Second Day Working Young Dogs On Chukars

Posted on October 13, 2022 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Vince Dye and I had bought 20 chukars to work our young dogs on and it got too warm to use them all. I took 6 home with me and since Vince had to work near where we hid the birds, we met at the farm where we had shot the other chukars. We did stop for a good breakfast on the way. Sometimes the breakfasts are the best part of the day.

Bodie pointing a chukar.

Bodie pointing a chukar.

Abby pointing a chukar.

Since Vince had to work he had not brought any dogs with him. With the 6 chukars I had 2 birds for each of the 3 dogs, Abby, Bodie and Boss. The two older dogs didn’t need the work near as much as Bodie did. Or so I thought. Vince and I hid 2 birds and I turned Bodie loose. I had shot 2 of the 3 birds we had put out for him the day before. When he flushed the first one I didn’t shoot. He held until I kicked the grass in front him on the next 2. I shot them and he played keep away for a while.

The wind was blowing pretty hard and as he ran through a scent cone he spun around and pointed. I took some pictures as I approached him. I walked way around him so I could come into his face. This pens the bird between us if it’s going to run. But young dogs are more apt to hold, in my opinion, if you walk toward them to flush rather than by their side. Bodie held until I lifted the bird with my toe. It dropped at my shot. He pounced on it when it hit the ground. When he grabbed the bird I ran away from him. Well, I walked pretty fast. He followed and dropped the bird near me but when I started to pick it up he ran with it again. I caught him and petted him for a long time before blowing in his ear to get him to drop it.

He was a long way from the next bird when he smelled it and followed the scent cone. He was still 20 feet from the bird when he locked up. I went well out front of him and started toward him. He held until I could kick the cover. He played his game of keep away but not for long. He wanted to find another bird. When we got back near the truck we watered him and put him in the truck.

This was a large field and we were able to put two more birds out without moving the truck. I turned Abby out next. Abby usually does a good job and this morning was no exception. She is solid on her birds but when possible I still walk way around and come in toward her. I kicked 2 or 3 times before the bird flushed. Abby, too, played keep away from me. But she doesn’t go very long because she wants to find another bird.

She pointed her next bird and when I kicked in front of her the chukar started running. When it ran Abby went after it and it knew that running wasn’t going to work, so it flushed. That didn’t work either. When I shot it dropped right in front of Abby. She pounced on it. She went away from me then turned back. I knelt down. She got close to me and I grabbed her collar. I petted her for a while then blew in her ear. She dropped the chukar and went back to hunting. When we got close to the truck we watered her and put her in the box.

The second session with the backing dog.

We pulled farther into the field and hid 2 more chukars. I turned Boss out and we went into a stiff wind. Boss is really fast and he was a good hundred yards ahead of us when he went on point. Usually, I don’t say anything when the dogs point but he took a step. I said, “whoa”. He took another step and I yelled, “whoa”. He took another step or two then jumped in grabbing the bird with me yelling, “whoa”. When I got to him he was lying on his belly, holding the chukar with his feet and scooting it along the ground with his nose. When I tried to get the bird he picked it up and moved away. That is the first bird he’s ever picked up. I grabbed him and took the bird.

I picked him up and carried him to where he should have stayed when he was on point. When I set him down I said, “whoa”. He took a couple of steps. I set him back and said, “whoa”. He moved again. I grabbed his collar and lead him back to the truck. I put him in his box.

More from the second session.

I got Bodie out and by the time I got back close to where Vince was we had forgotten where we had hid the last chukar. We hunted two or three likely looking spots without success. We gave up and started back to the truck and Vince saw another spot. I called Bodie and when he got close but was still quite away from Vince he pointed. Vince said, “I don’t think so”. But I saw a chukar hunkered down about 10 yards in front of Bodie. He let me kick it up and he pounced on it when it hit the ground. I caught his collar and petted him for a while before he dropped the bird.

I had been carrying the bird that Boss had caught. We had thrown the bird up, after we had taken it from Boss, but it didn’t even try to fly. When I reached into my game bag to get the dead birds out that chukar flew out and was still going as far as we could see. It was the smartest of the bunch. Not that it will live long with all of the predators.

Boss pointing a pigeon.

Since I got Bodie back I’m trying to work him on things he needs to know for the coming season. He’s been with a pro for a couple of months and I’m not sure what he needs exposure on. Don Hansen and I went on a short prairie chicken hunt. Don had 2 dogs and I took all 5 of mine. We hunted a big ranch that was mainly pasture. We haven’t found many game birds but it’s a really neat place to run dogs.

