A fellow Lefty. Nice bird manners and nose on that pup.

Yes I will use this gun at least once a week for training, and of course some dairy shoots on pigeons, and Eurasian dove are in the plans.
Desert birds took another hit due to the draught. I did see a mom with a dozen week old babies this week. This is really a very late hatch.
We will know about Mearns soon, some areas are looking better.

Nice video Phil, and congrats on the "first blood".

I was thinking, as I watched that, how snaky it it would seem to be in that grass. I know how those buzz-tails like to come out in the cool of the day. Maybe you were there in early morning and it isn't as much of a danger.

Classy pointer.

Stan you are correct about snakes. That said, this training area is used by us as well as Several clubs use these fields for trials.
Serpens non grata �� so there are fewer snakes than would be there otherwise.
Unfortunately we have had dogs struck by rattlers.
We plan our days to start with dogs on the ground when it’s still a little dark. This reduces the chance for a bite.
Thanks for the comment on my young dog.

I was wondering if the Red Rock Biologics Western Diamondback vaccine has ever been proven to have any efficacy for dogs?

I recall it being questionable some years ago, when I was looking for a Timber Rattler and Eastern Diamondback vaccine for my retriever. Found out the the only vaccine for snakes, ever developed for dogs, was for Westerns.

I know some guys use it. Unfortunately many of the areas we hunt and train in have the have the Mohave Rattler. The Mohave has one of the most toxic venoms of all rattle snakes. My partner had a dog bitten by one a number of years ago and it died within minutes.

Thanks, Phil. Y'all have some nasties out there.

We flew out for our oldest son's wedding in Oro Valley several weeks ago. After the service late Saturday afternoon the family drove to a nearby park with bike and walking trails for pictures to be taken during the "golden hour". Walking back down the side of a hill, at dusk, the new bride nearly stepped on a Western, which was coiled and ready. My son spotted it just in time to stop her. I decided that indoors is the place to be, in the desert, after sundown this time of year. BTW, when we checked into a local hotel there was a small scorpion waiting on the carpet in the doorway, entering our room. Lots of stuff out there to sting, bite and scratch you!

LOL yes you need to watch where you put your hand and foot out here.

Tell me about it !

Levitation another of of Chris’s many talents.:rotf::rotf:

The weather finally cooled down. Took the Fox out Friday and found some Gamble quail. It definitely shoots as well as it looks. First wild birds taken with it. Those 28” barrels sure swing nice.

nice.....do those quail eat good....charlie

Charlie wild quail are excellent. May be the best eating wild bird in my opinion. I soaked these out and will be making jalapeño poppers wrapped in bacon with a little cream cheese.

What a beautiful gun Phil... How are the barrels choked ?

Choked Right .007 ( IC ) Left .013 ( Mod ) my favorite choking for 20 gauge over the dogs. Yet still enough choke for the birds that get up a little further, as well as shooting dove.

holler when you get the birds done and I will be right over...charlie

You know you are always welcome.

Not only is your custom Fox impressive and amazing, I find it nearly as amazing to see you’ve got Leinenkugel’s available in your neck of the woods. I thought Leinie’s were more of a regional brew unique to us up here in the Northwoods.

i got introduced to Leinenkugel about 25 years ago when we went to Milwaukee to fix an airplane. I buy it when I can find it locally. My daughter surprised me with a 12 pack when she came over to watch football yesterday.

This reminded me of something I found years ago with a 28ga RBL I bought with 30" barrels.Chokes were .001 and .005. Due to a lot of things, most of my quail hunting, when I do it , is over preserve birds that are pretty tame. I could let them get out, but it thows the timing think off for dogs. I found that for me, the chokes were still too tight, so I started using Spread-R loads. They worked great. When I started backing up my daughter, who was much slower and just starting, I found the gun too open. I then discovered Poly Wads Gram Crack'Rs. They were 5/8 oz loads of number 5 Nidkel olated hard shot completely filled with a polyester beaded filler. I discovered that they seemed impervious to patterning. I could hit quail at 35 yds, and smoke doves at 45. They were the most amazing shells I ever shot at distances over 25 yds.

They don't make them anymore, but I have enough left to last the rest of my hunting life. I suspect that both could be duplicated with different components.

Didn't want to hi-jack the thread. I just wanted to share that it proved to me that we don't need to feel limited by fixed choke doubles. You can carry two or three kinds of loads in your vest and pretty much cover any situation you encounter on a day's hunting. The good thing is you can adjust quicker than diddling with chokes.

My 28 gauge RBL has 26” barrels and is chocked IC IC. I mainly use it with #9 shot Spreader RST’s over the dogs hunting Mearns quail.
I generally also change shells rather than chokes. I used 7 1/2 shot on these Gambles, but will be using 9’s later on Mearns.
Late season desert birds as well as pigeons and Eurasian dove sometimes 6’s. Although I will shoot what ever I have on the Eurasians.

Phil, I have hunted and taken Gamble's near Tucson, at Rail X, but have never had the opportunity to try for Mearn's. I'm curious why the shot size change from 7 1/2s on Gamble's to 9s on Mearns. Closer flushes with the Mearn's?

Stan the Mearns generally flush a little closer, plus they are not near as tough.
The desert birds. Gambles and Scales are darn tough. I have know to shoot 6’s during the later part of the season on mature tough birds. Knock down one of these desert birds and they will bury in Cactus or crawl down a hole.