Great to be back

[Harold Pickens]

Todd, I dislike #9 shot for grouse, as it does put alot of bb's inthe meat. I shot #9 skeet loads thru my cyl/cyl VHE 20 one year, totally ruined alot of birds, and vowed never to use it again except on clays. I do like #7's as it does kill well. Grouse are not hard to kill, but I bet alot of lightly hit birds fly off without us realizing they are hit.
Tom, sounds like you have alot of good friends here happy to have you back--looking forward to more of your posts

[Bill Murphy]

Yeah, I'm glad Tom is back. As I recall, he is the only witness to my 45 yard kill on a quail with my Parker 28 gauge. Again, as I recall, I took a desperation shot on a bobwhite that was escaping behind a brush pile after we had emptied our guns at the other birds. The shot was a good 45 yards or more and both Tom and I agreed that we were through with that rise and we should continue hunting. However, just on a whim, I sent my Wirehair, Eva, on a long fetch toward the brush pile. We were both a bit astounded when Eva came out from behind the brush pile holding a dead bobwhite in her mouth. Tom was a very generous training partner when Eva was a pup, although she was a bit of a handful on a lead. He even brought birds out to the field for her. However, the day of the great shot, she was not on a lead and the birds were not planted. I sincerely hope that I am correct in identifying Tom as my partner that day. Jeff Mulliken would be the only other possibility and I don't remember ever carrying a gun when Jeff was my training companion.