The Black & Tan Bombshell

Shotguns and Adjustments.. Too much of a good thing?

2009-11-06T12:33:00.003-05:00

The fit of a firearm with a front bead only.. Where the eye is the rear sight, creates a conundrum, and no end to problems for target shooters and hunters alike..
The ideal situation is for the shotgun to fit properly to begin with, but this can be as elusive as the search for the Holy Grail..
Hence, the advent of adjustable combs, adjustable rigs, devices to adjust length of pull, pitch, cant and even sliding triggers. Complete buttstocks made up of aluminum tubing, springs, rods and enough Allen setscrews to make the fitter resort to a 20 page manual.
For dedicated clay target guns, a case could be made for the usefulness, weight and complexity of these add-ons, although a properly fitted gun should negate the plusses. In the field however, I just see it all as so much nonsense.
Once a shooter finds the "sweet spot" on his adjustable stock, the settings should be left alone.. And here enters the rub, and where too many variables are just too much!
The shooter is going along fine with his whiz-bang adjustable stock.. He's found the dimensions that suit him, and is breaking his targets with authority! Everything is well... Or is it?? What about the day that shooter misses a target he always kills?? He starts to think, ride birds, and measure.. The wheels are falling off rapidly! Perhaps that stock the he thought was right, is NOT right after all! Maybe a little tweak is in order to put things right again?? Maybe an extra 1/8 inch of LOP will save the day?? Maybe a little off the comb?? The problems start, and start to compound!
I witnessed this very scenario recently, as a well intentioned shooter attempted to help a fellow club member regain his usual target killing ability.. Out came the rusty pliers and Allen wrenches to alter the metallic maze of a buttstock that probably cost more that some of the guns in my cabinet.. Making minute changes that don't mean a hill o' beans in the first place! All I could do is look on in amazement.. and horror at the rusty pliers!
When it comes to field guns, the adjustments might be fewer, but in my opinion, the end result is worse. What field gun needs more weight in the butt? In my experience, it's quite the opposite. But I see adjustable combs and LOP systems showing up in the field. Wouldn't a classic stock that actually fit in the first place be so much better?? Wouldn't 95% of shooters in general be better served by a gun fitting than a myriad of screws and sliding combs?

When will we ever learn that we're human and not machines? When will we learn that a missed target is due more to the loss of concentration, rather than mechanical failure?

Maybe I'm getting older and more accepting of my shortcomings.. Or maybe I've just gotten wise enough to know that a change of 1/8 inch in any dimension just doesn't amount to the proverbial hill of beans, and is not going to change us from an also-ran to a champion... On the range, or in the field..

Enjoy the weekend!

Stress management for dogs..

2009-10-23T16:54:00.003-04:00

Purina seems to have entered the Veterinary diet market, once the almost exclusive domain of Hill's Veterinary diets, in a huge way, producing specialized diets to help manage everything from overweight, to kidney function, to geriatric difficulties. I wasn't aware of this new departure until seeing an ad in "Field Trial Magazine" for a new supplement, apparently aimed toward the gundog market called FortiFlora.
This is a probiotic supplement for intestinal health in highly stressed dogs that I assume are prone to diahrrea. Whether it will be picked up on by the average gundog owner looking for any edge will be the subject of speculation, but I would not be surprised to see it be put to use whether medically called for or not.
I've had dogs get so excited the day of a hunt that they spend a fair amount of the morning trying to rid their bodies of loose stools.. In a dog that suffers this, maybe a product like this would be helpful.
In any case, it's always wise to be proactive and ahead of the curve when it comes to the health of our gundogs..
Is anything more important??

For those with an interest, and a few more questions, there is a list of FAQ here..

Gordons are THIEVES!

2009-10-22T07:07:00.003-04:00

Is this the face of a criminal??

