A Successful Hunt

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Two nice ruffed grouse for dinner.

 

[Taku]

Nice!!

 

[ski3pin]

Yum!

 

[JHanson]

This post is worthless without information on the gun. Even if it is an over/under.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Jonathan, it’s a CZ Teal in 20 gauge, 28” barrels, choked IC & M. A tad bit heavy for chasing chukar and huns, but still a nice upland gun. You can find them on sale under $500.

For the steep stuff, I prefer my Beretta Silver Pigeon 286 with 26” barrels. Or… if I want to miss with 3 shots, a Franchi Affinity 3, also with a 26” barrel, choked M. Both are 20 gauge.

So, are you a SxS guy? Gotta be careful with those double guns…?

No, I didn’t do that.

 

[Glenn]

Two nice ruffed grouse for dinner.
View attachment 111387

? that’s great Steve!! Love it. Our Fall weather is just beginning here in Southern IL.

In 2009, at 10,800 ft in the Weminuchee Wilderness Area, I killed a ruffed grouse with my longbow while hunting out of state in Colorado.

With a small game, Elk, and Black bear tag in my pocket and sitting around the campfire that evening I told Gilbert, my hunting partner “this is the most expensive chicken dinner you’ll ever eat”

It’s about the experience, filling a permit is secondary, but rewarding. I gun hunt too

Congratulations! my friend…..

 

[CPT Davenport]

Nice!

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Nice how did you cook the birds?
Frank

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Nice how did you cook the birds?
Frank

Frank, I used a batter mix (dry), with light poultry seasoning, then pan fried in butter. Summer squash and rice as the sides, plus a bit of rosé to wash it down. A nice fall meal.

 

[CPT Davenport]

That looks divine.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

That looks divine.

Indeed it was. The batter mix is Pride of the West (what else on WTW!), and it was superb on the grouse. A favorite for fried oysters as well.

 

[JHanson]

Steve,

Indeed I am! We bought this one in England for around $800. A 16-bore and a tad under six pounds. I've cycled through several other SXSs including a sidelock or two but this remains a favorite working gun for dove and quail.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

The blown barrel is on my grandfather’s L C Smith Field grade 16 gauge, probably choked modified and full. I’m hoping to find a compatible barrel set, or a double gun capable gunsmith with the skills to replace the right barrel so it can again be a shooter for future generations.

In the 1970s, a cousin was trying reloads and had a squib. Instead of checking the bore, he put another shell in and you see the result of his mistake.

Remember, shotguns are like fly rods in that not all will do everything well.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Frank, I used a batter mix (dry), with light poultry seasoning, then pan fried in butter. Summer squash and rice as the sides, plus a bit of rosé to wash it down. A nice fall meal.
View attachment 111482

Very yummy. Many years when I was into bird hunting the quail I managed to get were sauteed
in butter. Very tasty. Thanks.
Frank

 

[pods8]

Hunt thread! Fun. We had good luck in drawing pronghorn tags this year which are fun to hunt. I had a muzzleloader tag so took a bit more effort than my sons rifle tags.

Didn't have a tag for this guy unfortunately.

Had this tag:

Tire suffered some damage in rural area on a sunday but luckily a cheap plug kit from the gas station worked:

Younger son on his tag:

Camper trailer front leaf springs broke on the way home from that hunt... luckily an hour from home so I dropped the trailer, dropped my son off, grabbed tools and some replacement springs from napa to get it home. I plan to upgrade them and replace the rears proactively.

Older son on his tag:

Still butchering up that last pronghorn to get it into the freezer. A few weeks lull (and camper repairs) till the next hunt.

 

[pods8]

My older son and I had antlered mule deer tags later in the fall in two different units (7day season). My son had the weekend and monday off school so we hunted his tag first then I ran him home 3.5hrs, spent the evening with the family and then ran out to my unit 5hrs away to hunt my tag. Success on both.

I had a target of opportunity bull elk tag in my pocket as well but our freezers were in good shape so I was being selective about that one. I wanted a mature bull if I was going to sign on for packing that out and also distracting from the deer tags. Opening day I passed on a 4pt bull at <200yds. During my hunt I saw a solo elk feeding on a slope 2mi away that I could tell was a bull so I closed a mile to get a bit better look. Looked like it was probably a 5pt, I was still a mile away but it didn't have the rearward swoop to the antlers that larger bulls develop so I didn't close in further. The packout solo wouldn't have been pleasant either so I was saved from a suckfest.

Having the youth shooters helping me keep the freezer full has been nice, normally I don't get to be more selective on my antlered tags and just focus on meat in the freezer. This is a nice change or pace and also less pressure during the hunts. I target getting 100-200lb of meat into the freezer each year depending on how much carry over the freezers had the prior year.

Have family visiting this week so I made up a 12lb batch of jerky this weekend from our harvest that has the nephews excited.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Nice animals, congrats!

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Looks like some good eating through winter.
Frank

 

[Taku]

Ah SxS's! I have been shooting a 16 gauge AYA Model 2 for years now and should probably sell my 12 gauge Ugartechea as I hardly ever use it anymore.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Ah SxS's! I have been shooting a 16 gauge AYA Model 2 for years now and should probably sell my 12 gauge Ugartechea as I hardly ever use it anymore.

I found a set of barrels (26” M/F ) for my grandfather’s L C Smith 16 gauge, with a bit of luck it will be a shooter again.