What's your favorite bird gun?

I am really looking forward to hunting with my dog and not having to wait on other people. I shot a SxS 16 ga for the first time in a round of sporting clays last year. What a handy little gun. I would love to have one but I hunt mostly wild pheasant and its nice to have the 12ga to knock them down.

 

My duck gun is my trusty Benelli M1 Super 90 and a Benelli UltraLight for my upland gun.

 

I shoot a Franchi OU in 12 ga and like it, but I would like it to be a LOT lighter, lighter weight equals higher prices. Weight would be a big factor for me if I got another OU or side by side. Upland hunters carry their guns a long time in the field and if your chukar or ptarmigan hunting, add steep elevation and altitude, and every ounce adds to the pain. If your a pheasant guy and in and out of the truck all day weight may not be a big factor?

that is a handsome pup!

 

I use a Remington 11-87 auto loader 12 gauge for upland. I like my cheapo Mossberg Maverick 12 gauge pump for pretty much everything. I prefer 20 gauge and .410 for grouse.

 

Cute pup. Only fox red I have seen, besides mine, with a white patch on the chest.

 

Thanks! It is funny you say that. The Sire of his litter had the same white patch and he was the only puppy that got it. Where did you get yours?

 

Mine is called Jax. He came from Wildrose Kennels in Oxford, MS. The old man with the old gun is Sailor, he also came from Wildrose.

 

Weight is a bit of a factor for me. I am in and out of the truck between spots, but I hunt farm land and most spots require a lot of walking/hiking. As you said light weight equals higher prices. I think the used market may be my friend for a good hunting gun.

 

Can't go wrong with the zapper.

 

I have killed a ton of ducks with one of those!

 

Same! It only fires blanks at giggling dogs tho.

 

It's hard to beat an 1100 Remington.

 

The arcade version lets you shoot the dog. Well worth a few quarters if you run across one.

 

Benelli Vinci...

 

Wildrose breeds some fine dogs and I consider their training methods to be the best in the retriever world. I just wish they would put out a formal pointing dog training book and videos.

The white star on the chest is considered a breeding fault for black labs, but acceptible for yellows, which is technically what a red lab is genetically.

There are 2 primary color genes for labs. 1 for coat (black, yellow or chocolate) and 1 for skin (black or brown). There are secondary color genes as well, but most of them have been bred out so they are never seen among pure bred labs. One of the ones that remains in play is for coat color intensity. It seems to only manifest in yellow dogs along a spectrum from almost white to yellow to "red" and for chocolates showing as brown or "silver".

I personally like unique dogs, but I wouldn't buy one of the reds or silvers for hunting if the kennel said that producing these colors was a primary objective of their breeding program. It's hard enough to produce good and capable hunting dogs without choosing to narrow your breeding pool based in some arbitrary and unnecessary criteria.

That said, if the dog has a good hunting pedigree and it happens to be "red" or "silver" I'd have no opinions against buying one. Cool dog. I bet he'll be great in the field.

I've been looking for a good 16 ga double gun for a while. I think an english grip SxS with double triggers would be a great nostalgia gun for old-school hunts.

I looked at a new Beretta 486 SxS 12ga with an English grip at the gun counter one day and I thought it was a sweet handling gun, but it costs over $5k so I passed... for now.

 

The 486 also isn't available with double triggers despite what the early promotional materials promised. :-(

 

The 16ga SxS I shot was a Dickinson Estate with English stock and double triggers. It was a beautiful gun and a joy to shoot. I think they run about $1500 new.

 

Those new Dickensen guns by Cabellas are nice. Turkish manufacturing, English paterns. There are a good number around which helps. The 16 gauge on a true 16 frame is lighter and about as versital as it gets in an upland gun. Unfortunately Most build them on a 12 frame negating the purpose. Using standard 1 1/8oz load, which is what most are shooting in a 12, the 16 bore is capable of most all situations. My go too for quail, pheasant and chukkar

 

Jax is working out in the field. I did not have him for the first year or so and he missed out on some of the things I do with pups. He is a little soft until there is a wild bird in front of him then he is all go. My retired dog Sailor did not stop. I hunted him through his 11th birthday. His 11th year he did 42 days on ducks, 6 days on pheasant in ND. He closed his career 14 days straight in Arkansas. This is his last hunt before retirement.

 

I inherited an Ithica model 37 pump 12 ga, 28" barrel fully ribbed choke..(for her pleasure)

 

oh a favorite subject of mine!

unfortunately we don't have upland hunting here. would LOVE to be able to chase pheasant, quail and the like around.

current duck gun is a Browning BPS . 3" chamber. I have two in 12ga. one is the stalker version which is black synthetic and the other is factory camo. kinda prefer the stalker with the smooth black finish but both are wonderful guns.

other favorites in the safe include Beretta 390, 391, Browning Gold (beautiful gun, not quite as reliable as the 390 but much prettier to look at) and of course Rem. Wingmaster. I think for upland I'd want lighter weight so the 390 would be my choice.

 

If you ever find yourself in Easter Washington in October-January let me know and I would gladly take you on an upland hunt! Those BPS's are very nice guns I just haven't convinced myself that I need two pump guns. Maybe I should pick up a 20ga. Everyone needs a 20ga right?

 

you are very kind!

also have one in 20ga. had a 28 a few years back as well. the 12's are too heavy for a walkabout gun really but the 20 is a bit lighter I think. benelli semis are nice and light too. had one as a duck gun years ago and wasn't a fan of it for that purpose. would be a fine bird gun though,

 

My boy Texas is only 7, but he's already getting white in the face like an old man. Fortunately he hasn't started slowing down yet though. That'll be a sad day when it happens.

 

Perfect pic. Perfect. Great dog. His eyes give it away. Still in the game...

 

Very hard. My dad bought me one years ago to replace my 870. (75). Damn I wish I still had it. The 11-87 is all right but the 1100 is real nice.

 

Good looking pup. Nothing like seeing them pop out of the cover with a bird. My old man was at his best 6 to 8. I started him on Glucosamine at about 7. I really think it helped him hunt so late in life and I highly recommend it.

 

Well here in deep south Texas got some pecan trees that white wing doves (they tasty too wrapped in bacon) they like to spend the time in so got my trusty Daisy Red Ryder BB gun...

 

If you're saying that your 1100 was bought in 1975, that's about the age of mine (sometime in the 70's) and it's in great shape and shoots like a dream. It has some engraving on the receiver and is a beautiful gun.