George, by low country, does that mean climate change is a big problem for Gil?

Merry Christmas!

Actually, those bricks are made of styrofoam left over from the movie set of Forrest Gump filmed here in Savannah. This movie is not to be confused with Forest Grump filmed in Valdosta.
This is the "slow country". Not only is the "s" silent, it is invisible.
Tamid, here's a close up. I first thought you wanted close-ups of the cheeks of the woodcock, but that is too late. The bottom gun is a Bonehill single-shot 16.
Your man in the slow country.
Gil

My Llewellyn Setter is 14 and dying of cancer, his hunting days were over long ago. The dog loves me and is always under foot. He has a lot of blood in his urine so I decided to to make the hard choice and put him down. The wife says no way are we killing a dog before Christmas. So since he doesn't appear to be in pain I figure I might as well make his last days good ones. I've been cooking large pork steaks and putting them in his dog food. Suddenly his tail is wagging and he is his old pain in the ass self. A nice Christmas present, even better then a good hunt.

Pooch, make the most of your time with your old dog! Remember together all of the good times over the past 14 years. get outside as long as he's able.

I'm pretty sure a number of good women have loved me in my life. None however have showed that love in their eyes like the looks I've been blessed with from a few of my dogs.

Best wishes and Merry Christmas; anyway...Geo

Gil, quit showing off that Bonehill. I'm getting unkind thoughts and that's not good this close to Christmas. Trying to stay on the "nice" list.

Pooch, sad to hear about your llewellin. Have had to make that decision three times already for my llewellins. Don't relish the next but Scout is 8 so a few years yet. I did the same for my most recent loss, Wind'em. I used strip loins and boy did he perk up! Was great to see and I know making his last few days that much better made the whole thing that much easier on me. It's a small price to pay. Insignificant actually.

Thanks guys! I like dogs also. I've forgotten my gun to bird hunt but still had fun just running the dogs. Ive lost dogs also and I hate it. I particularly hate cancer, cause they don't die a natural dead and have to be put down. Plus it's hard to tell how much they are hurting; too many times I have waited too long to end the suffering.

I think I have a month more with this one. He whines and barks until I let him sleep with me then growls at me for getting over on his side. As long as he stays this ornery I figure he must be feeling OK.

I've always found it amazing how dogs love us unconditionally. Truely man's best friend!
Karl

Thanks. You are correct its the Bonehill cheeks, not the woodcock.

Pooch, Scout is lying on the carpet right behind me now. I have resolved to have a puppy join her in 2017. Sounds like you should be thinking of a puppy soon as well.

I would like a pup but I have a feeling I'm not going to live that much longer.

Hey all, well this will likely be the last photo I'll post for this year. Have not been able to get out for the last 3 weeks or so. Either snow storms (i.e. blizzards) or sub zero temps. This winter we've been hit hard as some you may know, winter storms every week and lots of snow (we have 31+" now). We are expecting another blizzard tomorrow thru Monday. Looks like we'll be getting another 8-18" of snow, plus very high winds, which means a lot of drifting.

My son and Number 1 hunting partner Will is home for Christmas leave, so we had to get out one last time. Snow was knee to thigh high, very hard walking, saw a lot of birds, but wild. Most of them were feeding up prior to this mess we're in for. The mission today was to get Will a bird or two, with me as back up. He was able to connect with a nice rooster and a nice late season grouse (which is hard to do!). So the day was a success for both Will and me. Just happy that he was able to get these birds.

It's been a very good year for me, better than last year and could have been a great year if not for the weather, still no complaints, no one got hurt, got lots of birds and had a good time when we got out. Thank you Lord and St Hubert for another season here in the great state of North Dakota!!

Will and Raina. Will used his Fabarm 12ga



Best to all and keep those pics coming!!!

Greg

Greg, congratulations on a season ending hunt with your son! Always enjoy your pics and drool over your beautiful guns!

Stay warm and winter well!

Matt

Thanks again to Greg for this great thread, and hopefully a few pics of the work of He Who paints without a brush will fall within the parameters of Greg's intent.

