Thread: AyA?
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Unread 08-30-2019, 07:44 AM   #11
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Dave Erickson
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I owned this Ugartechea 20 ga. exactly 20 years ago. It was my first and only sidelock and it was a Ruffed Grouse Society gun. Neat little 26" gun with gold-washed locks, and an ugly RGS medallion in the stock. I took the first two grouse I shot at with it on a hunt in, ironically, a RGS management unit in west central WI.

It was a memorable hunt. On the first bird my dog went on point at the edge of a wet drainage. I was looking at him from the hill above, and it was one of those loose points with not a lot of ground cover right there where he was. I finally started looking in the trees and there was a grouse at eye level with me. The second my eyes locked on the bird he flushed and made his break to get across the couple hundred yards of wet drainage. As he flushed 6 deer bolted and were bounding in the same direction as the bird. Talk about distractions! I scratched down the bird and on we went. The 2nd bird was a hard point in an impossible tangle. I could hear the old Sonic "air raid" tone in there and I knew I had very little chance of getting the bird, but I started busting my way in. The bird flushed and came right at me and passed about two feet over my head. I pivoted and took him going away. Quite a start for the little Ugie! I then went on to miss the next 8 in a row on the next couple hunts.

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