...on my girls. Not my show, though. Soon, girls, soon. Promise!

New buddy from gun club invited me to join him with his Springer Abe for a morning at New England Upland, a 'hunting preserve' in mid-state NH. Knew it was going to be too warm for the Labrador Destroyers Pepper and Onions, so they were left on guard duty. As a member, bud gets 100 birds per season and he had some leftover from last season that he wanted to have tossed out before the next 100 for this year are added. It's a use them or lose them type deal, so that was that. Pretty area, and while not even close to what I'd consider a hunt, was a fun and nice way to start getting warmed up for the season.

Brought along my Ithaca/SKB model 100 (I think that's the one) in 20 ga that I bought from a member here a couple years ago. Really haven't shot it much, but when I have, feathers have flown and it's a joy to carry compared to my relatively heavy duck guns in 12 bore.

Check the shells I grabbed from the cabinet while still a bit groggy. Not the ones I thought they were but they worked just fine. Note that the shells are old enough that the lead 6s have a picture of a mallard on the box, so that says something about their age...

Chasing feathers in 80F temps somehow just doesn't feel right, but it was good exercise and a nice way to spend a morning with a friend and his dog and slap the trigger some. Bonus was being offered to take as many ears of sweet corn as we wanted. I grabbed a few for the pot.

Sorry in advance for the crappy phone pics but it was too damned hot for me to want to haul the real cameras along.

And a couple of quick vids. Abe's a good boy!

That is some beautiful mellow land... Thanks for posting!

That's awesome.

Great looking country and very cool old lodge

I love the dog!

Love flushing roosters… great times. Thanks for sharing. 👍🏻

That looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing.

looks like a great time. A friend of mine has an Ithaca like yours. I shoot a Perazzi 12 bore with 34" barrels in competition. The Ithaca feels like a pocket shotgun.
Rick

Nice pics,KG. Beautiful birds, and some nice country up that way!

And the truck !

I have a couple of boxes of shells just like that in the cabinet. Old memories.

Nice work. What does it cost for 100 birds if you don’t mind me asking.

Looks like a great time!

Our girls are taking notes Kamo-san !

so many great pictures!

Good post, Amigo!

Looks like fun!

You be careful with this my friend. I heard on the news that having fun is now a felony.

Yep Soul Brother

The beatings will continue until moral improves!

Kool

great pics

Cool!

Birds flew good for pen raised.

Thanks Leighton for the pics, falls coming fast., I was thinking partridge birds! Nice to phesent pics! Seems like a life time ago since I bird hunted. Grouse numbers are down around here the last few years!

Old Abe looked like he was having some fun, cool videos and pics.

What crappy phone pics? Those look pretty damn nice.

Ta for the kind comments, gents. Mark had ten birds tossed out in about 120 acres prior to our arrival (soft, not hard releases). Birds are bred on the premises, in net covered pens measured in acres. In a perfect world, I'd be chasing wild Chinese Chickens where they're native, but the reality is that they're not Yankee, or even 'Merican birds and local predators won't allow wild broods to make these birds a species that can adapt and reproduce here. I don't harbor any moral quandaries about the fact that these birds are bred for their destruction. They're tasty and all, so ain't no puzzle.

New 2 99s, those girls are gorgeous. Do yer lassies earn their keep?

Ma ane' sorry lassies when daddy was headed out without them.




DD, you stop makee me laughee. Fun + felony now? OK, fine. 'Breaking the law, BREAKING THE LAW!' with a nod to Judas Priest...

Confessions of a soft lab dad: I felt so guilty for leaving my pups at home while I shot birds, before letting myself back in my pad (and yes, pad, Grizz, you softcock you), I took my brace of ill-fated roosters and planted them around the house for them to find. Both of them took about a hot minute to locate a bird each, but their reactions were comical. It was like, "DADDY I FOUND A BIRD HEAH, AND...hey wait one damned second, this fugger's already dead!" Both mouthed their birds, then spat them out and each refused to fetch them to me. Maybe both of them have become lascistss against these alien almond-eyed birds. It's almost a hate crime. Or sum-ting.