Christmas out at Postoak's property: leftovers, a couple French doubles, a metal and plastic Italian number in case the cranes showed up, and the Made in USA AR for pigs and yotes. Friday evening I could tell it had the possibility to be a great sunset. But a yote was barking and howling inside the 200 yd target at the shooting range. So I grabbed the AR out of the truck and headed to the range. He continued to call, but didn't show himself. What was calling, showing itself more stunning every second, was a spectacular sunset. The photographer in me was screaming for the camera (in the truck), and won out over the hunter itching for a pelt for the boy. Ran to the truck and started shooting- one of those that unfolds and crescendos in a cascade of color. I have not had a rolling event (how I like to describe them) that afforded so many facets of focus like this since 15 months ago in Westport, Ireland. I'll put my favorite first, interspersed with some other things this weekend, and close with my favorite in Ireland last year.




Not in sequence, but here are a few focal points of my encounter:












Cocoa and our Christmas quail, shot with cylinder, 3/4 oz reload from my near hundred year old Ideal No.5:





Installed and enjoyed a wood stove:





Put the feeder up where hopefully it is out of reach of the pigs, at least the ones that don't fly:



Sunrise today:




Mike

Heading home today I had just got up to speed on the highway leaving Seymour when a covey of bobs got up from the bar ditch on my right. I was focused on the white face of the male that passed in front of me when one slammed into the windshield. Ouch. That left a mark, and part of him/her on the windshield. Fortunately I had not already limited out:



And my favorite sunset shot from Ireland last year:



Best wishes for a great New Year to all.

Absolutely beautiful pics, Mike. Thank you very much.

SRH

Chevy pickup at 55 mph is deer caliber firepower. Way over gunned for quail.

Thanks Matt for the very kind words! They really are appreciated! I sure hope that next season will be as good as this one. But, looks like we're in for a long hard winter, we got hit again with a major blizzrd yesterday (about 14" of snow and lots of wind and drifting). Does not bode well for the birds. Hope they will survive as best they can and we have a good nesting season.

Thanks gain!

Greg

Great pictures Mike, thanks

Thanks, Mike that is beautiful. The sunsets and the clear nights make west Texas a great place to be.

I grew up in Venezuela. We were a few degrees north of the equator. Sunsets are normally beautiful at that latitude but twilight is brief. WE started having the most incredible sunsets. Years later I would learn that the cause of those marvelous sunsets was the matter blown into the air by the hydrogen bomb tests that were going on at our latitude on the other side of the world.

We have finally started to see some wetter and cooler weather in last few weeks and I have been able to enjoy a couple good hunts at our place. Mostly, I've using my Dickinson Plantation grade .410-bore. I sure like that little gun!

I only saw four in the road picture Adam. You guys must have found another three more around the bend?...Geo

Now, I don't care who ya are- that's funny.

Adam, it appears that Rusty has a new buddy. Gil

Christmas wood duck hunt with my son. I shot an LC Smith Field Grade 12 gauge.

Mills,
That young man sure looks happy! A future hunter for sure.
Karl

After a week of freezing weather and some snow we finally got a thaw which got the birds moving back into the local farm fields. The J & W Tolley 3" BLE and my young Lab Rigby did the work and all I had to do was pull the trigger at the right time.

Mills, great picture of you and Harry, something to always treasure.
Tell Julia the LOP for the drawing gun is 14 1/8". Happy New Year.

Mills, that photo looks like next years Christmas Card, but it needs the rest of the family in it.

Terry, I wish we still had the ducks like you have. I was hoping to see your single barrel 10 ga. Greener hammergun (made for Mr. Short) in the "how do you use your hammer gun?" thread last week. Now, that's a gun.
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=465753&page=1
Gil

Some pictures from 2016 hunting, these were taken in Louisiana and in South Dakota

Chad, you don't post much but when you do.....wow! Great pics!

I lost my log-in for info for a long time, but have lurked for years. Every time I tried to recover my password, it would say an email had been sent, but I didn't get one. Then recently, I tried again, it worked and so here I am...

