A Bo Whoop pilgrimage

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by CraigThompson

Well now if you made it to Hampton you were within I’d say 20-30 miles of The Backwoods Quail Club ! You should give some thought into returning in mid October for a few days and shoot the Fall Southern Side by Side . While I like Sanford just fine , Rock Mountain and the Fall Southern were my two highlights of the 2021 clay targets shoots . Well you can add Prospect Hall in WVA but they’re mostly one day deals .

Thanks, Craig. I've never shot organized clays in my life. When I get too old to go grouse hunting in October any more, I'll give it a try. The way I shoot, I could provide great comedy relief at these shoots.

[Bill Murphy]

Garry, we don't go to win. I won a gun championship the first time I entered a vintage gun tournament at the Southern. I haven't won anything since, but I've written a bunch of checks to gun sellers.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Garry L Gordon

Thanks, Craig. I've never shot organized clays in my life. When I get too old to go grouse hunting in October any more, I'll give it a try. The way I shoot, I could provide great comedy relief at these shoots.

Everyone’s been in that exact boat their first try be it skeet , trap , sporting or live birds . And everyone assumes others will laugh at them . I’ve found that to be about 180 degrees from the truth . Heck I’ve been shooting clay birds for a bit over fifty years and last year was the first time I’d ever shot live pigeons in competition . Folks at a pigeon ring seem to be even more complimentary than folks at the clay target games .

[Stan Hillis]

That blind owned by Mike Boyd, and his son Lamar, is a very special place, indeed. The only thing that would make the hunt there more special for me would be to paddle a bateau from the original old clubhouse landing to the blind, or have a paddler and jump shoot them in the buckbrush. If I'm not mistaken it is the same blind that was hunted when some "privileged" DU guys took Bo Whoop duck hunting for one last time a few years ago. There was a write-up about that hunt in some publication, that I read.

I have a picture somewhere on the computer, though I can't seem to find it at this time, of five of us Fox aficionados who met up for a hunt in that blind on Dec.14, 2009. Two from LA, one from MS, one from CA, and myself from Jawja. We each had a Super Fox gun (HE grade) that day. May have been the only time since the guns were made that there were five of them in the same blind hunting ducks. I'm afraid that pic may have been lost in the Photobucket fiasco.

There are some good pics of the hunt, and the guns, in the article submitted by Jim Cloninger of CA, in the AHFCA newsletter issue of Spring 2020.

My HE Fox .........

[Stan Hillis]

When you visit that area around Tunica be sure to make time for a meal at The Blue and White. What a great nostalgic place to eat breakfast, lunch, or supper. At one time there was a closed circuit tv hanging on the wall that showed live footage from a local duck blind. Diners who couldn't hunt any more, or didn't for some other reason, could have breakfast while watching live hunts.

BTW, their potato soup is over the top. Melted cheddar on top, sprinkled with bacon crumbles. I had it one evening for supper and again the next morning for breakfast!

P.S. There's a great museum in Stuttgart, AR, across the big rivvah aways. Interesting historic stuff about the beginnings of it becoming "The Rice Capital of the World", which led to it's beginnings as a duck mecca. Nowadays much of the rice acreage around Stuttgart has been replaced by corn. Ducks don't like corn any better than they do rice.

[mobirdhunter]

Stan, thanks for the recommendations. Duly noted and also now on the agenda. I'm sure when Elaine hears about The Blue and White, the trip will be a "go." One summer we took a trip using the book, Eat Your Way Across America, and our trips often include out of the way and unique restaurants. I can now present the trip as a hunting/gun AND eating pilgrimage. Stay tuned!

Originally Posted by Stan Hillis

When you visit that area around Tunica be sure to make time for a meal at The Blue and White. What a great nostalgic place to eat breakfast, lunch, or supper. At one time there was a closed circuit tv hanging on the wall that showed live footage from a local duck blind. Diners who couldn't hunt any more, or didn't for some other reason, could have breakfast while watching live hunts.

BTW, their potato soup is over the top. Melted cheddar on top, sprinkled with bacon crumbles. I had it one evening for supper and again the next morning for breakfast!

P.S. There's a great museum in Stuttgart, AR, across the big rivvah aways. Interesting historic stuff about the beginnings of it becoming "The Rice Capital of the World", which led to it's beginnings as a duck mecca. Nowadays much of the rice acreage around Stuttgart has been replaced by corn. Ducks don't like corn any better than they do rice.

[John Allen]

I was lucky enough to have been a member of Beaver Dam Club for 9 years. I was friends with Bill Andrews, Dr. Chubby Andrews son. Dr. Andrews knew I loved fine doubles and as we were getting ready for a morning hunt he handed me Bo Whoop II and said "why don't you use this one today". I killed a limit of mallards with it. It is still a highlight of my shooting and gunning life. What they say about the Becker guns is true. They kill ducks at amazing ranges.

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by John Allen

I was lucky enough to have been a member of Beaver Dam Club for 9 years. I was friends with Bill Andrews, Dr. Chubby Andrews son. Dr. Andrews knew I loved fine doubles and as we were getting ready for a morning hunt he handed me Bo Whoop II and said "why don't you use this one today". I killed a limit of mallards with it. It is still a highlight of my shooting and gunning life. What they say about the Becker guns is true. They kill ducks at amazing ranges.

Shooting at Beaver Dam would be special in and of itself. Doing so with that gun would indeed be memorable.