In an area where a couple of years ago Mann had pointed a covey of quail, Sally pointed. We had most of our dogs backing but Bodie had no clue what he was supposed to do. He ran by Abby, who was honoring, and licked her in the face. He went close to Sally and circled around. That wasn’t hard to figure out. He needed to be worked on backing.

I am still working the other dogs on retrieving. After I did all 4 I put a pigeon in a release trap in front of the backing dog. I hid it behind a brush pile where when we came around the edge he would suddenly see a dog on point. I heeled Bodie out with the Wonder lead. I don’t really know how whoa broke he is but I heeled him a short distance and said, “whoa”. I know when I had him before I had heeled and whoaed him. He really wants to lead rather than heel. I do a lot of 180 degree turns. When I say whoa he will let me walk out in front of him or to either side. So the pro either worked him some on whoa or he remembers from when I had him before.

Abby pointing a chukar.

I heeled him past the brush pile and when he saw the backing dog he perked up. I said whoa and he stopped. I flushed the pigeon and laid the backing dog down. He chased the pigeon. When he came back I led him to a tree a short distance away and tied him. I reloaded the release trap and stood the dog back up.

I heeled him back around the brush pile and this time he was looking for the dog. As soon as he saw it I said, “whoa” and he stopped. I let him stand for a few seconds then flushed the pigeon and laid the backing dog down. I held the check cord he was dragging but he didn’t try to chase. I retied him to a tree.

On the fourth and fifth birds he stopped but I said, “whoa”, each time. I want him to anticipate the whoa. On the last birds he was getting a little style but not much. A couple of days later I worked him again with the backing dog.

Abby, Bodie’s mom.

I moved the backing dog to a new place behind a clump of bushes. I heeled and whoaed Bodie around for a while before we got to the area where the backing dog was hidden. As soon as Bodie saw it he stopped. He was getting more rigid each time. I stroked his sides then walked around him. This time I went in front a short distance taking pictures as I went. I stood on the check cord when I flushed the pigeon and laid the backing dog down. As soon as the pigeon was gone I stepped off the check cord and Bodie followed the pigeon.

On the second and third pigeons he looked good. He was starting to understand what he was doing. I let him run in front of the 4-wheeler for a while before I put him up.

I have a stump near the kennel that I like to sit on a pet the dogs before putting them in their kennel. My neighbor has a pond that is almost dry except for the mud. Bodie found it and was totally covered with mud by the time we got back to the kennel. Needless to say I didn’t sit on the stump and pet him. He went straight to the kennel.

Boss pointing a pigeon.

I’m going to have a couple more sessions with the backing dog before I go to a live dog. I usually use Sally because she’s steady and no matter what the young dog does, with in reason, doesn’t bother her. But I really need to get him backing before the season opens. I still have a lot of time running dogs before the season opens. All I need now is to find some wild birds. Wild birds fix most problems in dogs.

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The Return Of Bodie And A Chukar Hunt

Posted on October 7, 2022 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

When I breed puppies I use dogs that have blood from the American Field, field trials. I have always felt that some of my pups would do well in field trials but nearly all of the people who buy my pups are hunters. When a field trialer looked at my pup, Bodie, and wanted him I was elated. I sold him cheaper than I should have just to have someone field trial him.

Bodie pointing a chukar.

Bodie on another chukar.

Abby, Bodie’s mom.

Almost immediately, I wanted him back. For some reason he was always on my mind. I have sold hundreds of dogs, mostly puppies, but for some reason I just wanted him back. A few times I started to call the guy I had sold him to to see if he would sell him back. But I didn’t call.

Last Sunday, after I watched our church services on line, I got a text. It was the field trialer, wondering if I would Like to buy Bodie back. He said he didn’t think he would run big enough to make an All Age field trial dog. When he quoted me a price, I said, “I’ll take him”.

He said he could bring him down on Tuesday. After an hour or two I asked if he would be home about 3:00. No, but he could meet me, north of my house about 20 miles, at 2:30. I was there early. We completed our deal and when I put Bodie in his run at the home kennel he looked good. Before he went into his run he stopped at Abby’s (his mother) gate. They both seemed really excited.

