16ga.com ~ View topic - 2016 Birds, Dogs, 16ga guns and such pictures

Joined: 11 Jun 2010 Posts: 11

Happy Holidays,

Merkel 1622E & Benelli Montefeltro 12 ga

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George, Nick & Lucy

We had a great time at my house in South Dakota this fall. Had perfect weather with minimal winds. Got some snow the last of November. Made lots of new friends. Plenty of birds seen and shot. I was there all November. Dogs really worked great with just one minor trip to the vet.

Mark, I'd like to say that I knew what I was doing when I took that last pic, but actually I just got lucky . Embarassed

I had some much fun with the Husky that the little Jones underlever never made it afield this fall.

Joined: 04 Mar 2016 Posts: 21 Location: Norway

Time flies when you're having fun, and the fall passed before I had the time to post photos here. But I thought I'd share a few shots with you all, hope you can forgive me if there is too much text.

My father turned 70 in April. He's the kind of guy who does not like to have his birthday celebrated. He doesn't like presents, parties, guests or any attention of any sort on his own birthday. But, you know, we couldn't let him off that easy. He's been hunting everything from woodcock to seals for 50+ years, and I know he's wanted to go wild boar hunting. There are no boars up where he lives. So my sister and I booked a long weekend in August in a terrain in southern Sweden which had *enough* roe deer and wild boar and persuaded him to drive ~1000 miles each way. I drove across from Oslo and met with him and my brother-in-law. We had three days of great hunting. Smile

Southern Sweden is flat and open, with green pastures and wheat acres. The wild boars have been re-introduced in Sweden since the nineties and are becoming a pest to farmers, who lease out their hunt, typically to us from west of the border where boars are only sporadically seen.

I shot the smallest one I saw, and it weighed in at exactly 200 pounds. My father and brother-in-law shot their fair share of other game and we are already planning on going back next year. Very Happy

The schools here always have the first week of October off, and that's when I pack my bags and travel up north with my kids to visit family and spend time outdoors.

THE highlight for my kids is to meet my parent's dog. He's a black elk hound, with the mildest temper I have ever seen in a dog that breed. We mostly use him for tracking moose, but he's also become quite decent at finding black grouse.

This year I struck bad luck; it snowed down to about 600 ft just before I came, and when the snow melted after two days, most of the mountain grouse flocked and flew inland. The weather on the coast north of the arctic circle is not very predictable. Smile

The day I took this photo I saw more white-tail eagle, raven and hawk owl than grouse. Very Happy

One of the charachteristics to Northern Norway is how the mountains rise straight from the sea; this photo is taken at about 2500 ft, and it would take me about 45 minutes to walk down to the fjord on one side or to our cabin, at 650 ft on the other. This is where I started hunting with my grandfather's belgian-made, nameless 16 ga, and trust me, having a light gun is a plus! Smile

I couldn't have fun and hunt birds all the time, I also had to hunt some moose. Smile

This last one is from down in the valley, about five minutes before one of the guys shot a young bull.

Member Joined: 30 Nov 2011 Posts: 1698 Location: Minnesota

Smokeless, Just where in Northern Norway were you? Which towns nearby?

Joined: 04 Mar 2016 Posts: 21 Location: Norway

It's just south of a town called Bodø. You can see it in the second to last photo. There you can also see the mountain tops in the Lofoten islands far away, about 60 miles to the north and across the fjord.

Guest

Love the pictures and comments, Smokeless! Thank you!

Great report smokeless and wonderful photos thanks for sharing with us .

Smokeless, thanks for the pictures. My God you are a young man! Good for you!
What did you shoot the hog with? That is a big pig to me.

I used to tell people about where I live: "The only thing between me and the North Pole is a barbed wire fence".

I don't think you even have the barbed wire fence! Tough country,and good tough people that live there.

My Grandmother on my mother's side emigrated from Norway, she was a tough old gal herself.

Don't be so long between pictures, they are fascinating to this hobbled up old fart!

Dale

Smokeless,
Well done
and
Thank you for sharing
Mike

Smokeless, great report and photos. Nice hearing from folks across the pond. Not many places more beautiful than Ireland and Norway. Gil

Gorgeous day in the lowcountry rivercane. Birds aren't at last year's numbers, but they should be funneling down with the cold up north. C.G. Bonehill 16 Gauge SXS.

Hey Gil, I think I recognize that bird on the left as one I missed in October. Laughing

Good to hear you, the dogs, and the little Bonehill are finding a few birds. You may have covered it before, but what's the dimensions and history of the Bonehill?

Rick,
The double weighs 5 lbs., 13 oz, with 26” barrels choked .009/.029. The gun was made before 1898.
Contrasted with the Bonehill single-shot, 16 ga., choked .016 on a 30” barrel. Gun weighs 5 lbs., 6 oz. It was made after 1898. You can bet this will be in the woods soon. Debating the need for spreaders as it calculates out at a light modified. Gil