Was enjoying a nice dinner a few nights ago. I made a big pot of chili, and my wife had bought a block of aged provalone to go along with it..
The cheese was on a cutting board on the table. My wife and I, and the dogs of course, all cheese lovers BTW, consumed about half the block. I was looking forward to a slice here and there as a snack for days to come, but it was not to be..
The cheese was inadvertentely left on the table after dinner.. I passed through the kitchen a couple of times, and noticed the cutting board empty, but I thought my wife had returned it to the refrigerator..
After a while, my wife asked if I had put the cheese away.. Since I sometimes have trouble with my ears, or selective hearing difficulties, I ignored the query until a few minutes when she asked if I had finished the cheese. I knew that didn't happen, so the search was on for the missing "half block" of nice aged provalone.. The piece I was looking so forward to savoring in bits and pieces over the next couple of days. It was becoming painfully obvious what happened to it!
Sandy, the English Setter, is far too much of a little lady to steal off the table... Holly, the Gordon, on the other hand, sees things in a completely different light! Like all her Gordon predecessors, she feels that any food left on the table must have been left for her personal enjoyment.. and subsequent consumption! The humans just forgot to offer it to her in person..
It must be a genetic thing, as all of our Gordons go back ultimatly to similar places on the family tree... Or, they all went to the same school!

Either way, the cheese I was so counting on ended up "in the belly of the beast!"

Out on The Rock

2009-10-20T18:43:00.002-04:00

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a comment the other day from my old friend Dan, a Newfoundlander and fellow Gordon lover. I always enjoyed Dan's pictures and accounts of his wild adventures, mostly solitary as I recall, on "The Rock," as he affectionately refers to his homeland of Newfoundland.
Dan has started his own blog called "Out on The Rock". The views and accounts of the exploits of Dan and his dogs is stunning, and gives an inside look at one of the world's truly wild places.
You're doing yourself an extreme disservice if you don't visit Dan's blog and witness for yourself what he has to offer.
I'm glad my old friend found us, and we'll once again be treated to his exploits and view from the wilds of Newfoundland..

Visit Dan's blog here, watch the videos and read the posts.. It's time well spent!

Dan's blog will sit at the top of the blogroll for a spell, until everyone is aware of it and visits to see what it's all about.. Congratulations to Dan on I blog I'll visit often!

If I were King...

2009-10-16T10:37:00.003-04:00

and the changes I'd make!

Not in how I'd rule the serfs, but in how I'd produce the RBL-16 I've come to like pretty well..

There's not much I would change. The gun has been about as reliable as a Swiss watch with reloads and factories.. Now, where is that block of wood?? But there are some improvements I would make to make an already nice shotgun just a little bit nicer.
First and formost, I'd add a touch of scallop to the rear of the receiver where it meets the cheeks of the stock.. SKB did a nice job of this, but I'd reverse the pattern so as not to create a stock splitting steel wedge as SKB did.. Other makers have carried this off well also, such as the Upland Extra from Poli, pictured here, that I've always admired.. A little bit of enhancement in this area would have made an already pretty gun much more attractive.. but obviously, at a cost!
The fixed choke, 29 inch platform lump barrels are just perfect as-is.. Except, I would substitute a nickle silver or ivory front bead, and add a matching mid bead. Now, beads in an of themselves are completely superfluous on a shotgun, and completely unneccessary for a tool that fits, but tradition demands them, and they do look good..
Next, I would ditch some of the laser engraving.. A small amount of tasteful scroll is far preferable, in my humble opinion, to poorly rendered dogs or game scenes.. A Setter on point that looks like a dreaded "Pointing Lab" is the height of poor taste!

I guess it's no secret why these changes are not part of the RBL package. It's a production gun made to a price, and every little nicety adds to the cost. When you're trying to buld a gun for everyman, sometimes we need to cut corners.. But, not in my kingdom!

Enjoy the weekend!

RBL's are TOUGH!