Great stuff Chad! Welcome back to the cool guys forum

Hi Gil, Seasons Greetings and all the best in the New Year.
An old rerun just for you

Hi Terry;
I missed seeing you last November. Did that wire I left at Henry's cabin work out for your deeks?
I hope you have had some seriously good shooting at the shack (behind you in the photo). Also wishing you a happy, healthy & prosperous New Year.
Twogone (AKA Mike; Jim's fishing partner)

Thanks, Terry. Happy New Year to you, too. I hope you don't mind the rest of the story told by you to me about 6 years ago. Here it is:
" The Greener 10 was bought locally about 20 years ago from a friend. There is a bit of a story. the barrel is damascus and is actually 39 1/2" and had no choke although the proof marks were "not for ball". I suspected that the gun had been shortened, probably because of muzzle damage.The original barrel wall was over 60 thou with a bit of light frosting in the bore.I sent the barrel to Stan Baker, the barrel guru, in Seattle(may he rest in peace) (edited by GLS) for clean up. ) Weighs 9 1/2 lbs. Shoots excellent,tight patterns to 50 yds. I load my own bismuth loads at about 8500 PSI and with 1/4" chamber walls and the Jones underlever lock-up I have no concern regarding the ability to handle that load. I contacted Graham Greener and he confirmed that the gun was built in 1886 with a 42" barrel and was ordered by a Mr. Short !!! It handles and shoots very well and is a hoot to use for pass shooting geese."

A short but fruitful late October walk in Ontario...

Terry, had you been wearing a British cap the picture could have been taken anywhere along the coast in England and 50+ years ago. Alas I believe you are on the flatlands east of Vancouver?

Floyd, the Woodcock Whisperer, his Sadie, Pop and I had a great day today in the lowcountry bottoms.
Here’s my Beretta Model 412 single-shot 20 made in 1957. It’s a full choke, but I shot Polywad spreader loads that did the trick. At 4 lbs., 13 oz, it’s a great carry in the woods and I rarely get a second shot anyway. There’s a doodle between Pop and Floyd’s hand. Floyd shot his Ithaca SKB 20 and he is one fine shot with it. Gil

I can attest to Floyd being good with that SKB on doodles. Excellent day, Gil.

SRH

Grandpa, Dad & Daughter hunt. My daughter is only 11 so she walked with no gun. Here she is holding my Norman & Sons 12 bore 28" barrels 6 lbs 3ozs which saw action when a grouse held tight in a bush to my Griff's point which I dumped in an adjacent field. Grandpa is wielding his Beretta over under 20 bore with 26 1/2 inch barrels. The most exciting moment of the day, however, occurred when my daughter, who was walking a ridge while we toiled away in the underbrush on the hillside, flushed a bird which sailed right under our noses with set wings and disappeared into a pine ticket which offered us no shot at all. She was giggling and laughing all the rest of the day. It's so important to teach the next generation to carry on our traditions.

What a wonderful picture
Thank you for sharing
Mike

Carrying on Owen's theme, I had the chance to introduce my neighbors, a family of four, to hunting and shooting. The wife was the driving force, and really wanted to go. Pointing out to her husband how fortunate he was, he got both girls a Red Ryder for Christmas, and they met me out at the property this last Friday. Safe muzzle direction and straight trigger fingers were oft heard admonishments, and by and large everyone absorbed and followed an avalanche
of information. I make no apologies that there are more pics of the wife- she was very enthusiastic, and a whole lot prettier than her husband.

We did shotgun:



Here she broke her first target:




Pistol:





Rifle:






and Red Ryder




The youngest was only interested in observing



Cocoa did her usual good job of retrieving, while I had the four of them observe only while I chased a few birds:

The wife really wanted to try to shoot a pig. I told her the chances were low to have them there with what little time the family had left, but that the chances were zero if we didn't go. One hour after shooting a rifle for the first time, we walked about 500 yards to see if there were any pigs by the feeder (though not often there, this was about the best time of day to try, the last 30 minutes before sunset). The "First Hunt Planets" aligned, there being three pigs at the feeder. Having her husband hand her the rifle, I picked a safe shooting lane, and had her kneel and take her time, as they were not aware of our presence. Her 60 yd shot broke its back, and I had her finish it off with my 1911. One very happy lady and family. They are hooked for sure.

