First, Happy Father's Day to all....
It was back in the 70s, early October, and in the hardwoods. I followed the scent of roasting meat to my friend Jimmy. He was seated on a down log, with a small fire nearby. Over the low flames were two cleaned squirrels on sticks.
Jimmy pointed to another three he was cleaning and asked to borrow my sidecutter pliers. They made quick work of removing feet and tails.
I opened the action on my old H&R single 16 and propped it away from the fire near Jimmy's little 410. It was a relic of older times, a bolt action, single shot, hardware store gun.
I said that he had his limit early. I had some squirrels but needed a brace or so for my limit.
Jimmy grinned, "Five shots, five squirrels".
I set up two sticks of my own and we jawed about shotguns before eating and heading off to more hickory trees overburdened wiith bushytails. .
I'm no fan of the 410 in general. But my friend knew what that old heirloom would do, kept his shots inside 30 yards, and had the woods skills to make those happen.
Another tale from the past.....
Irv was a decent sort who didn't get to hunt enough, if anyone ever does. We had invited him on a goose hunt on the Shore to make him feel good about letting us hunt his ancestral 80 acres in Carroll County, one over from us.
He had bought a Mag 10, a fine shotgun but vastly different from his Ithaca 37 20 gauge he used well enough in the uplands.
And like most of us,he didn't shoot those expensive 10 gauge shells on moving targets before heading for points south of Easton.
It was an expensive mistake. The weight and inertia of the big gun was more than Irv couold adjust to on short notice. After watching him suffer, we swapped guns and he popped a Canada or two with Frankenstein before the flights stopped.
And for the record, I did little better with the 10 gauge than he did.
OK, so what is the moral of these stories,you ask?
Use the right tool for the job and know how to do so.
Jimmy had a good Model 12 16 gauge to use, but that 410 was enough for the given job and was mighty light in the hands.
For that matter I had an 870, but the same reasons applied to my old 16 gauge H&R. Easy to tote, effective, and with the Fuller choke, capable of delivering a tight pattern of 6s to the top of any tree there.
And both of us enjoyed using guns that had been in the family and made meat before our births.
As for Irv, he sold the 10 shortly thereafter at a loss, but bought a 12 gauge Ithaca 37 which took 3" mags and served him well for geese and ducks. Probably still does.
The right tool is useless without expertise.
And we cannot buy that.
Questions, Comments, Ammo donations?.....
It was back in the 70s, early October, and in the hardwoods. I followed the scent of roasting meat to my friend Jimmy. He was seated on a down log, with a small fire nearby. Over the low flames were two cleaned squirrels on sticks.
Jimmy pointed to another three he was cleaning and asked to borrow my sidecutter pliers. They made quick work of removing feet and tails.
I opened the action on my old H&R single 16 and propped it away from the fire near Jimmy's little 410. It was a relic of older times, a bolt action, single shot, hardware store gun.
I said that he had his limit early. I had some squirrels but needed a brace or so for my limit.
Jimmy grinned, "Five shots, five squirrels".
I set up two sticks of my own and we jawed about shotguns before eating and heading off to more hickory trees overburdened wiith bushytails. .
I'm no fan of the 410 in general. But my friend knew what that old heirloom would do, kept his shots inside 30 yards, and had the woods skills to make those happen.
Another tale from the past.....
Irv was a decent sort who didn't get to hunt enough, if anyone ever does. We had invited him on a goose hunt on the Shore to make him feel good about letting us hunt his ancestral 80 acres in Carroll County, one over from us.
He had bought a Mag 10, a fine shotgun but vastly different from his Ithaca 37 20 gauge he used well enough in the uplands.
And like most of us,he didn't shoot those expensive 10 gauge shells on moving targets before heading for points south of Easton.
It was an expensive mistake. The weight and inertia of the big gun was more than Irv couold adjust to on short notice. After watching him suffer, we swapped guns and he popped a Canada or two with Frankenstein before the flights stopped.
And for the record, I did little better with the 10 gauge than he did.
OK, so what is the moral of these stories,you ask?
Use the right tool for the job and know how to do so.
Jimmy had a good Model 12 16 gauge to use, but that 410 was enough for the given job and was mighty light in the hands.
For that matter I had an 870, but the same reasons applied to my old 16 gauge H&R. Easy to tote, effective, and with the Fuller choke, capable of delivering a tight pattern of 6s to the top of any tree there.
And both of us enjoyed using guns that had been in the family and made meat before our births.
As for Irv, he sold the 10 shortly thereafter at a loss, but bought a 12 gauge Ithaca 37 which took 3" mags and served him well for geese and ducks. Probably still does.
The right tool is useless without expertise.
And we cannot buy that.
Questions, Comments, Ammo donations?.....
