Fox Collectors

I have not had a great PA deer season so far and was planning on going it alone today for an all day sit when my buddy Mike texted me and suggested that we go over to New Jersey for the last day of the first split of woodcock season before the NJ deer season opens on Monday.

I used my custom 16 gauge I call Reynard and Mike was using a straight gripped 16 gauge Sterlingworth.

Expectations were mixed but I thought I needed the action. Well, it was a great day and we both shot our limits in about 3 hours. Something happened today that I've never heard of. I was walking the edge of thick cover in an uncut corn field about 4 rows in while my buddy worked the dogs in the multi-flora, holly and honey suckle. I flushed a woodcock out of the corn (which hardly ever happens) and stoned it on the first shot as it angled back towards the woods and as one of the dogs was coming out of the thicket on my left. Almost unbelievably, the dog caught the woodcock in the air. It literally did not even have to flinch. In fact if it did not catch it in its' mouth, it would have just hit it in the face. I was still trying to process what I thought I saw when my buddy started yelling that he couldn't believe what he just saw!

We broke out the Basil Hayden and gave thanks to Hubertus with a wee dram when we were done.



Mike with a straight gripped Sterly 16.



Emma after her immaculate reception!



All in all another great woodcock day.

Amazing! Roger, I always look forward to your woodcock hunting stories.

Not a common story for sure to have one caught out of the air. My girl Bella also accomplished this year ago. A great memory!

Roger, i second what Jeff said, also appreciate nod to hunting gods and toast. keep the tradition alive, also i thought the name Reynard was too masculine for that lovely 20 bore until i found out its origin,turns out it could not have been more appropriate. thanks for pics and post

Thanks for the kind words. However, Reynard is a 16 gauge. I would have a 20 gauge barrel made up for it in a heartbeat if I can find one.

I have 3 20 gauge Sterlingworth’s but none of them pop on.

Always fun to keep looking.

44whiskey wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 9:31 am Roger, i second what Jeff said, also appreciate nod to hunting gods and toast. keep the tradition alive, also i thought the name Reynard was too masculine for that lovely 20 bore until i found out its origin,turns out it could not have been more appropriate. thanks for pics and post

Well, I don't want to get too academic about it, especially since Steggy names his guns after Strippers, but since Geoffroy Gournet did the engraving, and he is as French as they get, and I've been told I can be a sarcastic SOB of Irish, Dutch, English and French origins, I thought it would be appropriate to pay homage to the gun in the way I chose. Basically, Reynard is French for Fox. But there is more to it than that. In literature "Reynard the Fox" is a character that thumbs its nose at the aristocracy and clergy and makes the common man the hero. By the way, I have an original 16 gauge XE that I have since named Hermeline, which was Reynards' wife in the stories.

Some excerpts from Mr. Google:

Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as well as throughout the Early Modern period. The given name Reynard is from Reginhard, Raginohardus "strong in counsel". Because of the popularity of the Reynard stories, renard became the standard French word for "fox", replacing the old French word for "fox", which was goupil from Latin vulpēcula. Since Reynard has been written about in many different times and places across the world, it is not uncommon to see changes in his appearance to fit the natural surroundings of his story. From the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there are around twenty-six different tales of Reynard the Fox.

An extensive appearance of the character is in the Old French Le Roman de Renart written by Pierre de Saint-Cloud around 1170, which sets the typical setting. Reynard has been summoned to the court of king Noble (or Leo), the lion, to answer charges brought against him by Isengrim the wolf. Other anthropomorphic animals, including Bruin the bear, Baldwin the ass, and Tibert (Tybalt) the cat, all attempt one stratagem or another. The stories typically involve satire, whose usual butts are the aristocracy and the clergy, making Reynard a peasant-hero character.[11] The Catholic Church used the story of the preaching fox, as found in the Reynard literature, in church art as propaganda against the Lollards.[15]

Reynard's principal castle, Maupertuis, is available to him whenever he needs to hide away from his enemies. Some of the tales feature Reynard's funeral, where his enemies gather to deliver maudlin elegies full of insincere piety, and which feature Reynard's posthumous revenge. Reynard's wife Hermeline appears in the stories,but plays little active role. In some versions she remarries when Reynard is thought dead, thereby becoming one of the people he plans revenge upon.

thanks for sharing that info on Reynard, i had researched that a while back and appreciate the name selected. also its not like you didnt have time to thoughtfully select a name as this was a loooong project. i am glad to see the Fox afield.my bad on calling it a 20 ga.cheers fred ps strippers need love too

44whiskey wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 11:49 am thanks for sharing that info on Reynard, i had researched that a while back and appreciate the name selected. also its not like you didnt have time to thoughtfully select a name as this was a loooong project. i am glad to see the Fox afield.my bad on calling it a 20 ga.cheers fred

"Thoughtfully Select" LOL - like naming your dog "dog" in a different language. Sarcasm intended. LOL!!!

Roger, between Raynard and the lovely Cobb 16,do you shoot one or the other with more confidence? also does either gun have any cast in stock?

Definitely Reynard.

Reynard has become my go to gun since its completion. It has a bit of cast on for my Lefty mitts and a 15 1/8 LOP. Also, I worked with Dan Rossiter to make the 28-inch barrels pattern about 66% above the bead for the majority of my style of upland shooting which is rising birds. I had no reservations having Reynard opened up to .003 and .01 in the 28-inch barrels. The 30's are a choked a bit tighter.

The Cobb XE is a tad shorter with a hint of cast off, but I shoot it well enough. The Cobb XE is also a bit tighter in choke and shoots a little flatter but, I have had a lot of fun with it without any customization done at all.

Great pics and looks like some great shooting and dog work. Congrats