A year in review---how about you?
 

Looking back on 2015 a few high points.
My wife is cancer free for 4 years!!
In January I bought a nice PH, Brian fixed a couple of minor cracks! Great gun--- great buy!!
Bought a #6 frame 36" D hammer gun and shot it at the Southern and Hausmann's---plus I shot two black ducks with the beast during the NY waterfowl season!. Wrote a PP article about the big gun.
Bought a nice #3 frame DHE that I had been chasing for years.
Sold two English guns at Julia's to finance my American classic collection. Also, sold a great Fox and a great Parker to finance my new purchases.
The Southern was great especially the Drakes Landing shoot and parking lot gun show!!!
Hausmann's was great especially the parking lot gun show----Eightbore just kept pulling his stuff out of his car's trunk---unbelievable---and Mr Noreen surprised us all by driving across the country to participate.
The Fall shoot at Rock Mountain was fantastic and will be a must attend in the future.
Hunted in Saskatchewan for ducks, huns and Sharptails. If you have never been to the western provinces put it on your bucket list.
The biggest 2015 event for me was joining Daryl C in South Dakota for a pheasant hunt, all wild birds with a bunch of great people!!
Bought two more Parkers---that were not planned!! A tip from a fellow Parker collector resulted in purchasing a high condition CHE #3 frame and a trip to Maine resulted in a AH that now resides in NY. As a bonus I was able to take a limit of ducks with the AH first time out. How was your year?

2015.... What a roller coaster of a year it's been.
Destroyed my Quad in Feb. so I missed the tail end of the hunting season as well as the Southern in April and two months of work.
Followed the Doctors and PT's orders and made it to Hausmann's in June.
Rock Mountain in Sept. was just great.
As Craig said the trip to South Dakota, my 15th, is always a highlight. Here's hoping Craig and I can get our duck permits this year although we had fun working our dogs on retrieves for our buddy Kevin who did score a permit.
Deer and waterfowl season has been a bust so far this year with the incredibly balmy days and nights we have had.
On the down side, I'm dealing with my 95yr. old Father who had a serious of slight strokes just before Thanksgiving. In and out of the hospital the last two weeks and now is in rehab. He had been extremely healthy until then and now really looking like a 95yr. old. It's going to be a long haul.
A couple of nice Fox smallbores came my way this year as did a nice grade 2 hammer 12.
Craig- The news about your wife would certainly be tops on my list too.
God Bless.

Hmmmm got a pair of Parker EH guns !

Built my 26 Nosler and replaced the 260 REM I foolishly sold two years ago .

My pop turned 80 this week !

Am still in good health , my wifes in good health , our daughter will make us grandparents any day now.

Took my first crack at Mr Canada Goose ! Might take my first crack at Daffy Duck this sunday !

Now on the negative side my maternal grandfathers been gone 8 Christmas's now , and my mom for seven .

Lost seven good friends this year as well .

Christmas is comin'
The goose is gettin' fat
Won't ya please put a penny in the ol' man's hat...
If ya haven't got a penny a ha' penny'll do
If ya' haven't got a ha' penny... Well God Bless You!






.

Years have ups and downs, to those who have had downs, my prayers and best wishes are with you. For those who have had ups, best of luck and God bless. For me, I'm just plain thankful for it all. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Jim

every year has its ups as well as its downs, and we have had ours as well

but the ups-

Kids and grand kids all doing well- as are my wife and I

can't keep up with Craig on the trades :rotf:
but did add a few- a decent condition Fox pin gun, a heavy 3 frame 32" PH 10 and also a heavy 2 frame 30" PH 12 that's a project

started duck hunting again after a couple decades off- managed to blood the pin gun and the PH 10 on ducks

and of course there is the new addition to the family posing with his PH 10
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture...pictureid=7633

Tough year here but we are all healthy, warm and well fed. The years pass too quickly but I'm looking forward to putting this one behind me and hoping 2016 will be a better one.

Cheers to all!

Jay

Craig, thanks for the mention of our tailgate show and tell at Ernie's. I usually have Linda with me and don't hang out. This year was different. Like you, this has been a red letter year for check writing and trading. One highlight was one of the ten Sousa Grade Ithaca Knicks made. Walt Snyder was so interested that he manually searched the records from 1922 to 1944 to finally confirm the estimated total, which turned out to be ten. Mine is the last of the ten. For years, I have been looking for a tight choked Parker .410. My search ended last week with a neat little VH bored full and full. Lucky me. Linda and I are in good health and my Wirehair, Eva turned ten in November and shows no sign of slowing down. I hope to make the shoots this year. I made the Southern, the Northeast, and Rock Mountain in 2015. I tried to answer Daryl's call for participants in his annual pheasant shoot, but my spinal problems kept me from signing up. I just wouldn't have been able to keep up. Thanks to Daryl for the invitation.

My year got off to a great start after a bad finish for 2014 with a Quail hunt in Georgia. Daisy (who will be 11 in March:eek:) and I had many good winter Pheasant hunts at the Haymarsh. The usual shoots were made, the Southern where I adopted two very nice and rare M70's in 7MM a std rifle and a carbine, Hausmanns yielded an itch for a double rifle and a Stephan Grant back action hammer gun, The Great Northern in Wisconsin (a GREAT shoot by the way) resulted in a W.R. Pape 28ga hammer gun and the Duluth shoot rounded things out.

I have become enamored with Fox guns and had an upgrade 16ga XE restocked and bought two Sterlingworth's one of which has 32 inch tubes and will make a great clays gun.

September the freezer quit ( I probably didn't get the door shut tight just ask my wife) after raiding it for a trip to Wyoming to shoot Prairie Dogs. Most of the Quail from January along with 35lbs of burger, steaks, roasts and 12 Grouse and way to many Pheasants to count all went into four garbage bags:cuss:

I spent most of October in the Upper Peninsula Grouse hunting and Daisy and I enjoyed ourselves and even managed a few birds.

November brings rifle deer season and though I spent 13 of the 15 day season in the deer blind I saw only one buck, a small 6pt and I let him walk at 40 yards. This is my second year hunting with a sweet little custom Ruger #1 and I have yet to shoot a deer with it. I did manage a feral cat however and that makes two in as many years. I got my first deer with the muzzle loader just the other day. A late doe season with the rifles opens Monday so the Ruger will get another chance and Daisy and I will be out again for some more of those winter pheasants.

All in all it's been a great year. Audrey and I and Daisy are all healthy we take no medication and have no real ailments. Although only four shotguns were purchased it was indeed "The Year of the Rifle" as my pre64 M70 collection really blossomed. So far my self imposed semi retirement is working out very well and I'm planning 2016 trips.

2015, Well it had its ups and downs, The best thing I am still cancer free, next checkup Dec 23, Looking forward to 2016, We sold the bus and the place in florida, adding a room on the house kids will be here for Xmas. I bought a few Parkers in 2015 and sold a few, also bought a couple sharps rifles one a Creedmoor the other a buffalo gun both 45-70. I have been blessed so has my family, I consider the PGCA part of my extended family. The Mattie gun should be finished by the first part of the year! I am really looking forward to that, Merry Xmas to all and a great and healthy New Year Gary