XE 20 and birds and dogs

[birdawg]

Mike,
I have Bologna and cheese and need a shooting instructor

[AmarilloMike]

Don't we all!

[AmarilloMike]

Went today - by myself. Fourteen coveys this afternoon from noon till dark. One covey on the road on the way in. We found twelve coveys on one five and one half hour walk, and one covey on the way out.

Ginger is on the left:


Jazzy shows up in this picture:


Jazzy and Ginger did good work today. Handled the birds well and made very few errors and made some really nice finds - both on coveys and on dead and wounded birds.

[Jeff S]

Very nice pictures. Your posting is better than thumbing through Field & Stream. Thanks for sharing them.

[AmarilloMike]

Thank you Jeff.

And you are very welcome.

[arcmaster]

Amarillo;

I agree with all of the above!! Gorgeous pictures and a REALLY gorgeous gun! Dogs look wonderful as well! That is the best part of the hunt for sure!

thanks
Mike

[birdawg]

It just keep getting better. It is good you guys are having a real bird season. It started good here but then the snow and ice hit us pretty hard so that has slowed me down. Hopefully Arizona will still have some birds when I get there. Keep up the good hunting and photos Mike.
jl

[bbman3]

Sounds like the old days in Georgia! Bobby

[AmarilloMike]

Thanks for the kind words.

Went this afternoon. Very cold. My shooting student Joe Wood didn't want to hunt in the cold. Scenting conditions fair. Carried my old Sterlingworth 12 gauge with the 26" barrels. It weighs 6-11 and has open chokes. I picked it because it has a sling and I wanted to get some pictures of the dogs in the field. Very handy to sling it across my back and then use to hands to take pictures with my Iphone. Found seven coveys.

I'm glad your back Bobby!

Best,

Mike

[Stan Hillis]

Mike is being a bit modest when he says it was cold. It was VERY cold, as I understand cold. He told me this morning that it was 0 degrees, with a chill factor of -13 degrees!!! That's some KINDA cold to a Georgia boy!! Hats off to ya' for braving it, AM.

Please keep the reports coming. SRH

[3birddogs]

What a perfect little bird gun!! I do not mind 26" barrels at all on flushing birds, and open chokes are a plus. I have an A grade 20 Fox with Cyl/cyl chokes as confirmed by its factory card that I believe came out of N. Carolina, no doubt somebodys quail gun( works fine on grouse and woodcock also).

[67galaxie]

Mmmmmmmmm

[AmarilloMike]

Stan thanks. I dress for the cold and once I get moving I usually get hot and have to remove a layer.

3birdogs your A grade is the perfect bobwhite gun in my estimation. Nice and light. I have an A grade 16 gauge that I like very much. It weighs just under six pounds. And yeah, if I'm not shooting trap I don't much care what the barrel length is.

67Galaxy I agree. I like thinking about those men that made these wonderful little bird guns all those decades ago, and I like to think about the men that ordered them.

Thanks again.

Best,

Mike

[Silvers]

Thanks again Mike for taking the time to post and share your days.

What goes around comes around. So many have been quick to put down 26 inch double-guns even for the uplands and to diss men like Jack O’Connor who favored them and wrote about their preferences. Then there’s the sporting clays influence where we’ve been indoctrinated for two decades now in mags that a longer sighting plane is better for everything. Same with stock dimensions, where it’s been in vogue to get fitted and invariably you come away with a high and long stock that can be more of a hindrance than a help when having to shoot quickly. Words of advice, learn to shoot with a real hunting gun and without having to dwell on “proper” gun mount. None of us are calling for wild birds to flush like we do on a clays course or field. Of course all the foregoing is JMO but I'll add that I love it when a factory short barreled and/or lower stocked Fox goes begging for bidders on the internet auction sites.

frank

[Fin2Feather]

...Words of advice, learn to shoot with a real hunting gun and without having to dwell on “proper” gun mount...

frank

Yep. I've posted this many times, but my dad - who never had a gun fitting in his life (I doubt he even knew such a thing existed) and probably didn't even know or care what choke his old Savage auto had - had a very simple philosophy that he liked to espouse whenever the conversation turned too technical: "Get a gun and learn to shoot it."