My hunting partner and I were invited up to hunt Mississippi on another friend's property last week. My son came along, actually in hindsight, I think, my son was invited to hunt and I was only there as a driver to get him and the dogs to the property. My friend's family has about 2400 acres, along the Mississippi river, that has been in their family for over a century. He is making some habitat changes to increase the woodcock on the property and wanted to check bird numbers. We tried for woodcock, but hot weather and southern winds proved to make for an unsuccessful trip with the dogs. The second morning, after a change in wind direction, 3 woodcock were seen on the trail to the deer stand, but we didn't have time to run the dogs the second day.

The property owner wanted to get my son his first deer, but my son got buck fever and didn't have a safe shot on a little buck, so we passed on a shot. The deer pictured with my son was taken by my hunting partner, my son was happy just to hold the antlers. It was a great trip...

Yesterday in the lowcountry. A few that got past dollysods up north. French 16 gauge Brun-Latrige. Gil

jeez Gil. Try to miss a few. My pup needs some bird work this spring on northern bound woodcock. Nice looking little French 16 gauge. Where are the Brits? Wouldn't they hold still for a pic?

Chad and Mike, great pictures of what had to be a great time. Great to see both of you bringing new people into the sport (whether offspring or neighbors, doesn't matter!).

Mike that just awesome about the wife getting the pig first time out.

Gil,
So that's where all our Northern woodcock went!
Karl

Karl, they are here on schedule. Rick, we missed a few that will be coming your way in a few months. My Abby and Willa hunted yesterday. They don't like being photoed. This afternoon with Floyd, Sadie and Pop. A cold day in the 'cane.

Gil,
Following the woodcock South on their flights to extend my season is on my "bucket list".
Karl

I'm giving them a go in the morning Gil

Looks like fun, Gil. Nice guns and dogs, by the way

The moment of truth--covey flush. And these are wild quail. French Brittany courtesy of AmarilloMike. One bird bagged.

Couple weeks ago in Texas Panhandle. This day I was shooting a 16 gauge English single shot with 7/8 oz and black powder. Hefty gun at 4 1/2 pounds.

AWESOME
and
Great to shoot with you this morning
I sure did learn alot perhaps, possibly, maybe, we will see
Mike

Joe, good to see that all those lessons as Mike's student have paid off. Neat gun, btw. You shooting brass hulls? Gil

Gil, I just load black in Cheddite plastic hulls. I don't reuse them. And I really don't use them often, just when the mood strikes me. Fiber wads and six point crimp--I'm lazy.

Y'all looking good, Mr. Wood.....Thanks for sharing!

Also kudos to the photographer (Mike?) for getting the flush so soon. Quick on the shutter.

Just a few minutes later AmarilloMike's world famous Brittany, Ginger, locked down on another covey and using his 16 gauge single shot hammer gun with black powder nailed this Bob. Great hunt with our vintage guns mixed equally with fellowship in an incredibly beautiful country.

Great Post, that covey rise pic is Super, and HARD to get, I know......

But don't you feel guilty shooting birds on that Treeless Plain?
No mesquites to dodge, and with Broke dogs like Mike runs most every flush is underfoot......You have got it too easy Mr. Wood.....

Enjoy the Season !!!

Two questions:
Is Mike's beard a requirement of the Federal Witness Protection Program and is his gun really an external hammergun as stated? Looks to be hammerless from my view of it. I can't imagine hunting birds in a location without briars, thorns, etc.
Beautiful photos and country. Gil
PS: It is an external hammergun according to a pm from Mike's shooting student.

And notice these two members didn't even offer a shred of apology for not using doubles! !Sinverguenza! What's this world coming to?

