Let's go down Memory Lane - Who inspired us to treasure double guns, shooting sports
 

I'll kick this new thread off with a photo of my Dad who was my hero (he fought ALS for better than 10 years, who introduced me to upland bird hunting, bird dog training and the wonderful outdoors. My Dad is the one holding 'Skyrocket's RuffGrouse' at a Field Trial in Hooksett, N.H. circa 1949. May he rest in piece.

what a DAD to have memories of...allen you have been blessed... charlie

Where to begin - where to begin...

The inspiration was right outside my bedroom window in the cornfields and woods around my home in the very early 1950's. Pheasant hunters marching down our corn rows at daybreak - staccato sounds of gunshots all around and the sweet acrid smell of burnt powder filled the air. I watched them from my upstairs bedroom window at four years old as these sights, sounds and scents etched themselves into my memory.
Soon after this we learned that our neighbor, Larry Darling and his son Charlie, were upland hunters in every sense of the word and hunted over "Pepper", a white-heavily speckled with black English Pointer and a very good bird dog. They recognized my interest right away and took me and my Dad under wing and introduced us to hunting, fishing and trapping.

It was Larry that I brought the Trojan I borrowed from a school-mate when I was twelve to ask hin if the old thing was safe to shoot. "Safe to shoot!?!? - I'll say it is! Nobody ever made a better one!"

No bird hunter double gunner in my history

I started a story once about bird hunters being born not made, maybe i should finish that.

My mother told me that when I was a toddler I latched onto a calendar top that was a cartoon of a hunter eating his lunch being flipped off a fence rail by a spaniel chasing a pheasant between his legs, a double shotgun was leaning against the fence. I would sit on my grandparent's porch and watch their neighbor come back from the field with his brace of gordon setters.

I read anything about bird hunting in the big three hook and bullet magazines that my uncle got each month. Dad was a rabbit hunter, i started going afield with him when I was 8, every time we flushed a grouse I would stand there with my mouth open (still do) and watch it fly.

Got my first double after college and my first bird dog not long after that.

Now i have a few doubles and a brace of Old Hemlock Setters.

I received my very first shotgun when I was 12 years old. It was a single shot Monkey Wards Westernfield Model 100SB in 20 gauge. I believe they were made by Savage.

As for SxS shotguns....I spent about seven weeks at Lackland AFB in 1998, attending the AF/Navy Law Enforcement School. I saw a copy of the DGJ at the exchange, purchased it, and soon began buying SxS shotguns. There was a Ruger Red Label 28 in there someplace. I quickly lost interest and it found its way to Puglisi's shop. At present, I have three Parker 10s, a mint Husqvarna 20B Lefaucheaux 12 made in the 1950s, and a .410 on order from Mark DeHaan. My 'beater' is an 1898 vintage Marlin repeater.

I guess I would have to give credit to my Dad (who will be 94 this year and still hunting and shooting). He had a few shotguns so when I started hunting I was about 12. It was for rabbits and squirrels and it was with a Rem. M58 auto which had everything backwards. It was a right handed gun and I was a lefty. Damn safety was a pain to get off but shooting bunnies and squirrels gave me plenty of time. Then one day we flushed a covey of quail and I knew then that that was the game animal of choice for me. My Dad had (I still have it) a Trojan 12, 28" M/F with the safety where it should. For years he would tell me it was too valuable to hunt with and I remember asking him "why do you have it". The next weekend I was tromping through the woods in search of Mr. Bob, no dog and killer tight chokes. What did I know. That was it, I was hooked on a double and bird hunting. Thanks Pop.

This is a picture of my dad hunting, sometime around 1920. He started taking me hunting with him and one of our beagle dogs when I was nine. We would walk across the street, load the gun and start kicking rabbits, and on occasion a rare pheasant, out of their cover. When we were away from "eyes" he would allow me to carry the gun, a single shot Iver Johnson .410. I shot my first rabbit at age nine. When I was twelve I could hunt beside him and his 16ga Winchester Model 12.

Our neighbor became my adopted grandfather, he had a wonderful 16ga Parker GHE. Everyone admired that Parker but it was far to expensive for any in my family. After I was discharged from the Navy in 1970, my adopted grandfather passed away and to my surprise he left his Parker to me. I have collected other Parker shotguns since then but that 16ga GHE is by far my most prized Parker. I hunt with it every year and enjoy walking in the field holding it even if I don't see any game. I would love to have the Iver Johnson .410 but it was stolen from our home while I was away in the Navy.

That's quite a passle of rabbits. I like rabbit a lot and would be happy to have rabbit on my menu on a regular basis. Thanks Robin.

Great story Robin and super picture of your Dad. It's wonderful to have these memories. It's one thing our Dear Leader can't take away from us.

My first shotgun at 13, an H&R Topper SBT (Single Barrel Twenty). I had a Daisy, of course, and a Crosman .22 before that; and, the supervised (accompanied) use of my Dad's .22 Win and his Mod. 11 12ga. Still have the Topper. My brother has the .22 and the 11.