Who's counting anyway?

[CJ]

Not that I notice these things..... (yeah right), but we've got 77 days till grouse season opens, 91 till quail & patridge, and 122 till pheasant. Now I know no one else out there is keeping track of this stuff, but... lets take a poll.

[Dave]

I might have to pay attention this year . Levi shows good promise . His point is nice and he's startting to listen . All bets are off when Elk start bugling though . A grouse could land in my tree stand and I'd have to shoo it away Dave

[Karen_P]

Well, I'm ready this year! JUST picked up my Beretta AL391 Urika 20 gauge for bird season.

It was reallly funny. I walk into the gun shop with my son, and tell them I want to buy a shotgun. I wanted to look at the Franchi 48AL, the Benelli Legacy and the Beretta Urika. One of the guys says "Father's day present?". I told him no, a late mother's day present for myself. From that point forward he was very helpful.

I really wanted the Benelli, but at $1200, it was just a tad over my budget, but what a nice gun.

[CJ]

Karen, that Benelli is a nice gun, but I'll bet that Berreta will make you way happier. I know several women that have tried both and fell for the Erika once they were compared side by side. They handle about the same and the weight is really close, but the recoil of the Urika has the Legacy beat by a bunch. Can't wait to hear about you filling that game bag!!!!

[Karen_P]

CJ, that's what the guy at the gun shop said. The Benelli just fit me perfectly and felt good, and I think I'm going to want to have some stock work done on the Beretta eventually, but that's no big deal.

I can't wait to get started this season. I spoke to Blaze's trainer last night (Blaze has been gone for 6 whole weeks! ) and he said Blaze is doing great and will take me as far as I let him in field trials, which probably translates to "as far as I can afford to go".

He did say that he's running "big gun dog range", not all-age range, although that can change since his first birthday is next week, but that being the case, I should be able to hunt over him too.

Trainer wouldn't commit to when he'd be able to come home but I'm hoping to have him back by September or October, at the latest. Since we started a little earlier than planned, the trainer has to wait until some maturity issues resolve themselves to move to steadying him to wing and shot, and did say that he's seen Blaze's stubborn streak come out a few times, so he didn't want to commit to how long it would take.

I miss my little guy, but the trainer confirmed that Blaze LOVES to be worked and has adjusted really well.

[CJ]

Karen,
Before you try the stock work, try this little trick. A lot of times people buy shotguns in summer or early (way early) fall for hunting season and they don't seem to fit quite right. A lot of the reason is actually because of the clothing we wear when we buy them. Summer/fall clothing is almost always WAY lighter than what we'll be wearing in the field (except for maybe the first few early season hunts or that week or two of Indian summer). So the length of pull and to some degree the comb are effected quite a bit by this. If you look at dimentions you'll see that youth stocks are only (on average) about 1/4" shorter than adult models, so you can see that a little layering can effect the fit a lot.
Soo... all that to say, put on some heavy shirt/jacket/coat stuff and try the fit again. And.... when you're shooting it during the summer/fall to get ready for the season, or when you're paterning, get one of those cheapo recoil pads that kind of slings around over your shoulder. They're to help buffer the recoil, but they usually make up most if not all the layer depth we have on during season and can help make the fit more natural.
If you want, I can try to send you an article I have about checking the paterning for your gun so you know what loads work best in it (hey.... every little bit helps with those feathered escape artists!), only takes about as long as it take to go through a box of shells (which isn't very long).
Anywho... just a few thoughts.

[JimC]

93 days until the season starts here in MN. But I won't get out that early - too many leaves on the trees. I can't wait to try out my new Ruger Red Label 28 gauge.

[CJ]

93 days until the season starts here in MN. But I won't get out that early - too many leaves on the trees. I can't wait to try out my new Ruger Red Label 28 gauge.

I'm green with envy over your new skattergun!

[Karen_P]

Thanks CJ! I'm going to call the NRA to see if they can hook me up with an instructor in my area, and then probably hunt 1 season with the new gun before doing anything drastic. The club Blaze trains at is offering an instruction class for new shooters in mid-July, so I'm going to sign up for that and any other classes I can find, and then there's a state-sponsored 1st time Pheasant hunt for women, complete with guide dogs in October. I HAVE to go to that!

[CJ]

That sounds way cool! They started doing those pheasant hunts for women up hear two years ago and it's really caught on. I was really suprised to learn that women are the fastest growing group for hunting and shooting sports in the country..... faster growing than kids! I think it's great, glad that they have programs like that for you out there too... you'll have a blast (no pun intended). Look forward to all the pictures when you get home and empty out that bag in Oct.

[Jen]

I can't wait to get Coda out there this fall. We had him at a game farm last october and he did grea, except for the few times he decided not to listen, but we have been working on that this spring and hopefully I will have him ready by fall. Then all I will hve left to do is find somewhere by our new house to hunt

[Dave]

Now I'm jealous I get so wound up Bowhunting and now am reading this about Bird hunting and Levi is really birdy ...geesh . Maybe Coda and Zach could come live with me a few months Dave

[Jen]

Dave,

Just name the time and place and he's there, but only if you take one of the kids too



Jen


Coda now a happy growly butt

[Dave]

Only if they are housebroke and come with a no pull harness , the kid not Coda Dave

[Jacksbuddy]

I wish it could be November all year long.