They are forgiven as the instruments in question were 16's

Hello Joe, We haven't had a chance to trade lies since you passed through Vancouver after your Alaska cruise. Hope you and your lovely bride are keeping well.I am hoping to make Vegas next week but my 13 year old lab Tolley is struggling and might force me to cancel.We haven't seen you there for quite a while.
We are having some cold weather which concentrates both the mind and the mallards,wonderfully.The results below of a short hunt this afternoon with Mr.Tolleys 3" BLE amd Rigby the 3 year old

Great line and hunt. Gil

With one week left for woodcock in Georgia, two in SC, you wouldn’t think it would be 76 today here in the lowcountry of Georgia and SC. Full moon, dry and warm doesn’t help the woodcock where we hunt. Wouldn’t surprise me if they weren’t moving back where they came from. Saw a pond slider laying eggs in a field yesterday. Saturday, Billy and Floyd shot one bird of five flushes over my Willa and Abby. Billy carries his granddad’s and dad’s Browning Superposed in 20 gauge. It’s an early 50’s model and was the predecessor to the Diana grade. Today, Floyd and I looked for new areas and found only one bird. My 16 Brun-Latrige from St. Etienne. Temps aren’t expected to cool down before season’s end in Georgia. Today’s bird has some gorgeous coloration.

Today is also the last day of dove season in GA until September. I knew of a sunflower field that I felt was probably holding birds because of the unseasonably warm weather here (doves can't survive on sunflower seeds during hard cold, and move heavily into peanut and corn fields). I had about talked myself out of going this afternoon, but I have a young Lab, Cady, that wouldn't get to work any doves until September, so I loaded her up and went. Just me in a 24 acre sunflower field, but I put my Mojo dove up high on the pole Gil gave me and sat down. I timed it perfectly, and in one hour had a limit, Cady retrieving every one to me.

Don't think too hard of me for taking a 12 gauge. I normally shoot sub gauges for doves, but the BSS is my go to duck gun and we have two more weeks of duck hunting left. I just wanted to "keep my hand in" with it.



One dove is out of the pic to the right ....... hey, I never claimed to be a photographer. I cannot tell you how many years it has been since I killed a limit of doves on the last afternoon of the season, and in one hour. I'm so glad I resisted temptation to sit home, and loaded up and went. Next dove season is a loooong time away. Today will make it easier to bear.

SRH

Stan, that's a good hour anywhere.
With one week to go, I am done with the woodcock in Georgia this season. With temps in the mid 50s at night, I'm not comfortable with my dogs in rising temps above 65-70 before noon with the sun out. Too many snakes to worry about. Seeing turtles sunning and if turtles and gators are sunning, the no-shoulders are out, too. Billy and I went this morning for a little over an hour in a place we hunted opening weekend which is closer than the other spots we hunt. Very difficult place to hunt. Had four flushes with either the dogs on point or nearby. One bird. Two weeks left in SC and I'll wait until temps get colder before heading back out if I go at all.

Great Outing Stan, both from the shooting standpoint and the Dog work opportunity......

As an aside, I would offer that, I personally don't Judge Dove Guns by Bore size but rather by results....

Looks like the job got done quite efficiently, and I doubt the Lab noticed the size of the hulls.

Stan,
Some of my best memories have occured on the last day of various seasons. Resisting to sit out the last day has it's rewards!
Karl

Thanks, Paul.

It does indeed, Karl. Thanks.

SRH

A two hour hunt this morning before temps rose too high. We put Sadie and Pop on the ground in an area we had never hunted. Seven flushes (all different birds) in two hours. A female and a male bird. Floyd's SKB Ithaca 20 and my 16 Brun-Latrige.

I knew you couldn't sit out the rest of the season.

SRH

Lots of walking but rewarded with a nice male Chicken and a Rooster which was taken in the last few minutes of shooting light. Most of the credit goes to my Springer on the Chicken, she made a great long retrieve after my poor shot and saved the day for me....sure do love her.Tough late season conditions with mud, ice and standing water in places. We covered lots of miles but it was very satisfying. The last Chicken I shot was about 18 years ago.

A well earned ruff taken in a drizzle near the base of the Black Mountains with an ounce of #6 RST from my 12 bore English box lock.




4hours of hard slogging 2000 ft up and back down only to find this bird within 200 yards of the truck at the end of the hunt. Although we heard flushes during the hunt this was the only bird we actually saw! The above picture was taken near the top.

No kidding.

Sounds like a "standard issue" grouse hunt to me. They're ALL trophies! And everyone "grouses" about grouse....until they kill one.

