By Phil Bourjaily

Just before SHOT Show I killed my last pheasants of the year with a Dickinson double from Cabela’s. It’s a nice Turkish-made classic side by side and for the money you pay ($1599), it is a better looking gun than anything you will find in its price range. Moreover, it has chrome-lined bores, five choke tubes, and a 3-inch chamber which render it completely steel-friendly, meaning this is a traditional gun suited to the hard non-toxic realities of 21st century upland hunting. In fact, I shot Winchester Blind Side steel pheasant loads on this hunt, but that’s another blog post.

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By M.D. Johnson

As I write this from my office rocker, it’s somewhere in the high single digits here in eastern Iowa. Temperatures like this, especially when combined with no snow, make the diehard ice anglers all giggly, but for me they only give a clearer understanding of why smart, older folks leave the Upper Midwest in November and don’t come back until it’s time to pick morel mushrooms. [ Read Full Post ]

By Chad Love

I attended SHOT Show for the first time last year. While I came away amazed by the spectacle of the show itself, I have to admit I was a bit underwhelmed by the amount of dog and wingshooting-related items on display.

I didn't attend SHOT this year, but I did ask fellow blogger David Draper to keep an eye out for any new or interesting items while he was there. Unsurprisingly, David didn't find much dog-related stuff at this year's show, either. Garmin/Tri-Tronics, SportDOG and Dogtra released new e-collars this year (new collar round-up forthcoming) but the truth is, if you want to find gundog-related items and vendors, you're largely not going to find them at an event like SHOT.

You will, however, find them in spades at a show like the Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever 30th Anniversary Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic which is by far the nation's largest upland hunting and conservation event. [ Read Full Post ]

By M.D. Johnson

January 11th marked the closing of Iowa’s South Goose Zone, and it went out with a bang. Actually, several bangs. But only one thud.

Julia Carol and I met friend and F&S Shotguns editor Phil Bourjaily at his home where, after changing into goose togs suitable for 52 degrees, mud, and remnants of snow, we were guided to a hilltop just five minutes from the driveway. With geese already overhead, we set about 100 mixed full-body decoys a short distance downwind of three well-camouflaged, if I do say so myself, layout blinds. [ Read Full Post ]

By Duane Dungannon

Duck hunters will find nothing great about the Great Northwest as the season comes to a close this week, but the forecast continues to be fair in sunny California. While only a few hearty ducks and geese remain in the Pacific Flyway’s colder climes, it only takes a few to make your day, as Richy Harrod of Harrod Outdoors shows in this photo during a goose hunt with Alex Yerges of Pacific Calls near Moses Lake, Wash., last week. [ Read Full Post ]