2009-10-03T09:18:00.001-04:00

Had the RBL-16 out at a local range this past week. Met, and enjoyed the pleasure of shooting with a gentleman I've gotten to know fairly well over the past couple of years. Obviously a very experienced guy around guns and clay targets in general, and as we discussed on numerous previous outings, the proud owner of an early RBL Launch Edition.
He was shooting reloads, as was I... I don't have a gun in the cabinet that has not been fed a steady diet of reloads.. Shooting "factories" only to obtain usable hulls when none are available for scrounging!
Well, this gent had a round that wouldn't fully chamber, and consequently the RBL wouldn't close. No amount of opening and slamming shut would cause the gun to go into battery and latch shut! And numerous attempts were made! All I could do was stand behind and cringe at every attempt..
The gun was taken down with thoughts of a return trip to CSMC for repairs. I looked at the receiver and all appeared normal.. What else could cause the gun to keep from closing completely?? I picked up the barrels, looked under the ejectors and sure enough, a sliver of brass from a broken head on a AA-20, probably from a previous trip through an autoloader... Doubled over onto itself, no less as if a single thickness would not have been bad enough.. Upon removal and closer inspection, the two plies of brass looked as if they had been squeezed in a vise, obviously hammered with some force.
The gun was re-assembled and finished the round flawlessly!
I don't know how many other guns would have taken that abuse without damaging an ejector.. A testament to the toughness that Connecticut Shotgun has engineered into the design of the RBL..

The RBL design, in spite of all the polarizing reports by the all-knowing on the ubiquitous "innanet," earned my respect that day...

A hard winter in store??

2009-10-02T08:30:00.000-04:00

According to reports, it could be, and that's good news in my book!
I like the cold... I like the snow. What I don't like is purchasing warmth in the form of foreign oil, but, at least for the time being, that's a necessary evil.
I've noticed the caterpillars are pretty hairy and the grey squirrels busy burying acorns... All signs I look for.
For a more scientific explanation, read here about the mild "El Nino" and it's effect on the weather here in the Northeast..

Pray for snow!

More about "Big Bad"

2009-09-30T08:08:00.001-04:00

This confirms what my Adirondack neighbors have been relating to me for the past few years, that the ADK coyotes are bigger and badder than they once were... Not to mention the fact that they are becoming bolder and more brazen by the day, taking unsuspecting hapless housecats, and succulent small dogs at will from their yards.
There's a pretty interesting write-up here at the Adirondack Almanac, that explains the evolution of the coy-wolf.

It's certainly food for thought, and I suppose should put to rest the controversy on whether wolves should be reintroduced to the Adirondacks where they once reigned. Of course, for those that love conspiracy theories, wolves could have been reintroduced surrepticiously, and what we're now seeing is the fruits of that labor..

I do know that I saw a canine out on the Blue Ridge Road beyond the road to Tahawus that looked stunningly wolf-like... Little on this earth that can send a chill up one's spine like that..

Am I happy or upset about this new development??

I guess I just can't answer that yet... But I'm will to give it a chance... very cautiously!

Read more about the coy-wolf hybrid here..

Carryin' the torch..

2009-09-29T07:04:00.002-04:00

Harry Connick Jr. has a new album out entitled "Your Songs." It's a compilation of old standards, many of which are old "torch" songs that I have a great affinity for. While I'm not a great fan of "Junior" personally, he's undeniably a pretty talented and entertaining guy, and I'll probably pick up the CD just because I like the music so much..
While we're on the subject, I like Diana Krall for the same reasons musically. Her music is sultry, sexy and alluring, and when the artist is likewise, the combination is just magic!
On another note, I've been a Beatles fan my entire life. The group broke onto the music scene when I was in my "coming of age" years, and they spoke to me. The magic has never died for me, and I still find myself often listening to the old albums, although now on CD.
Much of the old catalog has been remixed and remastered using modern technology, but not cleaned up to the point where any of the true recording was lost. All the warts are still there.. I'll probably treat myself to the package as a Christmas presewnt to myself..
I still often listen to Orff's Carmina Burana and the Symphony From the New World by Dvorak, so I'm guessing my tastes are a bit eclectic, but that suits my inconsistent personality!

Don't forget your speakers for the links...

Enjoy!

Early Fall

2009-09-27T12:01:00.002-04:00

Days that are still sometimes too warm and humid... Too many leaves still on the trees to make looking for birds very effective, but still quite beautiful...
Warm enough to hunt in a tee shirt, but not enough clothing to protect my neck from a game vest laden with too much unnecessary junk.
Humid enough to fog up shooting glasses with the slightest amount of exertion... Shooting glasses being a necessary evil to prevent cross-firing due to a God-given gift of a dominant right hand and a dominant left eye.
Warm and humid enough to promote the dreaded mouth breathing of the dog I depend on to find game..

