Grouse Camp 2009
 

These pictures say it all....

Two More

Gee, what a swell gun rack! Where can I get one of those?

Actually Dave, the pictures don't quite "say it all".

You found a book at grouse camp with a story by Col. H. P. Sheldon entitled "The Last Day" and in it was a short paragraph that pretty much "says it all". It was about his own son, I'm sure, who was about the same age as Danny is now and it was at the beginning of WWII when all parents thoughts were of the immediate future.This was Danny's first grouse hunt and I kinda get the feeling it won't be his last. He exemplifies what we remember of ourselves in our first years hunting and what we hope for in the youth of today and our traditions being carried on to future generations.

Dave, will you please tell us all what that Sheldon paragraph says?

Nice gun rack huh!!!??? The Parker goes to the smith today :crying: I will post the passage later today.

Sounds to me like either someone dose not know how to properly place their gun in a rack or someone dose not know how to attach a gun rack to a wall.:duck:

The gun rack story is that I made it of pine in wood shop in 7th grade. It has served me well lo these many decades but the old pine decided to split right where the wrist of Dave's beautiful PH 16 with the 'Lettered' D grade stock rested in it. We watched helplessly as Dave's Parker crashed to the concrete floor. Thanks to all the Parker employees in Heaven for giving it a soft landing as the only damage was minor dings to the very edge of the muzzles. :bowdown:

Dean the look on your face in the first picture "Now I remember what I did with that book":)

Grouse camp EVERY weekend for the rest of the month for me:rotf: This is definately my favorite time of the year.

I think I was saying "Oowww! My knees, my hips, ouch!"

Rich,How did ya make out in Wyoming?

I don't think the Sheldon story is about his own son actually. You get the impression that the person in the story didn't come back from the war and his only son did. He was a forester for the State of Vermont and lived to be an old man, passed on just a few years ago.


Destry

An exerp from"The Last Day" by Col.Harold B Sheldon. "They connived to maneuver Young Feller into the most favorable positions for a shot while or another of them went into the thick stuff to flush the bird. It worked for a time,until the lad saw through the conspiricy".

And that is exactly the way it happened...To read this a couple of hours after we got back to camp really touched me...It was a weekend I will never forget...good stuff

Destry my take on the story is that it was his son.

Yup Dave, that's the way it went and then Danny plowed right into the thick of it just like a veteran grouse and woodcock hunter. All good Dave, all good.

I only hope I'm with you guys when he kills his first pa'tridge :)

Why is it all these grouse camp stories never seem to have any pictures of actual grouse? *wink*

Destry

Many grouse hunts end up as Snipe Hunts of our youth, that's why no pix.

Okay Destry, I'll take the challenge. I'll post a picture tonight. Danny was witness to the first one - a young of year bird that presented a hard right to left crossing shot. I went out for one last hunt after he and Dave had left for home and found a big mature brown phase bird under a thornapple tree. A hard right to left crosser again which I'm obviously getting better at.

I won,t lie about it. My first shot came just as I was having an argument with a blown down pine tree. He flushed and I took a one handed shot as I was bent over to my left..nope missed.Second two shots were after a bird that Danny almost stepped on, by the time I realized he wasn,t gonna shoot because his heart had momentarily stopped "ol"mister ruff was well on his way to a clean getaway. And the third and best of all was the one that blew out from under a old apple tree during a sleet squall just as I put the gun in my other hand. I just waved to him....

And I will do it again...and again....and again...

Here's the picture I promised . . . actually two pictures, in both pictures you can see the broken band of the black stripe of the tailfeathers on the gray phase bird indicating it is a female while the big brown phase bird has the solid black stripe of the male ruffed grouse. The second picture shows half the contents of his crop - thornapples! It was about all thornapples but I only removed about half. There are some remnants of mushrooms and apple peckings but, surprise - no green leafy stuff at all! There's a story that goes with this big brown phase male grouse but I'll save it for a Parker Pages story. So, once in a while we really do connect with "the trickiest thing in feathers."

Hi Dean,

Nice picture. Who shot the grouse, Dave or Danny?

:rolleyes:. . . no, wait . . . :p

The truth of the matter is, Robin, that Dave has to stop spending so much time wrestling with tangles and deadfalls so he can shoot with both hands and Danny needs one of those 'live bird guns' . . . you know, the ones that have no safety? :duck:












.

