Parker Repro and a Dogs First
 

I am a repro enthusiast and regularly read this column and enjoy the photos as much as the text. So, I thought I would share a few photos of my 8 mo old puppy, Jake, with his first grouse. It was taken today with my favorite grouse gun, a Parker repro, 20 ga., 26 inch barrels choked .004 & .008. Yes, it has double triggers, as it should.

I hope they put a smile on someone's face.

yes is does - love puppy firsts

was it his first retrieve as well?

Very nice!!

I want to hear the story about the tail... isn't it a bit late for pa'tridge to be moultin'?

which is why I wondered about the first retrieve :rotf:

Beautiful dog...beautiful shotgun and a somewhat disheveled (:p) grouse...

Making of a great grouse dog. Congratulations!!!! I'll have my 8 month old setter up in Wisconsin starting this Saturday. And, I'll have my 28GA Repro with straight grip, double triggers, beavertail, and Q1 & Q2 chokes. Both dog and gun will be trying to take their first grouse. If they don't get it done, I have 4 more setters that I'm pretty sure will, assuming I do my part. Can't wait!

Yes, it was his first retrieve, well, sort of. You see, the bird only had a broken wing and a few other non-lethal hits. The last time I saw the bird dissappearing into a pile of downed logs it had an in tact tail fan with Jake in hot pursuit. When I finally got to Jake he was pointing under an uprooted stump with a mouth full of feathers. At first I thought he ate the bird but when I reached under the stump, there was the bird.

So, the pup had a good solid point, I shot poorly, and pup saved the day by finding a bird that easily could have been lost. You'll have to ask Jake where the tail feathers went. I'm sure he is telling my other two setters the story over and over and would be happy to fill you in.

:rotf:

That is about what I thought, I shot a large grouse over a 7 month old pup once.

I had miss marked the fall and the pup kept going to one side while I kept calling him back to hunt dead, after a couple times I followed him and was led to a tailess nearly plucked grouse after his muliple attempts to pick it up

Hang on to that one remaining tail feather, it will bring back smiles for years to come.

There is no dust on the repo Parkers and I doubt there is a better gun for the money. The pup has a good start, it takes birds to make a bird dog.

Great piece of wood on your repro. When you get right down to it, having an intact bird is probably secondary to the rest of the day anyway.