But then, every once in a while the Red Gods smile on me and provide me a morning as pictured here, clear and cool with a hint of chill in the air... Colors beginning their mystical appearance on the sidehills.. Dogwork that once again restores my faith that things actually are right with the universe, and that the hours spent really are worth it.

We had, all in all, a beautiful opening week, made all the better by the visit of another thoughtful and inspired kindred spirit. The kind of folk that restores faith in humanity to a somewhat jaded psyche.

A more than successful start to another season...

A 16 gauge score...

2009-09-17T14:32:00.003-04:00

The guys around the gun club are getting to know me as the guy who shoots the Sixteen gauge.. Probably the only guy around amongst all the Perazzi and K-80 12 ga. clay target shooters.
It's good in a way, because it makes me different from the crowd, which I always enjoy.. It's not so good in another, because there are no 16 ga. hulls around any of the club ramges to pick up for free.
Now that all the guys are aware of my affair with the Sixteen, whomever wants to clear out their basement of oddball shells they'll never shoot again, seeks me out. My wife calls it junk! I call it treasure!
The top picture, of some old 16 ga. ACTIV's just might make the cut as hunting loads this season. They're quality loads, and shoot reasonably softly at 1165 feet per second. In my favored #8 shot, they'll work out well for me on grouse and woodcock.
I never thought much of ACTIV when they were in production, and never bought a single box of them. I might have shot a few from a squadmates pocket if I was in a stand and needed a shell or two to finish my targets, but that would be about it! Now, realizing the dearth of quality 16 ga. loads, these shells are much coveted, and much appreciated from their donor.
The lower image shows another load of castoffs. Kind of a mixed bag of shells from yesteryear. Some papers, some early heat sealed plastics, some roll crimps... All valued by myself, in spite of the fact that some of the #4's may never be shot at a winged target. The 6's will probably get used eventually, but some will be saved just for the sake of nostalgia... and much to my wife's dismay..

So, once again I lucked out by swinning against the tide, by marching to the beat of a different drummer.. by just being an oddball!

Diversity seems to be my only saving grace, but not in it's politically correct meaning!

Thumbs up for Garmin

2009-09-14T16:52:00.002-04:00

Well, I received not a repaired unit, but a brand new dc-30 collar from Garmin for my Astro unit.
It seems that Garmin has made quite a few improvements along the way also!
The aluminum plate that fastens the gps unit to the collar is now flattened on both ends, presumably to protect the dog's neck from abrasions and sharp edges.
The nylon collar material itself is thinner, making it much easier to thread through the buckle... Something that can give a handler fits when trying to apply it to an excited, squirming dog.
The ON/OFF button is slightly raised, and a bit more pronounced.

So, other than being a bit more user friendly, and acquiring satellites a bit faster, it's still the tool we've come to know and love..
The tool of choice for location fast moving, and big running gundogs..

The Astro system receives the "Black and Tan Bombshell Seal of Approval," for producing a great product and standing behind it. For those that don't have the system, you owe it to yourself to try it!

Gary Larson knew the truth

2009-09-13T10:28:00.003-04:00

This cartoon, from The Far Side, by Gary Larson should need no explanation for anyone that reads "The Bombshell"..
It's true now, and it seems it will also be true in the future! One can only hope..

Click on the pic to enlarge...

Fall leaves

2009-09-12T15:58:00.003-04:00

I've yet to meet the person that does not wax nostalgic on the beautiful scenery of Fall. And what more beautiful place to immerse oneself the color than New York's beautiful Adirondacks?
According to this website, the Adirondacks of New York are rated #1, as well they should be!

If you can get some time to get away, plan on a trip to New York's North Country.. As a bonus, bird season opens on September 20th...

Just stay out of my coverts! LOL

Pictured... Looking Northwest to "Big Blue," Blue Mountain from my garage... Past peak.

Astro's on it's way..

2009-09-11T09:10:00.004-04:00

A couple of posts back, I wrote about my troubles with the dc-30 collar unit.. I heard from Garmin, the complete innards have been replaced, received a UPS tracking number, and it will be here on Monday the 14th.. 13 days aftyer I shipped it out!
I call that pretty good service!