Bodie seemed to know me but I didn’t think he accepted me as his leader so I spent a couple of days heeling him around the yard. The first time I didn’t turn him loose at all but I did sit on the tree trunk near the kennel and pet him. When I had Bodie before I had heeled and whoaed him all around my yard but he didn’t seem to remember any of it. Although when I stopped he did stop. His heeling wasn’t that good. He wanted to lead most of the time.

The second time out he was some better but still wanted to lead. When he pulled ahead I did a 180 degree turn. In a little while he was starting to watch me instead of forging ahead. He wasn’t perfect but he was starting to understand. I whoaed him and he did really well on the whoa.

After a half mile or so of heeling and whoaing I hooked a check cord to him and turned him loose. I followed on the 4-wheeler. He ran well and stayed in front of the 4-wheeler. I wasn’t sure that he would stick around but he seemed to remember the bird field and was satisfied to stay in the area. At least he wasn’t a run off dog.

Abby

Vince Dye and I had pre-bought some chukars from Harden Game Farm in Ridgeway Missouri. We were supposed to pick them up in September but the weather stayed too hot. Finally, yesterday, 10/6/22, we picked up 20 birds. We drove to a friend of Vince’s farm. It was a large CRP field that had about 1/3 of it mowed. We put out 3 chukars, by putting them to sleep, and hiding them in the taller weeds.

We wanted to work Bodie first. If we saw any sign that he wasn’t good with the whole thing, bird, flush and shot, he would be put back in the dog box, in the truck. I knew he had been shot around so I sure everything would be fine. But I still like to go really slow.

Boss

I put a GPS and e-collar on Bodie and turned him loose. He was off like a shot. He stuck his nose into the wind and went 418 yards on the GPS before I could get him turned. He came back and when he was close he hit the scent cone on his first chukar. He pointed, looking good. I took a couple of pictures but when I started toward him he jumped in and rooted the bird out. We didn’t shoot but he chased a long way. The chukar started to light but Bodie was real close. The chukar got low but then flew farther away. Bodie lost him and came back.

After a few passes he hit the scent cone on another chukar and pointed. Normally, he has a real high tail but on this one it was about 10:00. But he was rigid. I made a circle out in front of him several yards and started directly toward his face. When I got where I thought the bird was I kicked twice before he jumped in and flushed the chukar. I’m okay with this. Wild birds would have flown on the first kick, most of the time.

There was no reaction, except to go toward the falling bird, when I shot. The first dead bird shot over him, he pointed, looking really good. High on both ends. After a few seconds, Bodie jumped in and picked it up. He started toward me but dropped the bird. When I got close he grabbed the bird and ran away. I kept trying to get him to bring it to me but he wouldn’t. Maybe, after he’s more used to me, he may. After a couple of minutes he tired of playing with the bird and went back to hunting.

Bodie

He was moving really fast when he hit the scent cone of the next bird and slid around coming to a point. Vince and I stood watching for about a minute. I took some pictures then walked in directly toward his face. He stood solid until I kicked the second time then he jumped in. Bodie was under the chukar but it was high when I shot. I shot and dropped my gun from my shoulder expecting the bird to fall. It didn’t. I re-shouldered my gun and dropped the bird with the second shot. It was a long shot and Bodie couldn’t find the dead bird.

We were pretty close to the truck and we had just the right dog to find dead birds. Vince had brought his English Cocker spaniel, Maggie. Vince got her close to where the bird had fallen and she grabbed it and brought it to him.

We moved to a new spot so there wouldn’t be hot spots and hid 3 more chukars. Vince turned Allie, his German short haired pointer, loose.

Maggie, Vince’s English cocker spaniel.

We had a good south wind and we worked the dogs into it. Allie pointed and as we got close she took a step. Vince had her dragging a check cord. He grabbed her check cord and asked me to kick in front of her and to shoot. It’s difficult, and sometimes dangerous, to work a dog on a check cord and shoot. With Vince beside her she was rock solid. I kicked the weeds for several seconds before getting close to the chukar. Allie was solid. I flushed the chukar and when it hit the ground Allie took it to Vince. Not straight to him but in a semi circle. But he got the bird.

Her second bird she took a step on too but the third one she did a good job on. No movement on the third. And she has good style with a high head and for what tail she has it’s straight. The third chukar she did a really nice job on the retrieve. Straight to Vince. Vince watered her and put her in the truck. I should have got some pictures of Allie but I didn’t.

Ally, Vince’s short haired pointer.

