Poll....who is hunting with small gauge for up-land birds?

[Dean Romig]

Brett - you are soo right!

It gives me tremendous joy to be able to introduce my grandchildren to the pleasures of the outdoors the way I have.

Cam is hooked on hunting and clays shooting and this year especially has become quite the fisherman!
His sister Katie loves hunting with Grampy and asks all the time about when she can come to Vermont with me.

Isabella and Lillia would never intentionally kill anything but really love it when I take them to Addieville to shoot clays.

I just love it!!





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[George "Scott" Davis]

Preparing to head to Montana for two weeks of upland bird hunting and 1/2 Day "Turkey" Shoot in Denton on the 10th for fund raiser for High School Shooting Team.
Three guns are making the trip: 16 gauge 1913 Fox, 1921 Fox 12 gauge and 1895 GH 12 # 2 frame. I'll use the two frame in the turkey shoot.

[Mills]

With Harry's interest, I am in the process of making sure I have at least two of everything. Mills likes tractors and I just bought an antique John Deere bulldozer that may be more expensive than the guns

[Tom Flanigan]

Originally Posted by harry gietler

I use Browning Bss shotguns 12ga. for serious hunting. They handle any load you feed them and they are built like a bank vault. The12ga. will do anything the smaller ga. guns will do and do it better. With that being said here is a quote from THE SHOTGUNNERS BOOK by Askins 1958 The perfect shotgun is the 12. If, man or boy, a gent isnt stud enough to shoot a 12 then he should take up ping pong. The other gauges are makeshifts that do a killing job but never with the lethality of this remarkably versatile gauge Harry

Conversly, Elmer Keith's favorite bore for upland shooting was a 16. Many of his birds were taken at long range and he swore by the 1 1/8 heavy 16 load. I can't imagine a better bore for all around upland shooting than the 16. I hunt wild pheasants extensively (I plant acres of sorghum for them every year) and the 16 bore is perfect. I do use a light DHE 12 bore also, but only because I like shooting this gun at game. I can't notice any difference in birds taken with both guns, although I don't take any shots over 40 yards.

From a practicle perspective, gauge should be determined by the bird hunted and the cover. The little 28 bore is good for ruffed grouse in tight cover and quail. Conversely, I never use it on wild pheasants nor do I hunt them with a 20. You can get away with it early in the season, maybe, but later on the pheasant is a 16 or 12 bore bird.

I don't feel the need to carry a heavy 12 when I can do the job as well with a smaller bore. It has nothing to do with manhood. It has everything to do with chosing the right gun for the bird and area hunted.