Bird hunting memories of 2017 [img:left]http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51380/[/img] [img:left]http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51381/[/img] [img:left]http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51382/[/img] [img:left]http://www.jpgbox.com/page/51383/[/img]

To assist 12boreman:

Mike, you are the board"s designated good guy. Maybe 12boreman can tells us about those nice guns. Gil

Don't know why the pics didn't load normally. Thanks Mike for your help. Here is the breakdown of the pictures. Pics 1 and 2 with the pheasant are of an early french, 10 gauge shot and ball gun with Leupold Bernard marked barrels. The maker is Le Faure. This was a lion or tiger gun and weighs 13 pounds. Pic 3 with the Hungarian partridge and pheasant is an Ithaca Crass grade 2 and pic 4 with the sharp tail-grouse is a Nowotny hinge breech made in 1910.

Floyd, my Willa, Abby and I had a fine three hour morning in the lowcountry today. SC is out next Tuesday and work is rearing ugly head so I might have only one more trip. Temps were cooler than the last week and the birds were around. First day out with my 1933 Manufrance Ideal 302 16 gauge. I think it's a keeper. Floyd's death-in-the-woods Ithaca SKB 20.

Gil, that Ideal looks even better with a mess of fresh Woodcock decorating it!...Geo

Beautiful lines on that short-barreled Ideal.

Mike

Oh I love my manufrance 16. Great gun Gil!

Looks like you had a good hunt. The little Ideal looks like a sweet woodcock gun.

Thanks, folks. Rick, the gun is a hair under 5.75 lbs. with factory 64 cm (25.196") barrels opened up to IC/C. It is a "specialty" woodcock gun for sure. Left barrel measures .045" 10" from chamber on all radii. 8" from muzzle, .027". Right barrel, .0435" 10" from chamber down to .030 6" from muzzle. Both were thicker near rib. No pitting. Resolving cosmetic issues will be a work in progress. The retractable sling sure is nice to have, especially messing with dogs during the hunt. Gil

Now don't just leave us hangin'- how 'bout some pics?

Mike

Hehehe

Now Mike, I'm sure Gil will post plenty of pics when he's ready to. Right Gil?


Opps, just realized Mike was referring to Galaxie67, not Gil. You're off the hook, Gil.....Galaxie, where are those pics?

I can't figure out how to post them yet. I can text or email them if anyone is willing to tutor me

James, my gun wouldn't survive scrutiny of close-up photos. It is enrolled in the Witless Gun Buyers Protection Program. Gil

I'm your man. If you can e mail them to me I will post them for you until you find one of the many links on this site for photo posting. PM coming

Mike

\


Hhahahaha!

Haven't we all been there at one time or another.

Floyd, Willa, Abby and I introduced Mills to woodcock today and we had a great day in the woods. The only reason you don't see a three gun limit is not because of lack of opportunity. We were in the birds today. Mills introduced us to his 1903 Parker VH 28 gauge. What a beauty of a gun. My 16 gauge Ideal 302 is buried beneath the birds. The reason Floyd's 20 gauge Ithaca SKB is not in the photo is because the woodcock have taken a "contract" out on it so it remains at an undisclosed location. Gil

Thanks for a great day out Gil!

Okay Mills - when did you get a Parker twenty-eight? I would have thought you would have told us all about it... if you did, I missed it.
Wow - and a beavertail too to keep your fingers from getting burned when the flights drop in "hot and heavy."
If you're lucky enough that it is choked open and close, you might be about ready for a Yankee grouse hunt soon.

Posted for 67galaxie
Here’s his high-grade MF Robust Model 32 from 1931-32. Note the French Walnut and the Ideal style forend latch. Next photo is of his 1926 Fox Grade A 12 gauge. Last photo is of 67's (Fox) and Geo (Greener) showing off doubles.

Thank you so much!

Good pics, and good to see your guns, 67. You're running in some rough company, tho'.

SRH

Watch out he can actually shoot

2016-2017 woodcock season is a wrap. Floyd, Billy, Willa, Abby and I went this a.m. and found a few birds, 7, and managed to put two in the bag. It was a great season for us. Viewer’s left to right: Billy, Abby, Willa and Floyd, the Woodcock Whisperer. Last photo is Abby 4 seasons ago. Jeff, Floyd and I had a three gun limit on the last day of the season, three years ago today. Abby is the glassy-eyed and one tired dog with the birds. She was on the ground all day. The late Snap and Pop alternated during the hunt and Willa hadn’t been born.