We moved the truck and put 3 more birds out. Abby was next. The last time we worked her on chukars she would point until I got close then take a step. Some times she would take another step or two. This time she was moving fast and slammed into a point. She looked good. High on both ends. I got in front of her after taking a few pictures and kicked the bird up. I’ve been working with her on retrieving but she isn’t force broke yet. She too played keep away with me. After a minute or so she was ready to go back to hunting.

On her next two birds she did a good job. She pointed them both without any steps but she still thought the bird was hers even if I did shoot it. That’s okay. Sooner or later she will be force broke to retrieve and she does do a good job of hunting dead.

Boss was the only dog that hadn’t got to find some birds. We moved the truck and hid 3 more chukars for him. Having this big of a place works really well. This is better than hunting a preserve. We can use a new area for each dog and there isn’t feathers or other hot spots to distract the dog.

Boss

Boss is really fast with a good nose. He was a long way from the first bird when he got the scent. With his head high he started toward it. He got enough scent to stop about 20 feet from the bird. Although he doesn’t need much help I styled him up then walked in front of him kicking the tall grass. When the chukar hit the ground it wasn’t dead. It tried to run and Boss held it down. He never picks a bird up but usually pushes the bird around with his nose. But this one was trying to run. He held it with a paw and his muzzle. After he played with it a minute or so I took the bird from him.

He did a good job on his next two birds. Both of these birds were dead when they hit the ground. The last one Boss picked up and carried away from me. That was the first bird I’ve ever seen him pick up. I was kind of worried about his retrieving a bird when he doesn’t want to pick one up. I wish I could say he brought it right to me but not so. He took it away from me. After a few seconds he dropped it and went back to hunting. I watered him and put him in the dog box.

Mann with Boss honoring.

We still had 6 chukars left but it was getting hot. We decided to keep them overnight and work my 3 dogs on them the next morning. Vince had to work for his friend but he could go with me while we used the 6 that were left. This is pretty lengthy post already so I will tell about the second day, later.

We were pretty happy with what we got accomplished with the dogs. It’s always good for the dogs to get them into birds where they can see birds fall after the point. Most of the time with the pigeons, nothing falls. This makes more sense for the dogs, I hope.

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My First Prairie Chicken Hunt Of 22/23 Season

Posted on September 30, 2022 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Usually, I start these prairie chicken posts with the disclaimer; I wouldn’t shoot one if I got the chance. I don’t like to eat them and I’ve shot several so I won’t shoot anymore, maybe. Sometimes reflexes kick in and the shot is made or if a young dog needs a bird shot for it’s point, it might happen. But for the most part prairie chicken hunting for me is a scouting trip and getting the dogs in better shape.

Boss

Mann

Boss

I got up really early, I left the house at 5:00 am, and drove about 2 hours west, into Kansas. I was hunting a big ranch where you can see the dogs for a long way. I’ve hunted this ranch before but I’ve never found much. Out of the 5 or 6 times I’ve run here I have found exactly 1 covey of quail. And that was before quail season opened but it’s a really pretty place to run dogs.

We haven’t had any rain or very little the whole month of September. I took a 20 ounce bottle of water for each dog, my big camera strapped to my chest, wore the hunting vest to hold all of the stuff I carry and carried my 20 gauge Webley and Scott that weighs under 6 pounds. Because I wasn’t going to shoot, but have to be hunting to be on walk-in property, I only carried 5 shells.

I had turned all 4 dogs loose. Abby, Boss, Mann and Sally were all enjoying the open fields. They all had e-collars and GPS collars. It was so open I didn’t have to even check the GPS until I was about a half a mile in. All of the dogs were in front of me at various distances except Sally. Her GPS had not mated with the handheld.

I started calling her and in just a few minutes she showed up and I had to turn her collar off and back on a couple of times to get it to working. I did have an extra in the truck but if I hadn’t got it working the hunt would have been over.

Sally was all wet when she came in and I discovered that there was plenty of water in all of the low spots in these pastures. I should have dumped the water in the bottles but I didn’t. When I crossed a low spot then went up the hill on the other side I was really huffing and puffing. When I got home I donned all of the equipment. The vest, camera and holding the gun I weighed. Then I pulled it all off and checked the weight. All of that was over 22 pounds. No wonder I was breathing so hard.

Some of the yearlings that came to visit.

We went on around and occasionally I would try to get a picture of the dogs as they ran. When they are from 200 to 500 yards away and moving fast it’s hard to get them in the view finder. Finally, when I saw Boss stop to poop I put the view finder on him and waited for him to go back to running. I was able to take several pictures and some of them were pretty good.

