The guns that mean the most to me of late were all pretty much given to me. I hunt them, none is a perfect match to my style. None of them would be considered truly expensive, or, precious, as guns go, and it doesn't matter to me.
I can't say I have a collection, it is more of an accumulation. More than I need, I could stand to sell a few, but, I won't. Like James, I can't always put my finger on why some of them are here, but, those guns really don't shoot better or worse than the guns left to me by others who valued my friendship and company, that mean the world to me.
If I didn't own a dog, I might not hunt. I'd shoot at my club, but, it wouldn't, couldn't, be the same. The interplay with the several generations of Setters that have stolen, and, one by one, broken, a little piece of my heart, keep the notion of the gun, in itself, from getting out of hand.
My dogs are the calender of my life. I ripped that quote off from Bodio, I think, but, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Best,
Ted
