Last week was good.

[vaturkey]

Sophie was on her A game in the Va Piedmont last week. Did three trips and she pointed 37 Woodcock. Shooting was really tough but a few came home. Was shooting my usual meat gun which is a 20 gauge Sterly ejector which was upgraded to an AE by Brian Dudley, Dan Rossiter and his brother Chris. 5 lbs 13 oz and perfectly balanced. Restocked in English walnut with .004 and .014 chokes opened up by Mike Orlen more then a few years ago. PS. Bought the gun in Pa from a fellow who had no idea it was an ejector gun. It originally had a factory beavertail and now tweaked it has a splinter forearm with a ebony tip like the CE grades. 26" barrels with twin Ivory beads. Later Savage made gun with 2 3/4" chambers.

[Jeff S]

Nice wood on that gun, and nice shooting. Congratulations on another successful hunt.

[Stan Hillis]

I can understand why you like those chokes. My 20 ga. Sterly Ejector is now .006" and .016". Pretty close to what yours is. I love mine. Dean Harris opened the chokes and lengthened the chambers to 2 3/4".

Sweet, ain't they?

[Foxnut]

Tom,
Looks like you had some great hunting! Sophie continues to impress! Love that gun!!

[Rbishop]

Beautiful Setter! And not a bad little Fox either.

[44whiskey]

thanks for post, always look forward to pics of sophie and your wonderful customs.that is one beautiful shotgun. 44whiskey

[vaturkey]

We stacked an excellent day on the new week. Little Princess Sophie was on fire this morning and looking pretty regal in the photo. Between her and my buddies setter we moved 24 birds today in 3 hours. She did 15 miles. Tomorrow is the last day of the first split and we aren't hunting. I decided she is just too whipped. We will try for a few Quail later this week, but the odds are certainly stacked against us. Been a fun fun first split.

[Jim Cloninger]

Wow, a Woodcock flew right onto your hat! Nice pictures, Tom.

[44whiskey]

it just keeps getting better and better, hope you find some quail

[Jeff S]

I honestly believe that woodcock are one of the prettiest gamebirds.

[ROMAC]

I'd say your week was "Epic"!

[vaturkey]

I'd say your week was "Epic"!

Roger, did you get a chance to hunt that coastal area this fall where you can sometimes get into a pile of Woodcock before they head south? I know you have had some some great hunts there.

PS. My buddy has a young setter and got into a few of them yesterday. His dog (like Sophie) was pretty beat up from Tuesday so he took his B team dog, which isn't nearly the experienced Woodcock dog as his other dog. Takes a while for dogs to figure them out, they just smell different.

[ROMAC]

Tom,

I'm sorry to say I have not gone yet. My core group of buddies are not big deer hunters and they went on opening day of the PA deer season over to NJ to catch the migration. They did very well. They sent me this photo to rub it in a little at about 2:00, at about 4:15 I sent them one of my own in return! I shot a nice 7 point late in the day. I do have plans to go a little later in the month after the main NJ deer season ends.

[Bill Boone]

When it comes to bird hunting my two favorite things are setter dogs and Fox shotguns. Yours are a fine example of each.

[Jim Cloninger]

Hey Tom, it seems to me that Sophie has gotten a little lighter in color. Is that true? Jim

Nice buck, Roger!