New Member

[Tony Ambrose]

New member here.....although far from new to Parkers, as well as other classic American doubles. I'm not sure if I classify myself as a collector....probably more of a grouse hunter who happens to be the caretaker of some nice old shotguns!

I currently live in Westchester County NY, just outside of NYC. Originally from PA, having grown up in the heady times of plenty of grouse and genuine wild pheasants. My youthful introduction to doubles came way of a little B grade Fox 20, back when my father was a diehard pump fan. He never could understand my fascination with those old guns!

I think it was in the early 80s when I bought my first Parker. DHE 12 with 28" barrels and great wood. A fine tool that certainly did a number on pheasants, but probably a bit unwieldy on grouse. Still, the Parker was a sweet piece that sparked some of that gun lust that I'm sure many of you acutely suffer from. Being a grouse and woodcock hunter of the slightly insane type; after a couple more Parker, Fox and Smith aquisitions, I decided to focus on guns that I thought were best suited to my favored pursuit. Straight grips and small gauges became my targets. In those days of pre-internet, it was pretty challenging.

I have been lucky enough to be the caretaker of some very nice little guns over the years. Several skeet guns, quite a few 20s and 28s and a couple .410 guns and grades up to BHE. Higher grades seemed to present themselves at times when the needed amount of disposable income just wasn't available (best excuse I can come up with!).

I think back and it seems that the times that I've sold guns has usually followed the loss of a dog. That resulted in eventually mourning the "loss" of a nice gun...as well as the dog!

Two Parkers in particular are probably missed the most.....not because of their condition or configuration, but for the memories in the coverts of NH and ME over some grand old setters. Both of these guns were sold around 90/91 to the folks at New England Arms in Kittery Point, ME. One was a sweet little cased VHE 28, 26", straight grip/splinter with feather crotch and orange/red fire in the stock to die for and a little CHE 20, 26", straight grip/splinter/SKBP with great dark streaked light toned wood (that I always associated with the best English walnut, although I've seen only a couple of Parkers with similar toned wood). Sorry I don't have the serial numbers at hand, but I'm sure anyone buying one of these guns from NEA in the 90s would remember. It would do my heart good to know that another member (or members) is the current caretaker of these two fine Parkers and that they are continuing to be used as they were previously used. There is always the possbility that I can find the serial numbers somewhere, and I know that many photos were taken, but, as with other things, the end of a marriage seems to make things disappear.

I've never owned a reproduction, although I've had many of them in hand and, as with most fine guns, I've lusted after a few of those that had some sweet wood attached!

As I approach 60, the number of guns in the house has been drastically reduced. I'm getting to the point where weight, fit and looks seem to be the keys to whether or not they stay or go! While there are a couple little Fox and Parker 20s that still get exercised, the one gun that has received the most use in the last 10 years is one that I took as partial trade on a VH 20 many years ago at a gun show......now don't shoot me for this!.......a Japanese-built Browning BSS Grade II 20. It has really great claro walnut, although the wood-to-metal fit is certainly not the best. BUT...it absolutely brings to earth most birds that flush in front of it. I wouldn't call it a classic, but I think it will stay with me.

I certainly have enjoyed reading many of the threads here. It's good to know many more fine Parkers still get to roam the grouse woods of the north. I'm sure I've run into some of you over the years at shows. I remember faces very well, but as I get older, names do seem to evade me....what do they call that...CRS?

[Autumn Daze]

Welcome aboard Tony! Glad to have ya....

[nid-28]

Tony--you sound like my kind of guy. Welcome aboard!!

[Harold Pickens]

Tony'
Like you, I classify myself as a grouse hunter who likes to use the old American classics, especially Parkers and Foxes. My go to guns are my VH 16 and Sterlingworth 16. I picked up a Ugartechea Grade 2 20 ga last year that I went 11 for 15 on grouse in a 3 day period--going to be hard to leave that gun home. Do you have bird dogs? Thanks for introducing yourself.

[Dennis]

Tony, welcome aboard. You pretty much sound like ALL of us here at PGCA. We might have been neighbors though far away. You live in Westchester County now and I graduated from high school in Putnam County just north of you. My brother and I used to terrorize the partridges, rabbits and grey squirrels years ago. We ate a few woodchucks from that area as well. I recently visited the area and found there are a million houses there now. It is getting to be the North part of NYC.