For those that have not tried the Garmin Astro system, I can recommend it highly.. It's about the greatest thing since sliced breasd for those that own dogs that can tear it up!

Truisms

2009-09-03T18:45:00.002-04:00

I saw a great quote over on Maggie's Farm today...

"Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he's too old to fight, he'll just kill you."

Ain't it the truth!

The Maiden Voyage

2009-09-02T18:27:00.002-04:00

of the good ship RBL.. And I have to say that it was a complete success!
I don't know if I've ever shot a gun straight out of the box as well. I only dropped a pair of targets out of a couple rounds of low gun skeet.. That's pretty good for me!
The ammo was an ounce of 7 1/2's in Remington Game Loads... This junk promo load provides one of the premier junk hulls for sixteen gauge reloading. A couple of rounds shooting these loads left me longing for my light reloads, but that will come soon enough.
I must say that the RBL-16 is very impressive. It comes to my shoulder beautifully, and swings and points naturally. I looks good, and functioned flawlessly! It also can draw a crowd for the Kreighoff and Perazzi shooters who have never heard of Antony Galazan or CSMC..
Now, this is not my first rodeo, and I'm not naive enough to believe that this blissful Niagara Falls honeymoon will automatically turn into a lifelong happy marriage with no effort on my part, but it does bode well for the future...
I did cheat a little, in calling for a Low 1 for my first target out to assure a dead bird on the grand opening, especially since High 1 has been giving me fits lately from a low gun hold... Other than that, we went by the book..

So, all in all, at this point in time, I'm still enjoying the afterglow. But, success can be fleeting..

Check back next week!

Astro troubles

2009-09-01T14:52:00.003-04:00

I bought into the Garmin astro system when it first came out. The unit with the old dc-20 collar had some functional problems, but it worked well. When the new dc-30 collar unit came out, it was the answer to a prayer.. It was finally designed properly, for the most part, for a Pointing Dog.
I upgraded to the dc-30 collar unit when they first came out, and it has been working flawlessly since. It takes that knot in the pit of your stomach away when running a big running dog.
Lately, the dc-30 has been giving me a bit of trouble. One of the charging LED's went out, and the other works intermittently. It's hard to know if the collar unit is accepting a charge or not. I have also been losing communication with the dc-30 from time to time. I believe the rechargeable batteries are the problem, so back to Garmin it went for an overhaul.
Now, the boys that run Setters out west and on the Midwest prairies may call a birddog only out 900 to 1,000 yards a boot licker, and they may be right. But, I'm here to tell you that a dog out a thousand yards, that's a half mile to you and me, in the thick cover of the Northeast is running big! Bigger than I'd like, and I don't care how often the dog checks in. Further, there are enough pitfalls in the Big Woods to befall a dog that I get a bit of angst when a dog gets out well beyond even beeper range. Without some type of tracking device, I get out of my comfort zone, so to speak.

So, hopefully the dc-30 will be back before September 20, when our grouse season opens.. If not, we might be picking up a spare dc-30 collar..

Oh, the joys of running Pointing Dogs..

I'll post the final resolution..

The RBL-16 has arrived!

2009-08-19T17:48:00.002-04:00

And I'm about as pleased as I can be with it!
The laser engraving is far superior in hand than it appears in pictures or advertising. Same goes for the laser checkering. If I didn't know that it was applied by laser, I wouldn't have guessed. The slight darkening adds to the appearance, in my opinion.
I ordered 4X wood, was prepared to be disappointed, but was pleasantly surprised. The "money side" for a righty is better than the side showing in the case.. Both sides nice and smoky.
Chokes have been opened to Skeet/Light Modified and the abominable auto safety converted to manual, which is far safer where I come from! Onme applies the safety as habit, without coming to depend on a mechanical assembly to do it for us.. Anything mechanical is subject to wear and failure, so I'd much rather attend to this important detail myself to be sure it's done!
The stock was ordered pistol grip, with a splinter forend. The RBL splinter is rather large for a true splinter anyway, so I thought it a good choice over the more bulbous, but very attractive beavertail..
The new shotgun has only been here a few hours, so I still in the "fondling stage.." There will be more pictures and updates to come as I go over the new edition with a fine tooth comb, and soon put it through it's paces..

