Shooting Sportsman, May/June 2007

Seasonal Snows

[PHOTOESSAY] It’s mid-May on the Hudson Bay lowlands. The breadbasket of the Central Flyway. The tundra and tidal flats remain patched with snow. And the clouds are rolling in… Clouds of geese, that is. Millions of snows returning to nest. A special spring season serves to lessen their impact on fragile

The RBL Launch Edition

Tony Galazan’s latest technical marvel

The Perfect Bird Dog

In pursuit of greatness – and beyond

Cape Barren Geese

To Australia’s Flinders Island for a striking breed of goose

The Frederick C. Scales Gun, Part I

Unraveling the mystery of a most unusual smoothbore

Oak Tree Pheasants

Chasing South Dakota roosters at Oak Tree Lodge

A Century of Setters

The Ryman line celebrates its 100th anniversary

Bells & Beyond

The latest in locator technology

Back to School

George Hickox School of Dog Training & Handling * flushing dogs * pointing dogs * teaching the trainer * e-collar basics * obedience * building a solid foundation * remedial work

It was the first afternoon of my five-day stint as a student at the George Hickox School of Dog Training & Handling, and the moment I’d long anticipated finally had arrived. It was my turn to bring out my dog and do a check run for the expert. What was to come would be a first for us both: my first live lesson in training a dog to be a bird dog, and the dog’s first lesson with live birds.

From the Editor

Last summer I endured one of the most difficult things a sportsman can: the demise of a hunting dog. It’s an inevitability that comes with every puppy but something you can never fully prepare for. Making the decision to ultimately say goodbye was probably the toughest thing I’ve ever done. My griffon,

Letters

Southern Grouse Fans My compliments to Tred Slough (aka Robert Holthouser). His article “Confederate Grouse” (Jan/Feb ’07) is superbly written. His imagery and writing speak eloquently to his experience and talent. I recently moved to the South from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and the mural Tred painted

All the Fun of the Fair

Enthusiasts of most sports and hobbies have their sites of pilgrimage-places that represent the true heart of their chosen pastime. Music fans of a certain age have Wood-stock, American auto racing enthusiasts have Indianapolis, and British countrysport enthusiasts have The CLA Game Fair. It is hard

Home on the Range… Rover

With the cost of fuel stalled at roughly twice the price it was a decade ago, a lot of bird hunters are rethinking their vehicle and RV choices. Smaller, more economical outfits are definitely an attractive alternative. On the other hand, to carry all the dogs, guns, gear, ammo, water and assorted paraphernalia,

The L.C. Smith Legend Lives On

Great gun books are unusual, but as many gun- library bibliophiles can attest, as a group they’re not quite rare. There is a coffee-table book, it seems, for every British gunmaker who ever built a firearm; Marco Nobili has written extensively on all things Italian gun; and there are books on Spanish

Gavin Gardiner Goes Independent

After more than 20 years with the Sporting Gun Dept. at Sotheby’s in Lon- don, with a brief interim as the gunroom and shop manager at Boss, Gavin Gardiner has formed his own auction company. Gavin Gardiner, Ltd., will hold two auctions of fine modern and vintage sporting guns per year-in April and December-in

Vintage Gun Catalogs from Cornell Publications

For collectors and historians, old gun catalogs represent some-thing akin to what the Dead Sea Scrolls mean to Biblical scholars: Though often rare and in poor condition, they hold information sometimes found nowhere else. Originals also can be frighteningly expensive and unavailable when needed. Those

A Watson Bros. Left-Handed Pair

Last spring Watson Bros. gunmakers ran advertisements in the British sporting press featuring what the company claims is “… the 1st pair of left-hand-opening over and unders made in England.” The guns are, appropriately, 20s, consistent with a maker that made its reputation with smallbores.

Fine Gunmaking

Balancing a Double Gun, Part II

Shooting

Easy Targets, Hard Targets

Sporting Clays

Line, Please!

Shot Talk

Are Shotshell Pellets Just Little Bullets?

Hunting Dogs

Training with Today’s Electronics

Field Gear

Good Gear for Gundogs

Book Review

Gunfitting & Tale-Telling

The Major

Fiction Is Stranger Than Truth