Posted on 09/07/2013 11:53:36 AM PDT by marktwain
Joe with first hunt bag
Introducing young people to the traditions of hunting is important for members of the gun culture. Hunting is a rewarding activity that teaches significant lessons about reality, responsibility, and ethics.
It is a life changing activity that requires considerable thought, judgement, moral decisions, and actions.
Joe's father has some medical problems, and had not been hunting for five years. Joe had accompanied his father on a previous dove hunt, but had never shot at live targets before. He had shot a shotgun one time before this, at a stationary target. Joe is 16 years old.
I was more concerned with making the hunt a pleasant experience for Joe than I was in shooting any birds myself. I gave Joe a lesson on the hunting laws and on hunting conservation and ethics the night before.
I coached him on wing shooting. I helped him spot doves and get ready to shoot.
Joe has native talent. We were pleased to see Joe shoot several doves on his first hunt, and he was quite excited about it. I urge everyone who can, to take the opportunity to mentor a young hunter or huntress. You will find that it is at least as rewarding as the hunt itself.
The doves were mourning doves in Arizona. Joe is holding an Ugartechea Spanish double in 12 gauge. The shotgun to the rear is a Browning Double Auto 12 gauge. I started him off by only allowing one barrel to be loaded, using Federal subsonic 1 1/8 ounces of 7 1/2 shot. We all wore Peltor electronic earmuffs for hearing protection, which may be more than necessary.
©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
That’s a day that Joe will never forget.
Kindly remind Joe of the 4th rule.
What kind of Double Auto, Steel receiver, Twelvette, or Twentyweight?
Twentyweight.
By happy coincidence, the Double Auto and the Ugartechea balance and swing almost exactly the same.
The Ugartechea was picked up when a Union Strike closed down the factory. Supposedly it has a finish flaw somewhere (which I have never found), that caused it to be sold for the price of an American economy double.
The Double Auto was picked up off of Auction Arms. it is not a collector because someone put a polychoke (which I personally like) on it. Picked it up for the price of a used 870.
Both are wonderful hunting shotguns.
I am trying to determine who they should go to, as none of my progeny (so far) seem more than slightly interested in hunting. If Joe or someone else I mentor becomes an avid hunter, they may get lucky.
Twentyweights are nice guns. Wouldn’t want to shoot 3 dram 1 1/8th ounce all day in one though. And I’ve found polychokes do work very nicely, unfortunately they tend to draw a shooter’s eyes back to the barrel.
Uggies are also very nice, a lot of those spanish guns are.
Here’s some shotgun porn I posted a while back... my 1941 Ithaca NID Grade 5E 16 gauge. Supposedly there were less than 30 of these made. Usually bring it out to charity shoots with some low pressure reloads, it does just fine.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2947889/posts
Nice shooting.
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