By Philip Bourjaily

One of the most revealing posts I read on a waterfowl message boards after the unveiling of the Benelli Vinci expressed the author’s disappointment in the gun’s 3-inch chamber. “I may not shoot 3.5-inch shells,” he wrote, “but my gun had better shoot them.”

Now that I think about it, a lot of waterfowllers feel the same way: to them a proper 21st  century duck and goose gun has to be synthetic stocked, it has to be camoed, and it has to chamber 3.5-inch shells, even if they never plan to shoot them.

By Philip Bourjaily

Turkey hunting, done right, is a one-shot affair.  And, while I hunted with Mossberg’s discontinued SSi-One single shot and a couple of muzzleloaders for a few seasons, I prefer pump guns, for those days when one shell isn’t enough.

By David E. Petzal

Recently, I got a package from an old friend in Montana who was diagnosed with lung cancer, which now is in his brain, and he counts every new day as a gift. In the package was a 40-year-old Kabar hunting knife that had belonged to the late Norm Strung. Norm showed him, and me, a lot of what hunting was about before he checked out. The knife was originally Norm’s and he lost it on a mountain top while gutting an elk in deep snow. He told my friend that if he should happen to find it he could have it, and after the Karbar lay there all winter, that’s what happened.

By Philip Bourjaily

You’re turkey hunting, and a bird sneaks in quietly, catching you with your gun in your lap. Do you:

a.) fast draw
b.) move like a glacier
c.) freeze in panic
d.) Just shoot the turkey.