It's been a long time comin'...

2009-08-15T07:57:00.001-04:00

But I finally got the call I've been waiting over 9 months for, and I can finally type the words I've been waiting so long to type.. For those that are not into "RBLspeak," those infamous words are "Carol called!" Every soul who has waited and waited on a CSMC RBL will recognize that phrase.
I got the call about 2:30 yesterday afternoon. My wife, who answered the phone, stuck her head oput the door and said "Connecticut Shotgun is on the phone.."
Now, I may be a bit arthritic, but those words got me movin' in pretty good shape!

So, the long awaited RBL-16 will be here next week, and at the moment, I feel like a kid in a candy store... Let's hope the 16 gauige RBL leads me to shotgunning nirvava..

A Special Treat

2009-08-14T18:28:00.000-04:00

The following article has impressed me immeasurably over the years. It's one of the funniest pieces of gundog related literature I have ever read, and whenever I think that dog out there in front of me should do everything right, in spite of the fact that when it becomes my turn to perform, I can't, I try to remember this article. I get a laugh all over again, and it puts the whole reason we're out in the field with a dog into perspective once again!
My thanks go out to the author, Mr. Joel Vance, for his kind permission to reprint the article here, in it's entirety..
I know our readers will get just as much from it as I have every time I've reread it over the last 20 plus years..

So, without further adieu..

