Just another hunting story....

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kismet

Kismet

Joined
Jan 30, 2002
Messages
7,269
On another forum, someone asked, "If you could only hunt one species for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

Here's my response:

Pheasant. Without question, pheasant.



My legs are going, but someday, I'm going to take a dog into grouse country and use what I've learned down here when I was teaching the two grouse in SW Wisconsin to fly faster.

(Actually, once...just once...I was out with a younger friend, looking for squirrels. I had a Savage model 24 .22/.410, the old one, and got a grouse with the single shot .410.

He didn't speak to me for the rest of the hunt. )

He actually is my "brag shot" hunting buddy. I've made three of my best shots with him in attendence: one on a running deer, which dropped before my friend heard the shot; one on the grouse with the .410; and one on a rabbit, hiding under the shade of a bush about 65 yards away--shooting with a single shot .22 with open sights.

I'm an ok shot, but he is outstanding...shooting regularly in trap and clays competitions.

One day, he and I were out with Button, my female GWP, working for rabbits. I probably had my twenty gauge sxs, and he, his 28 gauge 870 pump. At the end of a long pasture was a pile of brush, probably pushed up some years ago by the farmer, cleaning land for grazing. Button went on point, which she would sometimes do on rabbits. Dan moved in, and lo and behold, out flushed a grouse !!!

Dan shot. And shot. And shot. The grouse was unaffected by either the noise or the shot. It flew up the slope of the hillside to the higher pasture ground. The hillside was wooded, and by the fence at the top was another jumble of downed trees.

Dan slogged up the hill, with me suggesting that there was probably sunspot activity which affected his eyesight. He waved to me. Well, it was almost a wave; most certainly it was a gesture.

Button had charged up after the flying bird, a situation with which she was fairly familiar :) . She slowed and was edging up to the hilltop brush when a doe bolted out. Dan brought his shotgun up, but lowered it when he saw the doe.

Button continued to ease up to the brush, and finally locked on point. (Did I mention she was the best bird dog I've ever hunted with?)

I yelled "Bird!" Dan shouted back..."Naw, she is just getting that deer's scent." I replied that she didn't point deer, had a better nose than he did, and it was possible that the bird he'd MISSED might be up there. He waved to me again. :)

I started up the hill, Button was locked solid, Dan was smirking at the dumb dog.

Then the grouse flushed from the brush pile.

Four or five shots later, Dan dropped the bird. (I offered the possibility that the bird was just dying out of sympathy for the pathetic shooting.) Dan waved to me again.:D

Nice bird. Almost worth the seven or eight shots that he had put after it.

I asked if I could have the tail to use to tease Button with, since grouse are so rare in the area. He said, "sure."





That Christmas, Dan got a plaque with the grouse tail feathers spread out over a small brass plate that read.

"Naw. She's just scenting the Deer."
Seven shots, One Grouse.



I believe it is one of his most treasured trophies.:D
 
I enjoyed your hunting tale. There are alot of life lessons to learn while spending a day in the field. One can see over confidence growing into humility, joy over small accomplishments. Nice story indeed.

Kis.......do you know where Holy Cross Hospital is? That's where I was born. :-)
 
Sams?

I spent my first 17 years of life in a house about two blocks away from Holy Cross Hospital. Both my sisters went to Maria H.S.

Small world, eh?

Glad you and Steve enjoyed the story.
 
*That* is the kind of story I enjoy reading...Thank You Kis.

Dan sounds like a nice guy too...always waving and such.
 
that was a great story Kis!

makes me want to try my hand at hunting. well, maybe with a paintball gun.

:D
 
Add me as another one who enjoyed the story.:thumbup: :)

I bought a Mossberg 500 12 gauge a few years ago for hunting when I retired as well as for home defense but my favorite shotgun is and always will be a .410. That is one thing that I did get from my old man and then I had it stolen from me when I was moving once long, long, ago. It was an Iver Johnson Champion single shot with a full choke and chambered for 3 inch shells, and was strong enough to shoot a .44 through it occasionally.:eek: :D
IMO the mistake most folks made with a .410 was not aiming it like a rifle. I've seen my old man make unbelievable shots on setting rabbits in the deserts in Arizona and New Mexico!!!! :eek:
My old man was an excellent shot and grew up in the days of the depression when every bullet made a kill because they were expensive.
I'd dearly love to own a couple of .410's, one a Marlin Lever action model and the other a double barrel with outside hammers!!!!:thumbup: :cool: :D
Although they would be like the majority of knives I have and go unused.:rolleyes: ;)
 
Kis, you are one of the people whose stories I most enjoy. You write like I think. So, don't forget to take your meds.

Thanks for the story, Mr. Simak.
 
Can't remember if I've said it before, but this is exactly the kind of group I'd like to sit around a campfire with, partaking in some tasty beverages, and sharing stories. Because good tales (like this one) should never go untold.
 
Can't remember if I've said it before, but this is exactly the kind of group I'd like to sit around a campfire with, partaking in some tasty beverages, and sharing stories. Because good tales (like this one) should never go untold.
Click to expand...
Originally posted by Voodoo.


Voodoo?

At the home, we have "story-time," three times a week, but we can't have beverages because of the meds thing that Ardvaark mentioned, and the campfire is out because of --- you know, Nasty's "issue" with fire.

But you are WELCOME to join us !!!

We're feeling MUCH better now !:D


(last line courtesy of John Astin, from NIGHTCOURT)








Thanks, btw.



Kis
Enjoy every sandwich
 
Wonderful story, thank you Kismet
 
I hunt deer, groundhogs, grouse, crows, squirrels, but hands down, the finest game for hunting is a man, fully armed and forewarned that you're coming for him. He can (and will) shoot back, will kill or intimidate witnesses, will get a high priced attorney to muddy the waters really good in front of the jury, but the job satisfaction gained from hearing the judge drop the gavel on one of my dope-dealing defendants has to be experienced to be believed. He has more money, better guns, faster cars, more bling, probably more women....but not the kind you want to live with, and to a man every one of them has GREED as the motivator. He (my dope dealing quarry) doesn't care who twists in hell from his drugs, as long as he has all the toys. My job is not to kill him, but to bring him to trial before his peers. Some will run, some will hide, some will hire someone else to come straight at you, and, very rarely, he will come for you himself. Damn, that's better than a charge from a cape buffalo or a lion. One of my defendants beheaded four before we got him, another was most literally a cannibal (Arram Alkazoff). There is a whole spectrum from the grass smokin' high school kid who does burglaries to support his habit, all the way to billionaire drug cartel operators....no shortage of game from whom to chose. I'm retired these dozen years, but I can still smell the burning gunpowder and taste the metallic taste of blood. My old bullet proof vest still hangs in the corner, but these days my eyes are dim, my heart struggles, and I spend my days in a classroom......Ahhhhhhh....
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top