The Hunt for Summertime Smallmouths

The Fourth of July is my unofficial start of Smallmouth Bass fishing. The rivers and streams are flowing lower now with the fish more congregated in deeper water. But fishing is much more than catching fish to me at least. It's seeing what Mother Nature has to show me along my rivers and streams that flow through my Allegheny Mountains. It's the anticipation of what flora or fauna you will find around the next bend in the stream.

The Rock Bass can provide you with some action until you find the Smallies.

Even a small Smallmouth can bring a smile to your face.

A nice fat 14 inch Smallmouth. The "fish of the day" on this trip.

The Gun Safe Gets a Little Fuller

Here's my latest attempt to quench my thirst for hammerguns. She's a little Belgian Bayard in 16 ga. of course. Built in 1930 if I have figured out her watertable markings right. 29 inch barrels, sideclips, and a nicely figured stock she looks good sitting beside my two Swedish Huskys. Haven't had a chance to shot her at the pattern board yet but she really dusts the claybirds when I do my part so she'll probably go to Mike Orlen to have her chokes opened up for my grouse and woodcock coverts.

Blame it on my Grandmother

The urge I get each spring to plant something. Inherited from my mother's mother who was always digging in the dirt, planting all types of flowers, keeping a large garden, and especially the strawberry patch I remember fondly. My planting taste runs to trees usually apple, crabapple, hawthorne, or pear.
Here's a site ready to plant. A tubex tree protector to keep the deer from feasting on the tender tree, a bucket of dirt to compensate for all the rocks that I had to remove from the planting hole, a bucket of water, and a bale of old hay for mulch.Dance, my mountain cur, thinks the hole needs to be just a little deeper :).

The finished site. With some rain and a little luck this seedling pear tree will someday bear fruit for whatever wildlife wanders under it.

A 5 year old grafted pear tree coming along nicely.

A 5 year old apple tree in full blossom.

I usually plant a few grafted trees each year but lately I've taken to planting "Malus Antonovka" a Russian seedling apple tree that is used for grafting standard sized trees. A vigorous grower, drought,cold weather, and disease hardy it may or may not produce tasty apples for me but should be a productive tree for wildlife to feast upon.

Hammergun Fever

After several weeks of enjoyment with my Husqvarna Model 20 hammergun I couldn't resist the temptation for another one. Here's my new Model 17 Husky in 16 ga. of course. Built in 1940 with a checkered Prince of Wales grip she's choked full and fuller. I'll be having her barrels opened to .000 (cylinder) and .030 (full) to use as a late season grouse gun.

My Swedish pair.

A Little Sprucing Up

I've refinished the stock on "Olsa" my 16 ga. Husqvarna. While the barrels were away at Mike Orlen's getting opened up to .000 and .010 and haveing the forcing cones lengthened I went to work on the stock. This was my first attempt at refinishing a stock and I think it came out pretty good. I used a paint & varnish stripper to remove the old finish, then used Birchwood Casey walnut gun stain diluted 1 part stain to 1 1/2 parts water. Finally I rubbed in with my fingertips some Tried and True Oil Varnish. I've only put on one coat so far but plan to add several more this summer. Here she is before........

and after. Just picked up Olsa's sister Inga tonite. Will have pics in a day or two. Yes I've got "Hammergun Fever".

This Springs Wanderings

Work and caring for my elderly parents have left me little time to wander through my coverts this spring. Here are some pictures of the few times I've slipped away for some "woods time".

A new to me logging road lined with aspen looked very inviting.

At the top of the ridge I looked down into this nice looking cover. Emma and I moved 4 grouse in this new covert.

The following pictures are of some of my coverts.

These next three pictures are of Emma hunting. She is a joy to watch float through the woods. She hunts a nice pattern staying within bell range most of the time.

At one covert Emma brought me this woodcock barely alive. I don't know how she came upon it. When she first appeared with it I thought she had caught a hen on her nest, but it turned out to be a small male bird. Perhaps sick or injured I could only praise her for the retrieve she made.

Emma on a nonproductive point in open woods. I didn't see or hear anything but she definitely thought a bird as close by.

I had a bird flush ahead of me on this old road. As I called Emma in she struck scent and went on a nice by empty point.

Finally the real thing. A nice point on a woodcock.

My New Swedish Girl

I've lusted over hammerguns for years and finally took the plunge and bought one. She's just an entry level gun, a Husqvarna Model 20 in 16 ga. of course. Known as a farmers gun in her home country, the Model 20 was an inexpensive but sturdy gun built from 1877 to 1956. Mine was built in 1942 and balances the scales at 6 lbs 8 ozs. She's built on the strange looking lefaucheux under lever action, having no top lever to open the barrels. A steady diet of todays high-pressure shells would surely loosen her action so I'll be feeding her low-pressure 2 1/2 inch roll crimped reloads. I've only shot a couple of boxes of shells through her at clays but am very pleased with the results. She's choked full and fuller like many of her kind, I guess the Swedes like to be able to reach out for their game, so I'll be having the chokes opened for my grouse and woodcock hunting. The finish on her birch stock is rough so I;ll be refinishing it this summer. I'm guessing my Grulla will be seeing less brush this year as i carry this little "plain jane" Husky through my Allegheny coverts.

The Lefaucheux under lever action in the open position.