One for the Birds

In the old days you had to have a pickem up truck to carry all the shotguns you needed to hunt for each species. You needed a heavy long-range duck gun, a light short-range quail gun not to mention other birds or chokes and loads. It was almost to the point where you needed a different gun for each season and if money was an issue you either made due or just didn’t hunt certain species. In the last few years’ shotgun manufactures have solved the problem. They have produced a series of lightweight, gas operated, all load auto shooters that fit the bill. Not only can they be used for all seasons, they soften recoil appreciably.

If your goal is to have only one gun for all occasions it should be the 12 gauges, no other gun is as versatile. You can shoot 7/8-ounce target loads to 2-ounce turkey loads. Its superior ballistics and power make it my choice for the one gun all bird vote. Some hunters prefer 20 or 16 gauge guns for upland game birds, insisting that they are sportier or fairer to the game. I suppose that is so if you are a world-class shooter and never miss or misjudge distance. I don’t feel apologetic about using enough gun to kill cleanly and losing game birds is not my idea of sporting for some of us it’s a better ethical choice.

Robert Willis