As I was finishing up the woodcock season in South Louisiana this weekend, I was able to take a few waterfowl pictures

Wow !! Fantastic Duck photos.....Well Done....

Beautiful. Are you using catadioptric system or lens only system?

Last day of quail season here in Va yesterday. Sadly no wild quail found but did find some of these liberated birds. 16 gauge Fox upgrade:

Lens only, Those were shot with a Nikon 750 with a Tamron 150-600. I saw the birds next to a wildlife management area and was shooting freehand and with the lens supported on a tree branch.

LOVE the Bull Sprig and the Green Heads flying together
SWEET
Mike

Tut, that is one beautiful Fox!!!

Glad to see it out and about!!!

Finished up the grouse season with a banner day on the "southern range" of grouse country. 11 flushes, 6 offering shots, one bird taken.



This knob is 4002 ft elevation.

Owen,
Looks like a beautiful way to finish the season, with a gorgeous gun. Too bad my Grouse season ended Jan. 1st up here. I'm already looking forward to next October.
karl

That is some beautiful hardware. Now a word about photo staging. That bird, lanyard, but mostly the gun, deserve a backdrop of heather, not Rhino Truck Bed Liner on a tailgate. ( I am suffering a case of sour grapes indigestion symptomatic of green envy. ) Gil

Thanks, guys it was one of those hunts, 4 birds flushed within 10 yards of me (and are still alive!)...one flew into laurel, one I was on him, but shot into a tree, one flushed downhill off a ridge, and one I just flat missed. The bird taken was the hardest one, a 35 yard rocket crosser down and away. Lots to think about until next season. The greatest joy was hearing my girls squealing on the phone when I called home to tell them, "grouse for dinner!"

A good day afield indeed!
Karl

I am a little late to the game, but here goes. I took my boys on their first duck hunt at the end of 2016. 45 minutes SW of Boston and we were not lacking for birds - 4 geese and 8 ducks.


Then a friend invited us down to their house on the Tred Avon on the Chesapeake Bay, giving me a chance to hunt down there for the first time in 35 years. The birds were elusive but any morning spent on the Bay is a good morning.
[b][/b]
We got in a quick trip to Addiville, RI to chase some chukars. Perfect day for upland hunting - very cool, good breeze and lots of sun.

TTT for Spring Turkey season...Geo

Indeed, Geo- in old age a man's fancy turns to spring gobblers: they are already active on the property. Alas, I shall have to miss opening weekend in four days, but shall be ready for combat the next. Safe turkey hunting to all you out there with the same spring fever. Mike

First one in should start a 2017 thread.

Gil, perhaps so. I guess I just viewed the spring turkey hunt as the end of the hunting season that started the previous fall, or actually late summer- Sep. 1

Mike, what's the date today? LOL

The 2017 Hunting season has already started up here. Snow geese right now. Turkey in 30 days and then a rest to give us a chance to finish gun restorations etc, then it all startS up again in early September.

I don't understand your point.

Give me a call, we need to talk about hunting in the Fall- this year or next season, however you want to label it.

Don't care whether we stick to the 2016 season year or start a new 2017 Game/Gun thread. GJW has initiated these game/gun threads for a number of years now, so I'll wait for the 2017 thread when he posts it. Meanwhile...

I can't seem to close a deal with the Gobbler I'm after so far, so I'll post a picture from this weekend of a bird one of my sons killed:



The obligatory tailgate shot shows not only the turkey and beard, but if you look just behind the bird, you will see the redneck field expedient equivalent of one of those expensive YETI coolers:



This last pic is a black coyote they shot the same morning. It is the second of three black ones that have been running with the local pack this year. My son arrowed the first during bow season in September. I guess it may be a coydog?:



...Geo

Geo, I am confused. Was the bird shot or whacked with the weed whacker? If the latter, what pound test of mono? Nice bird, regardless... Gil

Heh, heh, heh you thought that was a weed-wacker didn't you?...Geo

Called in a big longbeard yesterday afternoon. He was traveling with two jakes which came in 1st. I was sizing up the jakes with thoughts of the frying pan when I caught the gobbler out of the corner of my eye.

