Some shooting finally.......

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Finally got into a little shooting today, my season has been off to a slow start. No geese in Michigan, no doves in Indiana, and on it's been.

Had the news when I got home that an old squirrel hunting friend had died the night I arrived, that sort of threw a damper on the trip. I'd found out he was in the hospital last week and that it was very serious but never dreamed he'd go before we had a chance to see one another a last time. Went on a small dove shoot the same day with Dad but my heart wasn't in it, tried a few shots and killed one bird.

Made a squirrel hunt with another old friend yesterday and killed a couple each. Used the 10 gauge lifter for them that I got from Austin last year at the Vintagers. First time I'd had a chance to use it on game and I was pleased. Many thanks to Austin, it was a pleasure to carry.

Went to the big annual dove shoot today but it was bittersweet as well. Grandpa had said that he wanted to come along last time we talked but he called last night saying he just didn't feel up to it. He was 91 on our birthday so he's getting well along in years, it sure was a disappointment to not have him along. I went out and borrowed his little J.C. Higgins (Stevens 311) straight grip 20 gauge and shot it myself so he was there in spirit anyway.

My shooting wasn't up to par when they first started flying, took me a full box to get my first three birds. But I warned up after that and managed to knock down 14 before the quitting time bell rang and only used up one more box of cartridges thankfully.

Mama's birthday this evening so Dad and I just helped clean birds and headed home so we could take her out.

That's it for my shooting on this trip, staying an extra day to go to my friends wake them I'm headed back to Michigan.


Destry

[charlie cleveland]

sorry to hear of the passing of your friend but remember the good times with him. my dove hunting sat. was a good one. i hunted with my dad he shot a couple birds but he said he thought he was shooting on a dead bird.ha my dad will be 82 shortly can barely get evev a lite weight gun to shoulder but he still tries. i hope your luck changes and get that barrel hot on that old 10 ga. i thought i was the only fella that used a 8 or 10 ga. on squirls. good hunting agin sorry about your friend. charlie

[Richard Flanders]

Sorry about your friend Destry. I just heard a close old friend died also. We've worked together on the aircraft museum in Fairbanks for 18yrs. He was an ex Marine stationed in Japan after WWII and worked at Amchitka when they were drilling the holes then blowing of the underground nuclear bombs. Good old Montana boy and a very close friend and I have to miss his service this Friday. I heard some priceless stories from that guy and will miss him a lot. He was the last of the old guard that I started working on the museum with to go. It won't be the same hereafter.I feel privileged to have known those old guys, WWII vets most of them, and tireless advocates of our museum and good loyal Americans to their very core. I heard stories about chasing Romel across N Africa, flying old prop planes across the Atlantic, test flying P-38's and P-51's on skis in Alaska, and many more that will hopefully stay with me. They were a different breed for sure. Good men all and fine humans.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Dennis Marks was a true son of Southern Illinois and very proud of it, I think it's one of the things that made us such good friends. He was a US Army veteran, had done two tours in Vietnam, and was decorated for bravery. We'd traveled many a mile together and done a heap of Boy Scout work together as well. Here's a picture of him I took after what ended up being our last squirrel hunt:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/MarketHunter/DennisTheStar.jpg

That old Jeep didn't have any doors or seat belts but it would go anywhere and we sure had a lot of fun in it. He never owned a Parker, was more of a rifleman, that's his Anschutz target rifle he's holding there. He bought that gun when we were first getting to know one another and it was one of his proudest possessions.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/MarketHunter/Scan13_0013_013.jpg

Here's one Dennis took of me several years and several pounds ago, I think I was 24 at the time. We were in the middle of the greatest weekend of squirrel shooting either of us had ever experienced. His uncle Joe Bob Marks was with us and was in his 70's at the time, he said he'd never seen anything like it in all his years and he'd hunted squirrels almost since birth.

The stories I could tell about Dennis and our times together would go on for hours, he was an original without peer.


Destry

[Harry Collins]

Destry,

I'm sorry you lost Dennis. I try to keep my friends spirit alive in thought.

You are in my thoughts and prayers, Harry

[Derrick Stewart]

Destry,

Sorry to hear about the passing of an old friend. If your like me everytime you go squirrel hunting you will be reflecting on the good times the both of you spent in the woods together. I have an uncle who passed away a couple of years ago and besides being a WWI vet he was the first person who ever took me hunting. I have the single shot .22 rifle he purchased the day he was discharged from WWII. Boy how many hogs I've shot with that rifle.

Richard,
I too know all about those old WWII stories. I have an uncle who was eating breakfest the morning the japs bombed Pearl Harbor. He's is not doing well and he can't hear anymore but man the stories he could tell. I hope the world doesn't change as much in my lifetime as it has for those old guys.

Derrick

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Opened the goose season up in Canada this morning out on the lake. We did alright but should have done better, pulled a couple rookie opening day moves that didn't help. Wound up the shoot with 10 birds between the five of us which is nothing to complain about really.

Destry