simcgunner

our shooting season begins Sept 1st and all are looking forward to it

Good Lad.

Very sad news.Sorry for your loss.

if the belt in 1973 picture was showing it was likely white in color LOL.

still enjoying the dogs ans the outdoors 1973 and 2019

Lumpy duct tape is the sign of a poor workman

Ditchman you are correct Off to the tailors. The wife only sews for the grandchildren.

last hunt season a fellow snaped a picture of me and my dogs walking out PUP is off camera. photo was in Virginia wildlife magazine this month. When I saw picture thought that old man has a Dog that looks like My GIGI, Then I looked closer.

I f anyone is looking for a chance to hunt wild ruffed grouse in beautiful Pennsylvania. Here is a great opportunity. November 2020. Email me for details if interested 20UBHinPAWilds.pdf

I have a SX3 and never had a problem with shooting 2.5 inch loads that i use in my antique SXS guns up to 3.5 inch waterfowl heavy shot.. my experience is the 70mm shells deliver excellent paterns and the 3.5 inch loads are unplesant to shoot. as an aside comercial Dove loads are typically full 3 Dram loads and are not what I would consider Lite loads. and are a bit of overkill in my opinion. lighter loads work fine on Doves

Social distancing

These practices are leagal here. They are common on shooting preserves and only allowed in areas where there are no wild populations. We have learned to our dismay that intermingeling wild with pen raised birds has a disasterous effect on the wild population. that practice led to the decline of the wild turkey almost to extinction . that bird has recovered to the point that it is almost cosidered a pest. and they are predatory on wild bobwhite quail a bird that once flourished and is in serious danger of disapearing..Habitat loss is the main culpret, but this wonderful ground nesting bird is in danger from skunks. coons.housecats, rapters, possims even whitetail deer(another species that has boomed to record highs) We have several organizations trying to help but with the declining number of licensed hunters who support our efforts and the growing number of anti hunting people is rapidly causing many of our forrest lands to become wildlife desserts.I can only hope your country keeps managing your Grouse moors by rotational burns.

They are raised in flight pens and caught just before use.We dizzy the bird just before "planting" it they will sit tight for about hour unless if not disturbed. then they walk around and fly off at will. the big downside of this is they are not used to finding natural food and if not called back to a recall pen . They will most likely not survive. There is an abundance of large Hawks that live pretty good off our bad shots around our training club. the training birds we use are Quail, Phesant, and chucker Patridge. If the dog holds a solid point and the bird flushes they are rewarded with a shot bird to retrieve.

After the season we are allowed to use pen raised birds. to train our dogs. The drawback is a smart dog soon learns that it can get closer to and even catch a planted pen raised bird. which will never happen with a wild bird. In the picture below is an example the young dog has crept in on the bird. we can do this to about April and the birds start to Molt. Do you do this in the UK?

of course you are correct