Hey Grizz, you're boring me. Try again, perhaps?

Mike, I'd no idea but looked it up. Buy 100, get 120 birds. Also included are driven tower shoots, member banquets, facility benefits, etc., etc. Nice distraction but for my dollar I'll stick to killing limits on WMAs in MA and NH and be perfectly happy. They are all, after all, pen raised birds no matter how you slice the breast. I have 5 places within 15 miles of me in MA and NH where I and my pups regularly kill our brace of birds inside an hour at each outing.

For the price of the annual membership at that place I can cover flights and accomodations on an international trip for a week for the wife and me. Cost per annum for the local 'tags' to do so costs about 50 bucks a year for both states. YMMV, but for me, I'd choose being a guest than dues paying member of such a place. That said, I had fun and very much appreciated being a guest on a free ride. But as always, things will boomerang back and I'll make good for Mark's generosity.
.
https://www.newenglandupland.com/services

Great post !

Yep. I’ve got some of those in 16 ga. Don’t know if they were Dad’s or some Dad got from GrandDad.
Gotta be at least 25 years old or more.

Kamo, I shoot federals of that age all the time they are great. Looks like you had a good time.congrats...mb

What this has to do with the OP I've no idea... But then again, 'you'd better watch OUT; there's many dogs about! Things are not what they seem!'

Great post and pics!

Hey, I'm diggin on that cool ol Chevy pickup!

Looks like a great time Leighton.....

heck its one of those kind of places, that I don't have to get anything..

I'd just enjoy out there hiking around and carrying my rifle...

cheers and best regards!

Leighton - I'm betting the 330 on that box was the price.
$3.30 probably was from back in the late '60's / early '70's, IIRC.
Have another great day, and post more pic's, please.
My best to Mrs. KG, also.

I have been a member there for several years now. I am soon to be 78 and I might have been 74 when I joined. I have hunted Mass and NH all of my hunting life. When I started at age 16. things were different. Having a dog was a luxury many couldn't/wouldn't afford. Me being one. I got my first hunting dog in 1972, a Brittany. Since then, it was black, labs and now an English Setter. Most state stocked birds are non existent after first the weekend. Most stocking sites are overgrown with briars and bitter sweet. I grew tired of watching me and my setter get all cut up. I discovered NEU and fell in love with the operation. I love watching my dog do what she loves to do.

Hey now! Small world, and yes, it really is a pretty place with good folks. Do you know. Adam Mac, the Scotsman, one of the gamekeepers? He and I are friends, and both of our mothers are from Glasgow. And this fellow? Name is Bill, I think. One of your fellow members. Runs an old English setter. We chatted him and his buddy up for a few minutes as we were all getting set to head into the fields. Very nice guys. He took one look at my Ithaca and said, 'oh, a model 100! Great gun. I have one and love it. Been killing birds with it since 1967!' Funny thing is, Mark at that time does a double take as he sees me with my double and says, 'A MODEL 100? That was my first gun and I killed my very first birds with mine as a kid in Maryland in '69!' Then those two pulled out a couple of expensive Italian guns. Anyway, here's Bill with his Trump hat.



As far as briars and bittersweet in the fields, I hear you but there are plenty of exceptions, sir. Also, not sure if you still chase birds in MA, but the state puts out 40K a year in the WMAs, and probably 75% of the time we find birds. The places I frequent are nice fields, woodland cuts and the like and the dogs don't get beat up at all. Just tired. If you know Connor farm just south of 101, that's a small, but great little place in NH. Exeter, I think it is. Just stay away opening day, as it's a veritable zoo with a lot of lead flying everywhere. Seriously.

Thanks again for the input and nice comments, gents.