Guff's Bad Day

By Joel M. Vance

They say every dog has his day, but when Guff had his, planets collided and stars rocked in the firmament.
Now, there are good days and bad days. This was a bad day. Well, saying it was a bad day was like saying an encounter with the guillotine is "a little owie."
You must understand, Guff is my pride, my talented child, the kid who just spelled "anopheles" in the Spelling Bee finals.
Guff is a dog.
Not just any dog, you know, but a French Brittany who has enough Gallic blue blood in his background to out-do the house of Burgoyne. His grampa was a champ and his daddy was a champ. Most of his uncles and aunts win field and bench shows nationally and internationally. They look on Westminster as "that silly little American show."
Guff is short for "McGuffin" which is what Alfred Hitchcock called the gimmick in all his movies that all the good guys and the bad guys sought. The McGuffin is what everyone wants.
McGuffin is an ardent hunter who will come out of a sound sleep if someone murmers "birrrrrd!" He is broadchested with the typical butt-sprung gait of Brittainies. He has several bird seasons under his orange and white hide which have included just about every game bird in North America-ruffed grouse, sharptailed grouse, woodcock, pheasant, quail. He has worked them all, growing as reliable as Mr. Goodwrench.
Guff has a cute little freckled nose that makes cute little freckled girls gush over him, so I take him to a lot of places where there are many cute little freckled women.
He loves attention, thrives on affection, does adorable things that make you just want to hug him. God! I envy him!
Large men in brush pants no doubt are gagging at the thought of hugging a bird dog unless you're trying to squeeze some sense into it, but I love my dogs and we share pretty much everything.
For example, I buy a sack of caramels every time we come north to the pine woods to hunt ruffed grouse and woodcock. Some are for me, some are for Guff, most for the family dentist who enjoys replacing my fillings and taking his own vacations in more southern climes. But the caramels keep our energy up as we stumble through God-forsaken swamp edges where the footing is somewhat like break-dancing on a pool table covered with ball bearings.
Because Guff is first a quail dog, he has trouble with grouse. Since he only sees them once a year, he tends to forget they aren't just big quail who will sit right under a French Brit's black nose as if skewered there with a dirk.
Instead, grouse are stupid birds, brainless and indecisive. Anything foreign in their environment throws them into a mindless confusion that usually leads to movement-they either walk off or fly up in a tree where they can be taken in what one of our hunters euphemistically refers to as "the pre-flight position."
A French Brittany creeping forward like a roan cat definitely qualifies as "foreign" and Guff has trouble realizing that he must instantly freeze at the merest whiff of grouse stink, no matter the direction, that he must not try to locate that smell or make it grow stronger. He must learn that a bird spotted on the ground walking around is not crippled and will fly if you try to catch it.
So, it is understandable that he has the occasional bad day. But this bad day was the Johnstown Flood compared to an overflowing toilet.
Guff started it by falling off his bed. He'd sneaked up on the overstuffed chair in the old cabin where we stay, and probably dreaming of cute little freckled ladies, rolled over and onto the floor with a thump that woke everyone up.
We all thrashed around in bed, grumbled a bit, and went back to troubled, interrupted sleep. God knows what Guff dreamed about, but no matter how wild his reverie, it couldn't have approached the reality that was fast approaching him.
I was expansive at breakfast, telling a disbelieving audience in the log cabin where we shuck civilization that I had reformed.
"No more screaming at the dog," I said and they smirked. "No," I protested, "I mean it. Just not worth the hassle. Besides, the dogs have settled down and I just don't need to run them down and speak long and earnestly at them. We're both mature now." I smiled paternally at Guff. Me and my doggie, finding grouse, shooting them, a scene to warm the cold, revered shade of Burton Spiller.
I spoke the words and believed them. Ah, the words with barbed wire wrapped around them, the toughest kind to digest when you have to eat them.
"Zen dog training," Ted Lundrigan said. "I'll swallow that when I see it."
Ted and I walked the edge of a doghair popple stand which crowded a pasture. I searched the thick saplings in vain for the noble sight of my dog, descendant of champions, as he coursed the covert. Then a movement caught my eye, in the field beyond.
There was my noble dog snacking on a cowpie, his shoulder drooped and twitching, like Charles Laughton in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," ready to roll in what he didn't eat.
It may come as a shock to new dog owners to think that their endearing companions would eagerly snack on bovine biscuits, but life with bird dogs is filled with such taut moments of unhappy discovery.
My Zen calm went out the window when I roared ancient Anglo Saxon while Ted tried to pretend he was hunting alone.
I lost it again after the third point Guff busted. Zen went the way of my resolve never to touch Scotch and Water again, never to buy another shotgun, never to lie about my shooting.
I laid curses on Guff that you couldn't cancel with an exorcism. I held him by the cheeks while I explained in dog language what I expected. Dog language is sheer, roaring filth that even the most inane creature comprehends.
Perhaps Guff pointed a grouse that day, but if so it was done while I wasn't with him. I do know that he busted at least a half dozen birds, most of which had been nailed by Ted's setter, Salty, until Guff came along like a derailed cattle car.
You can steal a man's children, corrupt his wife, ruin his business, even insult his baseball team-but let your bird dog bust up a point that his bird dog has made and you've really ticked him off.
Ted began to look at Guff as if he were head lice, then looked at me as if I were the head.
I muttered about "competition" and "doesn't realize you can't lean on grouse" and Ted muttered something about "take that dog's head off with a two-by-four."
Salty was becoming jittery, Ted was becoming, well, homicidal is the word that springs to mind. Fortunately, the sun took pity on me and started to go down.
We headed back to Pine River. Guff, of course, had to assistant-drive, his face between us, panting a fog of recycled manure.
Back in the cabin I regaled a bored audience with tales of Guff's misbehavior. "He was disgraceful," I said. "He made every mistake in the book and invented some new ones. He was terrible." As I spoke, Dave Mackey's face grew alarmed and I thought it was with horrified sympathy. It wasn't.
"Watch out!" Mackey exclaimed. "He's sick!"
Guff threw up on the carpet behind me, a slurry of awfulness that took an hour to clean. Clearly this was a dog beset by devils, a victim of black magic or a curse. The Red Gods were playing dodge-ball with my dog and me.
Guff looked at me with a sick apology and suddenly I felt sorry for the little guy and tried to consider the big picture. After all, for every bad day, he'd given me so many good ones. For every point he'd busted, he'd made a dozen good ones in the past.
I tried to correlate the day's experience in human terms and the television set helped me. The St. Louis Cardinals had just won their way into a tie with the San Francisco Giants behind shutout pitching by ace John Tudor. Tudor had pitched like a Little League dropout his previous game; couldn't do anything right.
Obviously, even the best have their off days.
So, I relented and petted the little dog and he sighed heavily and pouted off to a corner to lie atop Dave Mackey's hunting pants, which were draped over his box of ammo and gun cleaning gear.
We watched "The Equalizer," whose methods of correction (throw them through brick walls, etc.) were close to those what I'd considered all day long for Guff.
Dave picked his pants up the next morning and they were dripping with WD-40. Guff had laid on the nozzle of the full spray can and emptied it.

