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Joined: Jan 2002
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Brent, I used bismuth 4's for turkeys because that is what I have on hand, and that is what I have loaded for ducks. All I need now is some ducks.

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We all need ducks. Our season is over but it was awful. Serious drought really killed the season for me.


_________
BrentD, (Professor - just for Stan)

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


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That was a...BLAST!
Hah!

The club this shoot was held at is about 200 miles from my home.
The shoot was the idea of Brian Bilinski of Fieldsport in Traverse city, MI.
The marketing effort was brief, and well subscribed. Just an email. The flyer was interesting enough, but vague.

People run hot and cold on these kind of things, and to attempt to coordinate an Edwardian themed Driven shoot,in the snow belt, in December, In Michigan, is really a tall order. I'm glad Brian was successful in rounding up enough participant's.

The hosting club is near a bunch of ski resorts so it has topography.They haven't had a lot of snow this year (there was probably 4" on the ground), but lake effect snow was slowly falling when we left our air BNB (a vineyard outside Petosky, MI), and continued throughout the morning.

It was a lovely, forested, drive in the snow, meandering around the hills to Wycamp Lake hunt club. My awd shooting brake providing comfort and protection on the slippery roads. (New sb arriving Dec24)

We arrived at the club at 8:30, for a 9:00 check in.
The club house (too small to call a lodge) is an old farmhouse, tastefully decorated in sporting themes, with open beams, field stone, and fly rods.
The fireplace was going, and social distancing was observed.

As the other guns arrived, various teams assembled in the parking lot. People came from all over the lower peninsula of MI.

There would be 22 guns in the line. 330 birds released.
There would be 2 guns per peg. That didn't thrill me.

We had the safety talk, pegs were assigned, and we caravaned off into the forest.

At our destination, the layout was explained to the guns.
The pegs were laid out in a long crescent along a wooodlot of mature jack pines.

It is quite a brilliant layout, perfect for this environment. I say so because in the UK, it's not uncommon to have a drive On the backside of a stand of commercial forest.The density of the commercial forest coupled with their height,Forces the pheasants to climb skyward. So that the shots are presented at a very nice distance, very safe, with lots of blue sky around your targets.
The birds appear just as in the UK, 35 yards up and over, twisting and sliding in the breeze.

I won't get into the mechanics of how the Released birds were coaxed to fly up and over the woodland, but the task was accomplished.

With the snow gently falling, And the pheasants fully feathered and being presented over the tops of pine trees It was just like a December morning in north Yorkshire.

My pegmate and I sorted out how we wished to proceed, as he had never shot Driven style game before. I said, until we get going, we will share them like on a quail hunt, and I will take those on the left and you can take those on the right. We will share our opportunities. That seem to workout Well enough.

I was prepared to double gun if the bird volumes were there,but I wanted to shoot the 1st few drives with the Crass and black powder. My lovely wife enjoined our group as my loader and cheerleader.

The horn blew, and roosters began to cackle as they climbed high over the trees.
Gun fire began to erupt at various places along the line,When suddenly, What appeared to be an enormous cock bird rose skyward over a monumental nearby jack pine.
It was on the left. It was was my bird.
The Crass lept to my shoulder, my left hand extending towards the beak of the towering bird, I reached forward for some additional daylight in front Of the cock, and slapped the front trigger when she nestled into my shoulder and touched my cheek. Boom! There was an eruption of smoke and fire, and I saw the cockbird cartwheeling out of the sky.

Sulfurous fume and a detritus of fiber wad and such enveloped our firing position.
That's one, I thought.

Birds came by In ones and twos Curling down the line, and presenting shots in the 20-45 yd range.

After about 1⁄2 dozen birds were shared between my partner and I, the horn blew and we indexed down the line to our next peg.I

More of the same. Smoke, soot, and fire. Handling mishaps ;), and operator errors. (The Crass has a 3 position automatic safety, that can be stubborn)

After the 5th drive, we stopped for elevenses. No alcohol, but hot cider, coffee, and snacks. Social distancing was practiced, we enjoyed it out in the forest, beneath the new falling snow.

I wanted to double gun a bit, So I uncased the Miroku's for the next couple drives. But the relatively tight confines of the pegs, really didn't lend themselves to double gunning. Especially, when my peg mate was single gunning. There's just too much going on to be successful at it. They don't launch enough birds simultaneously to really bother, and it was really just an effort to practice Smooth Gun transitions between my wife and I.
My peg mate had never seen double gunning before, and was anxious to watch.

After a modest effort, I cased the pair and went back to the Crass.

We finished the Driven portion of the days shoot,And returned to the lodge Clubhouse.

I don't know what the 1st phase tally of birds shot was, though there was plenty of shooting, and the pickers up all had smiles on their faces. And they were many very happy retrievers.
So I would say that the line shot pretty well.
At lunch, (Again socially distanced) the hunt coordinator set up teams of guns with guides that had dogs, to mop up the escapees.
He assured us that there were plenty of stray birds On the grounds.

I was partnered with a guide training a trio of pointing labs,And chose only to shoot At birds he felt his dog handled as he wanted. So,The youngest dog Didn't get much shot over him,But each of his parents Accounted for another dozen or so Pointed birds each.

By about 4:30, daylight was on the wane (high lattitude), and I had run out of black powder cartridges. I had killed as many pheasants as I cared to. And I was exhausted.
So, I called it quits.

A fine work out for the old gal in the winter snow.
At the lodge, I pulled out a flask of 20 year old sherry cask single malt from Glendronach, And shared a tipple with my guide and the staff.


We bid our adieu, and returned to the vineyard we are staying at in the twilight.
Hot showers, cold cocktails, and a delicious dinner from the Park City grill followed.

A fine close to a splendid day of sport.


Out there doing it best I can.
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Sounds like you had a big time. Pics would've been nice, but I understand that the "grey man" protocol prevents that.

SRH


May God bless America and those who defend her.
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What a big time, CZ. Sure sounds like fun!


Socialism is almost the worst.
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Grand, just Grand
Thank you for sharing
Mike

Last edited by skeettx; 12/20/20 11:39 AM.
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Today is a travel day. Ill try to round up some pictures and post them when I get in tonight.


Out there doing it best I can.
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Thanks. A great day you will never forget.

Reminds me of hunting a popular redhead pass back in the '60's. During peak migration the pass usually drew 6-8 parties of one or two hunters that distanced themselves to enable shots at 'their' birds. One morning I launched a big load of Lubaloy 4's from my jug-choked percussion 10-bore and two plump drakes fell behind my 'peg'. Smiled when I heard some southern hunter yell "What the heyell was that?" as the smoke plume hung in the air.

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[Smiled when I heard some southern hunter yell "What the heyell was that?" as the smoke plume hung in the air.]

Hal, there's no telling how many times I've heard exactly that on a dove shoot when I slip in one of my BP shells. Nice to see in print an accurate representation of southern dialect for a change...Geo

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CZ, I'm home watching it rain and turn cold today so reading your account of the toss'em up shoot in the snow you attended was enjoyable. Thanks for sharing that with us...Geo

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