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I hope the right one goes as well as the left did. I had the left replaced June 19th this year and I have full range of motion restored in it. I am working now to rebuild the tissue that was lost when the original joint was taken out. It is hard to do with the right one giving me so much pain, but that one will be titanium by the evening of the 13th of November. I hope to be back in full swing by next season.

Best of luck with your recovery, Perry!

Back in the days when Georgia had bobwhites i shot a 20 gauge SKB 280 25 inch barrels a good bit and it was deadly. Bobby

Thanks Larry. I have been fighting this for two or three years now and finally said enough is enough. Now that the left one is done I only wish I had decided it much sooner. Already looking forward to next season.

Good luck, Perry. It seems like many of us have physical challenges that have developed that make it tougher to stay in the game.

Best,
Ted

Pretty amazing what the surgeons can do these days. And don't delay this stuff unless you want to be one-handed for the next 10 years. Just be prepared to do your part - surgeon does his but it won't work unless the patient does the exercises.

I followed the instructions of the surgeon and the physical therapist to the letter with the left one. They are still talking about my miraculously short recovery time on my left shoulder. The surgeon told me that mine was the most challenging he had done and it had recovered to a full range of motion in less time than any one he has ever done also. Keeping my fingers crossed for the right one on the 13th. At least its not on Friday!!! Thanks for the well wishes guys. I really appreciate it.

Or Labs. Or "versatile" pointing dogs. The best ones I've ever seen in that last category have been shorthairs and wirehairs.

How good is good when it comes to recovering wild roosters? The Iowa DNR conducted interviews with pheasant hunters. Their findings: "Parties with dogs lost only one bird in 10 downed compared to two to three out of 10 for those without dogs." So clearly, having any dog makes a difference.

But because I hate to lose downed birds, I've kept records of my dogs' performance going back to 1973. My conclusion is that if you have a dog that loses only 1 for every 20 birds recovered, you have a good pheasant dog. That's over their entire hunting career. If you eliminate their first season or two, when they're still learning, you should get some numbers that are much higher than that. My best one, over her entire career (which began at age 2--I got shorthair Heidi as a "started dog) successfully recovered 698 while losing just 26 cripples.) Looking at her peak seasons, from 1990-95, Heidi recovered 491 while losing only 12. That's a loss rate of 1 for every 41 recovered. I was fortunate enough to own 4 dogs (3 shorthairs and a pointer), all of them having at least 100 birds killed over them, that did better than my benchmark of 1 lost to every 20 recovered.

You can also reduce cripple losses if you shoot only birds that your flushing dog flushes or that your pointing dog points. I guided hunters on wild pheasants in Iowa for 4 years, and told my hunters it was OK to shoot at any rooster that flushed. And shooting at wild flushes reduces the likelihood that your dog will mark the fall.

Getting back to 25" barreled guns, shot a couple rounds of skeet with my Crudgington today. The original owner ordered it as it sits. The rib is standard rather than a copy of the famous Churchill XXV barrels with their unique rib. It weighs a bit over 5 lbs 6 oz. Straight grip, single non selective trigger. Ordered cylinder in both barrels. Automatic ejectors. The trigger pull is heavy for me, but my consulting gunsmith suggested that I shoot it that way before trying to have it worked on.

I was shooting 3/4 oz reloads of 8.5 shot. Had 3 or 4 trigger fumbles the first round. After second tries on those birds, I ended up with a 20. Didn't have any trigger issues the 2nd round and shot a 21. The gun obviously fits me, and as I get more used to the trigger, I expect it will work out well on local grouse and woodcock. It's too light to be a gun for serious skeet shooting, but hits on targets were mostly quite solid considering the light load. I don't really consider zero choke to be a handicap at skeet, nor at live birds shot at ranges similar to skeet.

I have a 24" 16 gauge DHE #1 frame Damascus Parker that I bought because it was cheap and beautiful. I haven't shot it, but I can't wait. It will be a great bird gun regardless of its cut barrels. I have flats of RST shells waiting.