His bad day was complete...

_________________________________________________________

My thoughts..
I first encounted this great little story in 1988, in the September/October issue of Gundog magazine. It made a great impression on me, and I've often thought about it over the past 20+ years. Any person who cruises the glorious uplands with a dog must surely be able to relate to this story.. If not, you've had better luck than I , or just have not spent enough time with gundogs as of yet!
What also is obvious from the story is the great bond that existed between Guff (pictured above) and his partner, Mr. Vance.
Once again, I'd like to express my thanks to Mr. Joel M. Vance for his permission in allowing me to reprint "Guff's Bad Day" here.

Mr. Vance has many more books that should be of interest to readers here. On Conservation, and his lifelong love affair with the uplands and French Brits.

An odd turn

2009-08-13T06:36:00.005-04:00

Due to the dearth of 16 gauge reloading supplies, I've taken a direction that I never thought I would take, and one that flies in the face of everything I thought I once knew about reloading shotshells. But, part of the mystique of the "Queen of the Uplands" is finding new solutions and exploring new avenues. The Sixteen makes it a near necessity.
Upon the recommendation of a couple of savvy reloaders who's opinions I trust without question, I picked up some Gualandi 2025 20 ga. wads from Precision Reloading for use in the Remington Game Load hulls that I've yet to empty.
I have heard about using 20 ga wads in 16 ga hulls for some time, and there is data to support it's use on the Low Pressure Reloading Group's site, but it just never sounded right to me.
But, I've since learned that the black RGL hull has a small internal diameter, and the Italian wads seem to have a relatively large skirt diameter.. Hence, not a bad fit in 16 ga. hulls like the black Remmie..
So, it's yet another 16 gauge adventure to explore while awaiting the somewhat tardy, and let me add maddening, arrival of the RBL-16..

BTW, stay tuned in the next couple of days for a little story that I think many will find amusing, and well worth the wait..

And, for some cool little video of some Red Dawgs workin' birds on the North Dakota prairies, pay a visit to our friends at A Piece of the Purest Challenge. Click the links and watch some stylish broke Red Setters in action.. Great stuff!

Enjoy the day!

And if you need more proof...

2009-08-11T06:41:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is!
I've been harping on this subject of animal, and canine in particular, intelligence for a long time. And it appears that mainstream Science is starting to come around to my way of thinking, and giving the dog his just due for reasoning.
Now, I not only prefer spending time with my dogs on an emotional level, I also appreciate the intellectual stimulation..

Read all about it here, at Science Daily...

The banes of summer...

2009-07-31T08:33:00.003-04:00

And another one has befallen us... Hotspots.
Sandy, our smallish English Setter, is currently suffering from them. She's been shaved in the problem areas, and currently looks like a patchwork quilt!
She previously had a minor spot on the ear. After a 4 day trip to the Adks, with free running and it's concommitment wetness and small skin lesions, many hotspots took hold in the matter of about a day.
An elevated temperature followed, so once again, it was off to the Vet's office for antibiotics and topical meds. She's looking a good bit better already, but she also needs another Lyme treatment also, so more antibiotics..
Summer never was my favorite time of year, but this just makes me despise it even more..
Next year, it's a complete shavedown for this little girl before the "dog days" strike!

What's new?

2009-07-28T09:10:00.002-04:00

No, I'm not talking about the old Linda Ronstadt torch song, but a new blog devoted to the Field Gordon Setter by my old friends the Thomasons of Montana. I recently received an e-mail from Dan with the announcement.
The new blog is called Gordon Setter Crossing. It will be very informative because there are not many folks as well versed in the Field Gordon as Dan and Karen Thomason. Many will remember their great old Gordon Peat, who was written up in so many National magazines.
So, check the new blog out, and as is my custom, it will get top billing for a time in the blog roll...

Now, go listen to some old Linda Ronstadt!