The morning was cool and the dogs were really enjoying themselves. There were cows in this pasture and Abby made herself smell really good by rolling in some cow manure. Either she or Sally do this almost every time. Sometimes her e-collar and GPS collar are covered but she just got some on her shoulder and back this time. Thank God for all favors.

We started up out of a low spot and there were about 15, looked like yearling calves, came running toward us. They got about 10 yards from us before they stopped. They were just curious. Probably don’t see a lot of people on foot. I took their picture.

Abby

A lot of years ago I was putting plywood on a roof and slipped on a piece of plywood that wasn’t nailed down. I hit the ground and turned an ankle. That ankle has bothered me over the years. As I walked along the edge of a hill with that foot on the downhill side I rolled my ankle. It didn’t turn but it must have stretched some ligaments or something because it kept trying to roll to the side.

I was about 3/4 of a mile from the truck and knew I should head back. So I got the dogs going in the right direction and headed for the truck. When I had driven in I saw a truck I thought was Don Hansen’s. When I got close to the road I saw it coming down the road. I have traded trucks since last year so Don doesn’t know my new one but he told Linda he bet that was mine. I waved my hat at him and he stopped.

When I got to the fence we talked for a little while. He wanted to make another circle into the pasture but I was afraid my ankle might get really bad. So I went on to my truck which was a little over a quarter of a mile away. As I walked along the fence, in a flat cow trail, my ankle didn’t give me any trouble at all.

Boss

I drove around to check some more walk-in properties out before returning home. I was only able to run the dogs about an hour and a half but that’s better than nothing.

I’ve decided that I just need to walk more on level ground. I have started an early morning walk on a track that is close to the house. Even the GPS on my watch tells me I’m not walking as much this year as last. Maybe with enough walking, on flat surfaces, for a while will build that ankle up. If not I may have to wear a brace. What ever it takes to keep going.

I’m still working the dogs most days at home on retrieving. Abby’s tennis ball is about the same color as the grass and a few mornings ago I threw the ball and she was near where it hit the ground. She lunged for the ball and it hit her on the chest and bounced another 10 feet without her seeing it. Retrievers will stay after whatever they are to retrieve until they find it. In my experience English setters don’t. But Abby kept making short circles until she smelled the ball. She scooped it up and brought it to me.

Another shot of Boss.

The very next throw was almost the same. She hit it with her nose and it went down the hill a short distance. She made several circles until she caught the scent of the tennis ball. She grabbed it and came to me. I don’t know which of us was the most excited. As much as she loves birds a few hard to find ones to find may make her the retriever I’ve been needing.

Between the ankle and getting the new truck ready for the hunting season, I haven’t been scouting as often as I should have but hopefully next week things will change. Instead of walking a track I need to be scouting and getting the dogs in shape.

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Double Guns For Bird Hunting

Posted on September 23, 2022 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

We have had another hot week of weather. I didn’t get much training done this week because of trading trucks and the heat. Thinking about something to write about on my blog I decided to tell about my transition to usually hunting with a side by side. I hunted for years with a light weight 20 gauge A5 Browning. After a lot of years I changed to a 20 gauge Montefeltro Benelli.

The LC Smith

Another shot of the LC Smith.

AYA 16 gauge No. 2

The change to side by sides came about by chance. I didn’t wake up one morning and think I’ll just start shooting side by sides. A really good friend, Calvin Morgan, passed away and he had a 16 gauge LC Smith side by side. I had been with him the first time he had shot it.

We were getting ready to hunt in northern Missouri when he told me to stop he wanted to shoot the LC Smith since he had just bought it and wasn’t sure it would shoot. I pulled the truck to the side of a dirt road and as he got out I saw him slip a yellow shell into the chamber. I said, “Cal, I think that’s a 16 gauge”. He said, “No. It’s a 20”. He shot the gun into the bank of the ditch and when he got back into the truck he handed me a shell that had swollen to fit the 16 gauge chamber. “Don’t tell anyone about this”, he said. And as long as he was alive, I never told anyone.

But with his passing I wanted that gun just to have something that he had owned. I bought it from his son and put it in in the gun safe. When quail season opened I wanted to hunt with it but it was choked modified and full. I was talking to a friend about how tight the chokes were and he asked why I didn’t get them opened up. The gun wasn’t a real collectors item.