Dennis

[Tony Ambrose]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

Harold - I've been dogless for quite a few years now (not counting my wife's Jack Russell). I have always owned setters (Irish first, then Gordons and a Bondhu Llewellin), the last Gordon (Bill and Diane Klumb's Bydand dogs) was laid to rest some time ago. While those Wisconsin Gordons excelled on grouse and woodcock, no dog I've ever owned could hold a candle to my English setter. She was old school Bondhu with tons of experience. I bought her when she was 5 when I lived in MN back in the mid-80s. Grouse were at a peak in MN and WI then. I've always considered the upper northern tier of WI as one giant bird cover and those days did not disappoint. Bill and Diane Klumb guided hunters out of their Maple, WI farm back then and Bill often asked me to bring the dogs and help with an abundance of clients. That Bondhu already was a top grouse dog. The next couple of years pretty much put her over the top! She pointed her last two grouse outside of Dover-Foxcroft, ME in the fall of 1993. The old girl was able to go for almost an hour. I ended up carrying her back to the Suburban. If we are to own only one great dog, she was it for me. To this day, there is a photo on the wall of her, me, and two dead grouse, taken outside of Hayward, WI in October 1987. I was 34 years old and had just shot my first true grouse double over her point.....two beautiful gray phase birds.

I wish I had the makeup to be able to shrug off the death of a dog. It hits me hard. It takes me a good long while to get to the point of obtaining another. That said, I have always admired Pointers.....specifically Elhew Pointers. When Bob was alive I came close (more than a few times) to buying one of his pups. I have hunted over a few that belonged to friends......they all shared similar characteristics......and grouse sense in spades. I will have a started Pointer (with a few lines to Strike and Kiwi) by the end of the summer.

Dennis - I live in Yorktown Heights right near the Putnam/Westchester line. You can find a couple grouse (and woodcock) here and there in Putnam and Dutchess, but not enough to hunt. It pretty much takes me at least 2.5 hours to drive to suitable covers in the Catskills or a bit longer to PA. You are right.....millions of houses. Thank God we own a lake house on Sebec Lake just outside of Dover-Foxcroft, ME. Thanks to the lumber greed up there, there are supreme covers almost everywhere you look......and the birds to go with them.

[Dean Romig]

The season after I retire will find me in the old cut-overs north of Kokadjo... lots of birds there!

[Tony Ambrose]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

The season after I retire will find me in the old cut-overs north of Kokadjo... lots of birds there!

Dean - I am counting the days until I can retire......when I do, I plan on celebrating by hunting most of the Maine season. Hell, I'll cover myself in blaze orange and walk the covers during the October and November moose weeks!!

MN and WI have some great bird hunting......when the birds are at the right part of the "cycle", but Maine.......even in their "bad" years, you don't walk far without flushing a bird!

The chainsaw has been good to that region of Maine.

May the days till your retirement fly by......then slow down to a crawl!!

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Tony. Retirement is eleven months away and the days are crawling now.

My 'born again' carefree days in the coverts I love can't come soon enough and I plan to enjoy them to the fullest, just as I did in an earlier part of my life that wasn't so very long ago. There's more to it than shooting the birds - it is a mindset one never forgets and I need to get back into it for all the right reasons. A Brittany pup should be a good companion I think. There's time enough to start one right about now....

[TARNATION !!!]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Thanks Tony. Retirement is eleven months away and the days are crawling now.

My 'born again' carefree days in the coverts I love can't come soon enough and I plan to enjoy them to the fullest, just as I did in an earlier part of my life that wasn't so very long ago. There's more to it than shooting the birds - it is a mindset one never forgets and I need to get back into it for all the right reasons. A Brittany pup should be a good companion I think. There's time enough to start one right about now....

Well Dean, you have all of that right, with the possible exception (just as I did in an earlier part of my life) Between the ears, absolutely, but I have a sneaking suspicion that between the joints might be slightly different than (y)our youth. [Joints is meant in a purely anatomical sense]. I just completed my ninth upland season since complete retirement and I have to say it is even better. Totally unfettered experience - not a concern for sick kids, unhappy wife because you happened to take a mental health break with a Parker in your hands while the kids were sick, no boss expecting something very bloody important that in retrospect was as important as the dust that instantly gathered on that life or death report or whatever. Yep, these are the years to be cherished beyond any that we have. Killing the bird is not the be all and the end all, but (this is a confession now) a day of being skunked afield isn't the most memorable event for me. The "be all and end all" is the complete experience, including sharing the abundance with friends and family after you (we) have given the bird its due respect by taking all edible protein and preparing it ourselves for the enjoyment of others - and of course ourselves. I will eat from the natural world all I can before I take on the supermarket fare. Not to say that is not also an enjoyable meal, but one that I put together (from the morning coffee on the road, through the tramping in nature, to the few shots that count, to the preparation and enjoyment of the meal and the fellowship involved in all of it) trumps anything else. [For the ranchers/farmers out there I do enjoy the fruits of all your labours - just not as much as my own - what can I say]

So Dean, these next 11 months will drag if you have made your decision and the next 11 years will disappear faster than you can ever believe - so every day to its fullest remains a meaningful mantra - for all of us.
Cheers,
Jack

Still seeing the rails but knowing they must fade