 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
Destry Hoffard
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Thu Jan 6th, 2005 |
| Location: | Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 3044 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 4th, 2005 02:37 am |
|
Come on James, we're waiting!!!!
Destry
____________________
The member formerly known as Market Hunter
|
James Williams
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Fri Jan 7th, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 89 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 4th, 2005 03:53 am |
|
Dean and Destry, here goes...
After discussions on this board concerning loads (of which both of you contributed) I settled on Winchester Super - X "High Brass Game Loads" which translates to 3-3/4 Drams, 1-1/4 oz. #4 shot (no "magnums", or copper-plating, etc.). The gun is a #2 frame Trojan 12 ga. w/ 26 in. bbls. choked Mod. and Full.
I hunted this bird five different mornings over a 10 day period. The breeding season isn't in full swing here yet, so they really aren't very "hot" right now, and have plenty of hens with them. By the third morning I had pretty well determined where he would enter the field where he struts and positioned myself to intercept. He came as I expected but I was "pinned-down" by a bunch of hens and couldn't call much without being discovered. As a result he showed-up for what amounted to an ambush and I had the safety off and the bead on his head, but he was a few feet over my self imposed limit. He was probably in the kill zone anyway, but since it was an ambush and I hadn't really earned him, I let him walk. That was unfortunately the last time he did anything predictable.
A couple more hunts were complete busts, with the gobbler roosted on adjoining land that I cannot hunt. The final morning I left him still on the neighbor's property after he went silent around 7:30. I went up the road to visit a friend and was returning home around 9:00 when I drove past our creek bottom where I spotted him all alone about 100 yds. from the road. Unfortunately he was walking towards the road which is also our property line. Once he crossed the road he would be off-limits again. So... I pulled the truck into the driveway and parked between him and the road. This got his attention, and he did a 180 and trotted a few yards back the way he came, then began to feed and walk in a leisurely manner back into the heart of our property. I took the truck around about a half-mile to the other side of the property, grabbed my gear and set a course to position myself a couple hundred yards ahead of his last known position. I mostly ran to get there, then set up behind a big oak. I was inside the edge of the woods and could not see the field (or him), so I could only hope that he continued his last track. I began calling blindly and got no answer. Several series of calls and ten minutes later still no trace of the bird. I began to smell defeat but held my ground. Then, about 100 yds. away I THOUGHT I might have caught a glimpse of a head moving through knee-deep wheat that was growing in last season's deer green fields. I watched intently but saw nothing more and thought I might have imagined it. More calls, still silence. Then I thought, what if he went back to the left and approached from the area obscured by the big oak I was hiding behind? I leaned very slowly around the right side of the tree to check the area on the other side and YIKES! There he was not 20 yds. away stretching his neck and trying very intently to find the source of the calling, but I had to let the gun down to lean around the tree, so I was caught with my pants down. I eased my face back behind the tree and brought the Trojan up to my shoulder, then carefully eased the gun back around the right side of the tree while sighting down the barrels. I moved out until I could see a patch of ground about five feet in front of where I had seen him and waited, hoping I hadn't blown it with all this shuffling around. I waited for him to step into view around the tree a few seconds, and then he appeared right where I was aiming, less than 15 yds. I made a split-second change of plans, and moved my finger from the left trigger to the right, deciding to save the full choke barrel for a follow-up in case I screwed-up. I touched off the modified barrel and he went down cleanly. I ran to the spot and stood guard until I was sure he was down for good, then broke the gun open put the empty and unused shells in my pocket, and only then allowed myself to experience the tremendous satisfaction of scoring my first Parker gobbler. He was a 2 year-old, with a 9-1/4 in. beard and 3/4" spurs. Not a quite a"boss", but a mature, wary bird, nonetheless. I've hunted these birds for 25 years now, but I can tell you that this one was special because of the gun. Dean, you were right - it doesn't compare to the birds at 45 yds. with a 3 in. autoloader. I don't know if I'll ever use one again. Now, there is a 30 in., full/full GH Damascus on deck for the next hunt!
Please accept my gratitude to all who had input to my original post.
Jim
|
James Williams
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Fri Jan 7th, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 89 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 4th, 2005 04:25 am |
|
In my story, I forgot to tell about the gun and why it is special. It was given to me by a dear friend and mentor, who grew up with the gun after receiving it from his dad. Knowing of my love for Parkers and that I have restored a few, he surprised me with it as a gift on mine and my wife's anniversary last year. The metal was solid, but the stock was about to fall off and there was a flattened white line pad on the butt. When I removed the stock I found that it was in five separate oil-soaked pieces. I got the oil out and carefully pieced it together, then reinforced the joints from the inside with steel implants (invisible from the outside). I removed the recoil pad and fit a Parker buttplate to it. I steamed-out or sanded as many of the barbed-wire scars as possible, then filled in the remainder with umpteen coats of finish. The fore end had a large chunk missing, which I replaced with a carefully matched piece of walnut (probably the only time you will be thankful for the plain, straight grain of Trojan wood). I re-cut the worn-smooth checkering and put on the final finish coats and could not believe how lucky I got. The gun looks great, and the repairs are all but invisible, and now one of my favorite games is to hand it to a gun buddy and challenge them to find them. I used it on my first-ever pheasant hunt, and now it has a nice gobbler to its credit (actually not its first, according to the friend who gave it to me). So, it is special because of who gave it to me, AND because of the sweat equity I have in it. Sorry to go on so long about all this, but I figure that there are quite a few other Parker people out there who can relate.
Jim
|
John Hickerson
PGCA Member
|
Posted: Mon Apr 4th, 2005 02:55 pm |
|
Great story JIm,
I already posted an account of my first turkey hunt. Do you all remember it.
Hick
____________________
HICK
|
Dean Romig
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Fri Jan 7th, 2005 |
| Location: | Andover, Ma |
| Posts: | 4887 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 4th, 2005 03:44 pm |
|
Jim, you certainly earned that bird in every sense of the word!
Thanks for telling the whole story. As I read it I felt like I was in your place because I have had so many similar experiences with wary hens and sneaky Toms that behaved like apiritions slipping in and out of a brushy area like mist.
The history of your Trojan, both past and present is not unique but your willingness to resurrect it as a hunting gun should make it special to you. That old Parker has good karma because of you and its past and, like you said, will probably accompany you on a lot more hunts.
Thanks for the stories.
Best Regards, Dean
|
James Williams
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Fri Jan 7th, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 89 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 4th, 2005 09:42 pm |
|
Dean Romig wrote: The history of your Trojan, both past and present is not unique but your willingness to resurrect it as a hunting gun should make it special to you. Dean - exactly. I know it is not unique, but rather common where Parkers are discussed and that is why I chose to include that part of the story - because I know a lot of others who read this board have done the same and can relate. Jim
|
Current time is 07:05 pm | Page:   1 2 3 4 |
|
|
|
|