Sure I know Adam, but only from NEU. He and I are friends on facebook. He has always taken good care of my wife and me. I still work full time. I don't like to hunt until the weather cools. It is better for my dog AND me. I am pretty much a home body these days and aside from an annual trip to Anticosti Island with my wife NEU is my treat. BTW, here I am right now at work and my Trump Hat. As for the other gentleman you mentioned,. I don't think I have ever met him.




And here is what is hanging on my cube entry.

What everyone else said. Great photos as usual. Your black Lab looks skeptical, the yellow looks downright pissed. They know.

Leighton, our girls work our hearts pretty good & the local squirrel & rabbit populations.

We decided we wanted family dogs & companions, not necessarily hunting dogs.

We did look into training when we got Izzy, but decided against the discipline needed to do it properly.

Both of them point naturally, but won't stay locked up.

You know, they think it's way more fun to chase those birds & critters.

They know. They knew when you left.

Great pics, Kamo.

Great Dogs, 99.

I trained all my pointers, or should I say took them hunting. They all gradually got the idea that if they flushed the delicious smell went away and they just started pointing longer and longer as I walked in to them from the rear and side so they could see me coming as I firmly voiced Whoa. If the bids flushed, I shot.

The dogs learned the game. If they didn't bust them they would get to go retrieve one.

It Eventually got to the point I could get to the dog and gently try to push it forward from the rear and they became staunch on point, quivering all the while from acting as if fearing the bird would fly away if they got too close but wanting to be close enough to be hypnotized by their smell.

Thanks Jag, we'll take them for a walk on the property next weekend, as grouse opens on Thursday, here.

Deb will tote her 20ga & I'll try to look after the dogs.

I do have half a dozen grouse wings in the freezer.

Good luck, but most of all have a GREAT time.

I know it ain’t officially “fall” yet but you can practically smell the turn of the seasons in those photos.

Goldenrod? migrating Monarchs? Dead giveaway

Very nice pix and vids, Leighton! I think about your apology of the "crappy cell phone pics", and I recall the quality of the photos we got from the top-of-the-line digital cameras we were using in 1999-2000, and I think your apology is entirely unnecessary.

Looks like fun; thanks for a great post.

Thanks 43S, and of course they do. They hear a soft gun case get unzipped from the other side of the house and before I can stuff a shotgun in it, there are a pair of tails thumping away behind me with copious jumping and whining. I hate leaving them behind, but they get 4-6 walks a day in local woods, beaches and in fields year round, so they're never cooped up.

It's early goose now, but again, I don't really get excited about chasing birds until it starts cooling off considerably. Once the colors change (soon), the leaves are dropping and even better, later in the season when the snow starts flying, that's when it's game time in this bird hunter's heart and in our girls' hearts as well. These two would rather come hunt with me than eat, and for those who know labs know that's saying something!

Jag, I like your 'intoxicating' smells comment. I have a serious need to hunt more wild quail and a bunch of other species of grouse. I love hunting just about everything big and small, but if the world was coming to an end, I'd be out there chasing birds with Mrs. KG and the girls before the curtain fell.

N299s, I hear you loud and clear. Above all else, our girls are dear, beloved parts of our little family and we love on them hard. To the point of spoiling then rotten, truth be told. Even if they had no desire to hunt they'd still be incredibly loved, but the fact that they so love to hunt and are pretty good at it is a big bonus. Starting out green and silly, I used to literally swim after downed waterfowl, including in 30F water in the dead of winter, something I don't feel I have to do anymore. But they do and still sure do enjoy it greatly, so win-win!

Doc, good to 'hear' from you. I hear you, and you're right about quality of then vs. now, but when I see images out of focus or otherwise not what I was going for --such as the monarch pic-- the wee photobug in me gets a little pissed.

Thanks for chiming in folks, and for the other hunters of all stripes here, best of luck out there this season for whatever you're after. Hopefully we get a proper New England fall and winter, with some nice storms and cold to push the birds from up north down. I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty good one. But then, I always say that...