I have always hunted with doubles. Started out with a .410 Stevens. My dad shot a Nitro Special. I would spend hours looking at the engraved British and German guns in a dogeared old Stoeger catalogue. But I had never held one in my hands till I bought a Sauer Model 8 for $35 from a WWII veteran in 1950. It was made in 1911, and I was awed by the workmanship and wood like I had never seen before. It is still my grouse gun even though I can't hunt any longer. I began picking up and shooting American clunkers. I restocked a couple. In the early '60's I got into hunting with percussion doubles for waterfowl and at muzzleloader shoots. By then I fancied myself as a collector of duck decoys and double shotguns. So, when I saw my first DGJ in the mid-90's, I was in heaven and have since enjoyed every issue.
Goodbye old friend.
Hal