Problem was It was hot so I had my facemask in my pocket. When I turned to look at the big boy, I mooned him with my face.

Naturally he ran, but I did get my gun up and on him and he was running across my field of fire. I just couldn't get on him well enough to be sure of a kill.

Since I didn't shoot at him, maybe he'll dumb off again before the season ends. They came in without gobbling, but I had my hearing aids turned up to 5, and heard the gobbler clucks coming through the woods.

Oh well, today's another day!...Geo

First two hunts, they called and called, we set up and they locked up and didn't call again. Third hunt, no calling, I set up, they started gobbling and gobbling, but wouldn't come and then wandered off. I think I am the most frustrated turkey hunter. Maybe fourth time will be the charm. Can't beat the peaceful time in the lowcountry woods, though.

Finally got out to chase long beards. One of the best hunts ever, even though I just came back with a coyote tail. Saw the most magnificent tom ever, having a bachelor party and strutting his stuff among about ten outsized toms. About 150 yds off on the neighbor's property, so no dice. First time ever I brought a rifle along in addition to the shotgun, as yesterday I set up on our feeder, where the game cam showed pig, yote, turkey, deer, and bobcat visitors. The yote stopped broadside at under 40 yds, and I popped him with the AR.




This morning I was in place on the Brazos with the moon lingering on the treeline and the eastern horizon slowly yawning and dawning. Had a small hen stroll past me at about ten yards, pausing to take a hard look at me before continuing on. Unfortunately, no toms followed. A great time nonetheless.

In the field - and then in the field ( same bird- one of three who just couldnt wait to meet me this am.)

Mark, nice bird and gun. Are you in Ga.? What gun? Gil

Thanks Gil. Virginia and a Vent Rib Crown.

Just a young jake, but better than nothing.

Heck of a lot better TASTING than nothin'!

Oh, the 'yote is dead. I looked at your pic before I read your post. I thought it was your dog hoping for a tummy rub.

Congratulations on scoring the jake! Some of us are still waiting for our 1st of the year...Geo

Two Georgia big boys bagged by galaxie67 (Keith S.) Fox and a 10 ga. W.C. Scott.

Great going! I really like the composition of the second photo.

Mike

Good job, Gil!

Mills, not my birds or guns. Gil

Yup, dead bird and a SxS. Awesome composition!

Thanks guys! Thanks Gil for helping me out with the pictures

I can't wait for pictures of the next season year

Here's 67galaxie's final bird of the season. Great spurs.

Great bird, Keith! And taken with one of the "old ones". Well done.

SRH

OK, not a double but here's my tom from this year. Shot fair and square after calling him to decoys. Used my .50 flintlock copy of a JP Beck with 47" barrel. Great gun!

Joe, is that a rifle or a smooth-bore. Ball or shot? Just curious...Geo

Oh, and congratulations on the big bird. For the 1st year in a while, I got skunked this year.

Joe, great photo and smokepole. I didn't realize Mike taught flintin' Gil

George, the barrel is round bottomed rifled 1 in 56" by Getz. Rifle is a documentary copy Jud Brennan did for me of a JP Beck smoothbore from somewhere around 1790 to 1800. Lock was totally hand forged and is a great sparker. Wonderful piece of sugar maple in the stock. Thanks for asking.

The best description of what a turkey does when a flinter misfires was told to me recently by a man who has hunted them on turkeys for years. As the gun went "whoossh" rather than "BOOM" and the shot dribbled out the end of the muzzle, like water out of a low pressured hose, the turkey appeared to run in six different directions at once as he left the scene unscathed. Gil

That's a very attractive flintlock there. Using a flintlock rifle on turkey is especially challenging. Many folks think there is an inevitable delay between pulling the trigger and the gun going off with a flintlock. Actually, having any noticeable delay indicates that either the lock/touch-hole is poorly designed, or the shooter doesn't know how to load it properly. Having a half second delay on a turkey will likely mean the bird is a step or two away from where you were aiming when the ball arrives.