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Gentlemen,

After a very disappointing week in the UP we returned to Pa and some of the finest Grouse hunting ever. Bird contact has been just fantastic here at home and I could not ask for anything more. My Gordon pup has been doing quite welll learning how to handle spooky Pa Grouse, and she has finally started to realize that Woodcock are a lot easier to set up than our incredibly spooky Pa Grouse.

Galen Wilkins my new Grouse hunting buddy was down from NY to hunt a little Grouse and we had a real nice time together hunting Grouse, he has a 16 gauge Westley Richards original Drop Lock double gun, that is just incredible. I thought the David Mckay Brown Drop lock guns were something special, until I saw the original Westley Richards engineering, Westley Richards has them all beat hands down. I do wish I could find & afford one of his original 16's, what a gun, this gun is definitely worth owning.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

A couple of real nice Grouse guns and great eating Pa Grouse. The Westley Richards original 16 gauge Drop Lock below and the L.C. Smith Side Lock, 00 20 gauge above, serious birds for sure.

Member Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 592 Location: Minnesota

Glad to hear you are feeling healthy enough to enjoy some time in the woods with a young dog, fine shotguns and good hunting partners.

What made the UP trip disappointing.?

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1257 Location: Nebraska

Dave, it's great to see you're able to get out and about this year! I was thinking recovery would have you waiting until next year, never happier to be wrong and congratulations!

I did not know DMB ever made drop lock guns, it's not in the Dallas book on him.

Joined: 14 Feb 2017 Posts: 401

Please keep us updated with your hunts. I enjoy reading them.

Glad to hear you are back in the woods. Did you hit bad weather in the U.P? There were certainly plenty of birds this year, but the weather drove them into the swamps for awhile. You can find them along the swamp edges but tough to get a shot in the heavy balsam and hemlock.

Most of my friends that live in the U.P. had very good years, but they are hunting 9/15 through 11/14 and if the snow stays away December can be very good up there.

Good Hunting,
Mike

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the well wishes and asking about the UP trip. Frankly we had the worst weather we ever had in the UP and way to may Grouse hunters. We did have a nice day on some private land that Kens buddy owns, even then we ran into some Grouse hunters that were not permitted to be on the land. It snowed about 8" of very wet stuff and the birds would not come down out of the trees. My Gordon pup learned a lot about point birds in trees however.

Have had better Grouse contact here in Potter County, Pa than in the UP. Lots of birds here and the pup is doing Great. Hard shooting right now with lots of leaves still on the trees, Grouse dinners have been fantastic. The L.C. Smith 00 with the 28" barrels and DT, is turning out to be quite a Grouse Gun for me, has become like part of my body, swings naturally to the birds in the woods, much like my L.C. Smith 16 gauge guns.

I will be going down to Murrysville, Pa for Thanksgiving. Plan on being back to the log cabin a few days after Thanksgiving, which is our wedding anaversery, 41 years this year. Got my wife a beautiful Silver hand made bracelet with Emerald pendent, she will love it.

I am still moving slowly thru the Grouse woods but am glad to be able to Grouse hunt. Life is good, God has blessed me in many ways.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 17 Mar 2007 Posts: 203

Outstanding! Glad to hear you’re having a great season. Congrats on your anniversary, as well.

8mmFan

8mm,

Thanks much buddy I appreciate it!

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

At our age be careful you don’t fall with that Smith, none of them have intercepting sears. A good friend of mine also loves his Smiths and he took a tumble while hunting with me this year.

We had just given up following a grouse he shot because his pup didn’t pick up any scent and once we reached the ridge overlooking the river we were confident it had taken refuge in the swamp below. As we turned to leave I heard a shot and then my buddy asked me if I had shot. I turned to see him on the ground and the barrels of that gun were maybe 2” in front of his head. Spooky and I had no clue L.C. Smith’s were made w/o intercepting sears. I discovered that when I got back to camp and did some research.

If you are ever curious on whether a boxlock has them most have a screw on each side near the fences and that is for the intercepting sears. I am not positive but I don’t think a Westley Richards drop lock gun has intercepting sears although many high end box lock guns do have them, so I may be wrong.

Most sidelock guns do have intercepting sears, at least the English and Spanish guns. I can’t speak for the Continental guns.

Good Hunting,
Mike

Guest

My AyA has intercepting sears. To paraphrase the late Datus Proper, you may only need them but once in a lifetime.

Mike,

If your friends L.C. Smith shotgun went off by accident, more than likely he had the safety off and somehow a trigger got pulled by accident. Never have I heard or witnessed anything like you are talking about with an L.C. Smith gun. Our family has owned them sense Hunter Arms was created. You are putting way to much stock in intercepting sears. More than likely the safety was off and when he fell some how the trigger was pulled.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Dave,
Just because you have not observed it does not mean it doesn’t occur. After he fell the first thing he checked was his safety and it was on, and yes his safety works. The discharge was definitely caused by the jar the gun took and it’s lack of intercepting sears.

I am not trying to bash your beloved Smiths, I am just pointing out a fact that none of them, regardless of grade, were made with intercepting sears. As long as you don’t fall or drop them I suppose you don’t have much to worry about.

My point was, as we age, we tend to take some tumbles and my friend is very lucky to be alive. He has retired his Smith and is now hunting with guns that have intercepting sears. I am a very athletic guy and I have taken a few tumbles over the last four or five years. My guns all have intercepting sears and it is something I have always looked for in guns I buy. If they don’t have them I don’t buy them.

There are lots of folks out there that hunt with L.C. Smiths, Parkers, Foxes and all the other American classics and they love them for lots of reasons. Enjoy them and just be super careful.

Good Hunting,
Mike

Intercepting sears were developed to solve a potential problem, eh?....often, that is termed progress.

I think it is a fine idea for younger folks to be reminded of the total reality of going afield with scatterguns.
If all they read on message boards is little more than promotion or puffery then they are not being done a service, imo.

Learn what every gun or dog or boot has to tell you.
We are all the better for it.

Sorry a Yoop trip turned out sour...learning curves do exist.
I personally would embrace a good snow and recall woodcock rising as big white flakes tumbled down, what a memory.
Still, if bird numbers define a trip then, Life afield can be vexing.
Better luck another year.

Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 1973 Location: Maine

I'd love to see some pics of the Gordon pup at work.

tramroad28,

Grouse numbers alone have only a small negative effect on an over all 5 days. Having hunted in the UP in the snow most everytime the weather was just another factor, the real problem was the over all number of Grouse hunter, that we constantly encountered in the particular area we were hunting. Constant hunting pressure keeping the birds up in the trees along with the very wet snow made for very poor bird contact. My Gordon pup learned a lot and pointed a lot of birds in the trees.

I love Grouse and Woodcock hunting and have a great time no matter when I go, however comparing the Grouse hunting in the UP this year with prior years and with the current dog work here in Pa I was unhappy with the over all trip. The better Grouse and Woodcock hunting was right here in Pa this year. Less people and beautiful mountains with great dog work is always my way of enjoying Grouse hunting.

Intercepting sears are good engineering design, that helps safe guard accidental firing of shotguns, there are different ways to accomplish the same safety engineering. Purchase the shotgun design you happen to like the best for your own safe hunting use.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man