Now there you go lyin' . . . and you just said you wouldn't! I was seventy yards downslope from you and I could hear you cussin' that pa'tridge straight to hell! :nono:

Oscoda County, MI 10/1/09
 

Getting ready for grouse breasts with bacon and peppers, sided with plenty of taters. The only Parker gunner was the pic taker; sad, but I like hanging out in low places. Hard frost that night and no one wanted to get out of the bag to take a leak, but all had to at least once.

One more try to get the pic posted.

Maybe I'll respond to this one.

Here's another try for the pic.

Fred, it doesn't matter how you do it or even if the other guys don't shoot a Parker (they don't know what they're missing) just as long as you're out there doing it.

I just wanted to pop in and tell Dean & Dave now this thread is what it is all about.... Dave - you have got to be so danged proud of Danny.... I've seen him shoot - and wish there were other kids out there like him.. Just an appreciation of the guns, a love of the sport - and a damned good shot.. I was chuckling at your recounting of when he sprung his first grouse in this thread.....

Yea - it's sort'a like that.....

What a great thread..... Thanks for sharing it, guys...

John

Dean; Nice pictures, Very Very Nice ,a beautiful gun and a nice brace of birds ! By the way the LOM, is that the case Angel had on our site a few weeks ago for sale, it looks to be in very nice shape ,if it is the same case ,it looks like a dandy !! Good Hunting to You ! Russ

John,Thank you for the compliment. As a dad I could only hope that my son would show an interest in what I love to do. But when it started blossoming about a year ago I was pretty amazed. And after a day in the grouse coverts I figured he would be pretty wore out. But he was the one pushing Dean and I the next mornin to "Lets get goin". :shock:

Only problem he has some how decided that the 28ga. is his...:crying:

Oh well.... I will just have to but another gun...:rolleyes:

Thanks Russ! Yes, the LOM is the one I bought from Angel. It fits my 28 perfectly. Angel sold it to me as a ".410 LOM" but, in fact, the strap tab is stamped 28 26 which just has to indicate 28 ga. 26" barrels as that is exactly the gun that fits so perfectly.

I am very pleased to have been in Dave and Danny's company as sort of a bystander in what is a wonderful Father/Son association that just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Thanks for the front row seat you two :)

Dean,Danny's first trip to the New England grouse covers could not have happened without you being the catalyst.And for that I will be eternally grateful.This may sound corny(sic.) but without this thing we call the PGCA alot of friendships would never have been made.

Only problem is I think WE created a monster....:rolleyes:

Dean, Nice brace of birdes....you can't even see the bumper marks from the Trailblazer:rotf:

I hope to do as well this weekend with the VHE 28 and RST #8's:bigbye:

I hope you do Rich. I was going to wish you luck but I know you don't need it. You're one of the luckiest guys I know . . . . so instead, I'll wish you skill :rotf:

Hey Dave, I got it all fixed up just for you!

:)

I even tested it for you . . .

. . . please excuse the company of ground-swatters :shock:

Number one Mr. Romig ya didn,t even pre-drill the holes for the screws so now its split the other way :eek:

Number two Mr. Romig I already told ya that thing is wood stove fodder THIS weekend :crying:

Number three Maybe we should just CAREFULLY remove your 28ga. from said rack and just burn it.... ground swatters and all :duck:

There ya' go - looking a gift horse in the mouth. Honestly, I don't know why I even try...

:shock: I don,t know why ya try either.Have they cleared the skies over VT yet for air traffic?

Birds are scarce in my Grouse camp....we need to talk to Jay Gardner and his 100 bird weekend:eek:

The VHE 28 saw distinguished service. I shot twice and got one Woodcock, probably the last of the Woodcock this season.

I will try again this weekend but this afternoon its the GHE 20 skeet gun and Pheasants.

Grouse are much harder to find in my hunting area too. I think it's time to sit the Goshawks and Barred Owls down and have a serious discussion with them about focusing their dietary needs on rodents and songbirds until further notice - after all, we can't all eat grouse now can we?
The woodcock flights haven't come down yet, that I've been aware of, of course they may pass through my area during the workweek without me ever knowing it . . .

Pheasants this afternoon? :cuss: What about your busy work load?
As for this weekend, they're calling for rain Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun.
However, the good Grouse Camp is only 9 days away. :)

Dean -walked the woods with my wife this weekend just south of the Kingdom in Lisbon. Didn't kick up a single bird during a 50+ acre ramble until, when leaving closing the gate with the 16 0 frame locked safe in the truck, the nicest Mr.Ruff I've seen all season flushed twenty feet away. I should sit by the gate more often...seriously, the owl (and skunk) activity was at a ten year peak this past summer and early fall.