Go-to gun

[todd allen]

Hunting the Gambels Quail out where I live, it's kind of an oasis in the desert. The mix of farm, desert, and feedlot holds plenty of birds, but they have a brilliant escape plan. Straight North to the water canal system, and the dense atriplex cover that runs along the waterways. The cover means safety, and the birds just burrow in. They really have no reason to flee the cover, but for the diligence of a couple of hard working bird dogs sniffing the outskirts of the bush, and punching in as far as possible. The birds know the dogs know they're in there, and they will often give in to their nerves, and make a run for it. Opportunities typically start at 35 yds, and get worse from there, though sometimes (rarely) the fear of the spotted beasts will drive them straight into your face.
Running a 32" VHE, with factory full chokes, I choose my shots. This gun shoots where I look, and will control the real estate out to 50 yards. That's right where this guy was, when the right bbl caught up with him.
PARKER QUAIL 1-27-18.jpg
I have more glamorous guns in the safe, but this one is the one that I rely on to get the job done on late season quail.
Those Parker boys really knew what they were doing, when they constructed the interior ballistics of these guns.

[Daniel G Rainey]

Sounds like ruff hunting but sometimes that is what make it rewarding.

[Dean Romig]

Todd, what gauge is your 32" VHE?






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[todd allen]

It's a 12 gauge. The preferred load(s) are either an ounce of 7 1/2s, or an ounce and a sixteenth of 7s, at about 1100 fps.
The gun kills quail like a hammer!

[6pt-Sika]

I've got a 32" GH with Damascus barrels I got from someone here that I'm learning to like . But I've also got a VH 2 frame 30" that I've owned about forty years that I shoot very well be it Skeet trap or sporting and like yours it's rather tight . Hence forth however I think my "go to" bird gun provided it's not raining is a little circa 1928 VHE 20 gauge 28" M&F . I've known that gun for about fifty years and was finally able to acquire it three years ago . Well it's actually the gun in my avatar ����

[todd allen]

Not to take anything away from the North East grouse hunters running shorter barrels, I totally get it, have done a little of that, but nothing moves on long, complicated targets, like a 32" gun.
Target gets up, flys like the dickens, gun comes to shoulder, comes from behind into the birds, smoothly establishes lead, and BANG! The bird is down.
Very hard to stop, jink or jerk the swing. Pure Cadillac.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by todd allen

Not to take anything away from the North East grouse hunters running shorter barrels, I totally get it, have done a little of that, but nothing moves on long, complicated targets, like a 32" gun.
Target gets up, flys like the dickens, gun comes to shoulder, comes from behind into the birds, smoothly establishes lead, and BANG! The bird is down.
Very hard to stop, jink or jerk the swing. Pure Cadillac.

I'm not disagreeing with you as I like the long ones as well . But I like the short ones to .
Back when I Grouse hunted a fair amount in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains I generally carried a Browning Upland Special 16 gauge and that bad boy was only 24" . I've got a little GH 1 frame 16 that someone saw fit to remove an inch from the barrels so it's now at the 27" range and FWIW I do very very well with that one on the skeet field or dove field . Now on the other hand "I had" a 20 gauge Sterlingworth 26" that I had to work at to shoot well . I think weight had something to do with that as that little gun was quite easy to stop or whip . But then again I have a little Iver Johnson double 410 that I can generally shoot 90+ on the skeet field and that ones light as well but my natural tendency is to try harder with a 410 I suppose .

[Randy Roberts]

Originally Posted by todd allen

Not to take anything away from the North East grouse hunters running shorter barrels, I totally get it, have done a little of that, but nothing moves on long, complicated targets, like a 32" gun.
Target gets up, flys like the dickens, gun comes to shoulder, comes from behind into the birds, smoothly establishes lead, and BANG! The bird is down.
Very hard to stop, jink or jerk the swing. Pure Cadillac.

I totally agree with that Todd. Pheasant hunted with a 32" VHE 20 ga this year and it worked great.It's choked pretty tight and I had no issues killing birds. I have recently learned that there is something out there I may like even better than 32" barrels and that would be 34" barrels, at least for targets.

[Tom Flanigan]

Originally Posted by todd allen

Not to take anything away from the North East grouse hunters running shorter barrels, I totally get it, have done a little of that, but nothing moves on long, complicated targets, like a 32" gun.
Target gets up, flys like the dickens, gun comes to shoulder, comes from behind into the birds, smoothly establishes lead, and BANG! The bird is down.
Very hard to stop, jink or jerk the swing. Pure Cadillac.

Todd....even thought grouse in thick cover is instinctual shooting, I never understoof the popularity of short barrels. I used mostly 28" guns in grouse cover but wouldn't feel handicapped with 32" barrels if it was a light gun.
They feel better and point better, even in close cover.

Some talk about short barrels needed in tight cover but I never understood the logic of that. I've never had the swing of a gun barrel stopped by brush. It just doesn't happen.

I owned a 34" DHE that was my favorite pass shooting gun in Sasketechewan. Those long barrels sure helped. I loved the feel of that gun.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Tom Flanigan

Some talk about short barrels needed in tight cover but I never understood the logic of that. I've never had the swing of a gun barrel stopped by brush. It just doesn't happen.

It is 99.9% psychological... and That in itself is always enough to miss a bird.






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