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Gene was the guest of honor at one of the Iowa Governor's annual pheasant hunts. Usually a dozen or so teams of hunters. Unfortunately, I was not on Gene's team. But I spotted him wandering around as some of the other hunters were still lingering over lunch. I introduced myself and struck up a conversation with him. He indicated that he wished those slow pokes would hurry up and finish eating. He wanted to get out there and shoot some more pheasants.

I had a somewhat embarrassing moment on one of those hunts. The governor and his youngest son were having a friendly contest to see who would shoot the most birds. At the end of the day when we gathered to report our results, the DNR's MC asked the governor to report on the results of his contest. I'd hunted with the governor that afternoon, with my shorthair Blitz providing our team's canine support. Governor Branstad had a real flurry of action. He killed one rooster over a Blitz point. Another one flushed as Blitz was making the retrieve. He also killed that. Then there was another flush from our left. I was to the governor's left and I looked for him to shoot. Didn't look like he was going to, so I pulled the trigger on that one, right before he did. The governor reported that he was down 2 to 0 at our lunch break, but that he got 3 birds to his son's zero on the afternoon hunt. At which point our Pheasants Forever guide piped up: "I'm sorry, governor . . . but Brown killed that 3rd bird." No hard feelings I guess. They kept inviting me to those hunts.

nick sisley comes to mind...

wrote a good how to book on grouse and woodcock...

After I retired and was cleaning out the house in Seattle where I grew up, getting it ready to sell, I found a couple of boxes of Outdoor Life from the 1960s. In that I didn't bother to get TV cable or internet hooked up there I spent my down time reading through those old magazines. Most of them I dumped in the club house at Seattle Skeet & Trap, but the one I kept was September 1965. In that issue Jack's column was titled "The 20 Gauge Moves Up." In the article he states that at the height of the Great Depression he bought a 20-gauge 30-inch ejector Field Grade L.C. Smith for $17.50 with case, cleaning rod and two boxes of shells. Then goes on for two columns of text extolling all the great shooting he did with it. He then calls a 20-gauge with 30-inch barrels a preposterous freak and spends the rest of the article explaining why his 26-inch barrel guns with SST and beavertail forearms are better?!? He mentioned that Ellenor had a 26-inch barrel Ithaca 20-gauge but doesn't mention grade or whether Flues or NID.

what the Hell, don't forget Francis Sell-- if memory serves, he was a big man for the 3" 20 gauge, possibly like Elmer Keith was for the 10 gauge. RWTF