Made sense to me so I took it to a well known gun shop in Kansas to get the chokes opened. I specified, skeet in the right barrel and improved cylinder in the left. When I got it back they had done the barrels opposite of what I wanted and they had not gone down the barrels to ream them but had got them off centered by going in from the end of the barrels. I wasn’t happy about it but what was done was done.

I started using it on bird hunts. The first few times I felt like I should be smoking a pipe like the pictures of the guys from the 1920s and 1930s did. After all I was hunting with English setters and shooting a double barrel.

The first hunt I was by myself and trying to get used to shooting the double I would occasionally bring it to my shoulder pointing above the tree line. Once as I walked along and raised the gun to my shoulder there were a couple of quail flying right about where the gun was pointing. Evidently the dogs had got a covey up and they flew right in front of me but I was so surprised that I never fired a shot. I did watch them down and got some dog work on them.

AYA 20 gauge No. 2

Later I had a stretch of several hunts where I didn’t kill a lot of birds but I hit everything I shot at. Over 3 or 4 hunts I had 8 or 9 birds without a miss. I had a couple of young females along on a hunt as well as a couple of older dogs. As I walked along the edge of a bean field one of the older dogs pointed. When I got to him a covey got up behind me and my feet were tangled in some weeds as I turned and shot. I was only able to get off one shot and I missed. I thought, “well the streak comes to an end”.

I reloaded my gun as I watched most of the covey fly off the place I was hunting. One of the young females came to me with a dead quail in her mouth. I didn’t even know she would retrieve. I had hit a bird that I didn’t see fall. Was the streak still going or because I missed the bird I shot at but hit another was it still going? I didn’t know but as all streaks, good or bad, it finally came to an end. I don’t remember how long it lasted. But it really got me into side by sides but also 16 gauges.

I wasn’t very good shooting two triggers to start but I spent some time shooting skeet and still do. The first half of the skeet field I shoot the back trigger first, which is the tightest choke, since the high house bird is the farthest from me. Then most of the second half, 5 through 8, I shoot the front trigger first with the exception of station 6 on the double. The low house bird is the farthest so I shoot the back trigger first. Now after several years of shooting skeet this way the double triggers are no problem.

The WR Pape made in 1917

The LC Smith is heavier than I wanted to carry around very much so I bought a Spanish 16 gauge. I really liked it but it started giving me some trouble so I traded it for another. An AYA Number 2 in 16 gauge. It weighs just over 6 pounds and I had it choked the way I wanted. Since the fiasco with the gun shop I had found a good gunsmith.

Then I saw a 20 gauge AYA Number 2 that was lighter than the 16. The 16 gauge had 29 inch barrels and the 20 has 27. After shooting it a little while, mainly at skeet, I discovered that I shoot the longer barrels better. I still shoot the 20 some because it’s a pretty little thing. But one day I was at my gunsmith’s house and saw a WR Pape 12 gauge with 30 inch barrels. It was heavier than the 16 even but it was really well made and to my eye, pretty.

The Pape only shoots 2 1/2 inch shells but they are readily available from RST. I got a flat of shells from RST and started shooting skeet with it. My gunsmith opened the chokes, bent and lengthened the stock, with a leather covered pad and I was in business. The Pape weighs about 6 1/2 pounds and I shoot it pretty well.

Webley and Scott 20 gauge with 30 inch barrels.

Then last year late I saw a Webley and Scott, 20 gauge with 30 inch barrels advertised on Guns International. The stock was too short but it shot 2 3/4 shells. I had it sent to my gunsmith and he thought it was in good shape so I bought it. He wanted to put a wood extension on the stock but I opted for adding rubber. My mistake. I didn’t really like it from the get go but being hard headed I was going to live with it.

I shot it for a while then asked to have a wood extension put on. It works better and looks a lot better. When the gunsmith worked on the end of the stock he found a couple of ounces of lead that someone had put in to tame the recoil, I guess. But anyway after the wooden extension the gun weighs under 6 pounds. It’s a delight to carry and it does it’s job well when I do mine.

On bird hunts, as I get older, I’m more into pictures than shooting. If you shoot a bird you have it for a little while but a picture will last a long time. And most times if I get a picture of the dogs on point I can remember the hunt and where it took place. And for sure, quail are too valuable to shoot.

The wood extension on the W&S 20 gauge.

Side by sides may now be an obsession with me. I have bought a few more than I have told about and if I saw one today that I thought was a good buy or a good fit for me, I would be tempted.

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