My father started it all for me. He loved to hunt pheasants which were quite plentiful at the time in south central PA. His gun of choice was an old Winchester pump. That beast had a 30" barrel with a full choke. When I was quite young, I would make him tell me every detail of every hunt when he came home from the fields.
When I was about 8, my mother's uncle came to live with us. He hunted grouse and turkeys, which my father didn't. And he was a SxS man to boot! He had several, but two of them had my youthful attention. One was a Fox B grade 20. This little gun had a straight stock, splinter and 26" barrels. I never saw my GreatUncle Kenny ever take it out. When I asked him why, he noted that it "stung a bit too much to shoot". It was a light gun, right around 5 3/4 lbs. His grouse gun of choice was a rather beat up Parker Trojan 20. I dreamed of being able to accompany both my father and my great uncle on their hunting days.
My father eventually allowed me to tag along in his walks through the fields behind our home. We didn't have a dog, and as I recall, I was usually relegated to performing that function around some of the thick brush. What a blast to kick up a cock pheasant and watch my father send feathers flying with that old pump gun.
My great uncle soon allowed me to walk along (mostly behind him) when he grouse hunted. There was something about that sweet little Parker double and he was quite deadly with it on grouse. Of course, he knew how much I admired the little Fox that he never shot. He told me he almost traded it quite a few times, but had owned it so long, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it. He would soon let me handle it. I was amazed at how light it was. And it actually came close to fitting me. The Fox had a hard buttplate and the LOP was right at or just a hair under 14". My great uncle was a tall lanky fellow, so I'm sure that it was a bit short for him, even with a hunting coat.
When I turned 12 and was able to hunt when accompanied by another hunter, my great uncle gave me the little Fox. I admit, I was pretty tough on the pheasants with it, but grouse were another story! It would take quite a bit more experience before I presented much danger to grouse!
I have very fond memories of that little Fox and certainly regret ever trading it. I traded it and cash for a beautiful little Churchill O/U......that I couldn't hit squat with!
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