Season before last I was in a big, floating blind in the L 'Anguille River bottoms with my friends who own the land. I was using my big SuperFox with 32" barrels, very tight chokes, and 1 1/4 oz. bismuth. I was 3 for 2 ( having killed two mallards with one shot on the second shot) when a lone drake came in from the rear, heading into the slight wind. I thought he was going to set down in the dekes as he had been so vocal. But, he didn't like the looks of something and started straight away, climbing slightly. At about 35-40 yards I put a load dead in his rear. He shuddered, but kept flying strongly. Just before going out of sight around a bend in the slough he put both wings straight out and fell dead. My buddy sent his lab, who had marked the drake falling, though he fell behind some tall trees, out of sight. After 5-6 minutes of anxious waiting we saw Max coming back through the trees with the greenhead in his mouth. One of my hosts, the elder member of the family, said calmly to me "You've got the only gun in this blind that could've made that shot". Over many years of watching that HE Fox they have all gained much respect for what it can do. My biggest regret about it is that I never got to use it on some tall ones with 1 5/8 oz. of Luballoy 4s.
When I go to dove shoots in this part of the world someone usually asks what old double I'm using today, and they pass it around in great interest.
At a sporting clays shoot many, many years ago a smart alec on the squad ahead of me commented to all that my gun looked like it had been run over by a truck and twisted the barrels "sideways". I replied that if God had wanted me to shoot O/Us he would've positioned my eyes that way. I got more laughs with my comeback than he did with his smart comment. All good.
SRH
