Maggie's Farm

Readers know that we are fans of SureFire military and tactical flashlights. They are useful for blinding and illuminating a bad guy, or for illuminating a distant detail - or for finding a fox, beaver or owl at night.

The problem with them has been that the battery drain has been so fast that they were not useful for any regular flashlight use (for which they were not designed anyway - they were first designed to incapacitate and illuminate a human target).

They have now come out with a line of LED flashlights, some of which may not meet the same tactical specs but which have a longer battery life, and still should not be used in anybody's face unless you wish to disable them. A MagLite on steroids.

Also, Insty informs us that Amazon has deals on knives. Practical knives, not the fancy ones. Except when boarding a plane, a guy needs a knife in the pocket.

This gives a fairly good idea of what it's like, in Yankeeland. Lots of brush-busting, little shooting. Hunting isn't shopping - it's off-road hiking with dog. The shotgun is mostly a burden. You just hope to have a chance to use it - and not splatter your pal with birdshot. (We have all done that once or twice. It's important to apologize. Most guys don't care much, unless you hit their dog. It's best to let low birds go.)

I have a pal who is in the hospital, being treated for a serious case of Babesiosis. I visited him at the hospital yesterday, and determined that he would survive because I was able to elicit a few laughs - but it can be a very nasty and life-threatening disease (or a mild and insignificant one). He was on two or three IV antibiotics, and a morphine pump for the headache.

It's a bug like Malaria, and its vector is the tiny Deer Tick, same bugger as Lyme Disease. Dog ticks are annoying, but we woodsy and doggy people get those on us all the time. No big deal. Those Deer Ticks (actually, they are mouse ticks more than deer ticks) are the real problem for people who spend time outdoors.

Not to make light of a serious topic, but I can't resist re-posting "I'd Like to Check You For Ticks." It's a guy song, but the gals seem eager for Brad to check them. It must be lots of fun to be a country star:

Thanks again for the invite, dear friend. (If you wondered, it's gents only - and tobacco enjoyment is encouraged. Jacket and tie for dinner, of course. Traditional American, like Maggie's Farm.)

That's Harpoon UFO in the Growler. Their UFO is good stuff.

A fellow hunter at the lodge this weekend had his Spinone with him. (Pic of his pup below) This was a new breed to me. A pointer. They seem to run 70-80 lbs. His owner says that if you want one, make sure you buy it in Italy, not in the US. Relatively slow, methodical, and errorless hunters, it seems, with a style which sounds similar to that of the Munsterlanders: they do not run crazy, but search carefully and relentlessly, at a steady human pace.

It's all in the genes. (You would like this dog, Craig.)

His dog was very well-trained (in Italian commands, eg "Posto!"). He told me that they say in Italy that the face of a Spinone should look like an old philosopher. His dog had that look, and insisted on slobbering me with drooling kisses - perceiving, as any wise philosopher dog would, that Bird Dog is a dog guy.

The breed is said to be an ancestor of all of the pointers, with a pedigree dating to c. 500 AD. The fur is thick and wiry.

I could use a spare Spinone around the place (although they look like tick magnets). A good excuse for another trip to Italia.

Yesterday was a good day to pull some favorite field guns - bird and duck guns -�out of ye olde gunne closet for a little pre-season cleaning, check-up, and oiling. That .22? Haven't used it in years so I grabbed it too for a little maintenance. The old single-shot 12 ga. is for the little one to practice with. There was some new rust on the barrel of the beat-up Mossberg pump I use for sleet and mud and salt-water duck hunting, but a little surface rust doesn't bother me.

It's a good thing I checked things over, because I discovered that I have lost the choke tubes for my Beretta semi-auto and for my Browning o/u with the gold engraving that I use mostly for clays. The tubes are nowhere. I think I left them somewhere last year, probably on some hunting club's gun bench when I was changing chokes. This means a costly visit to Briley's website because these guns now all have skeet chokes in them, and I like a little more flexibility. For example, a light-modified choke for ducks (which shoots steel shot like modified - but I am giving up on steel, mostly, except maybe for large flocks of Snow Geese, which, as they say, "go down like a prom dress.").

Not that it really matters - I can't hardly hit anything anyway since I injured my shoulder a couple of years ago.

I store guns in these silicone-impregnated gun socks, always with the barrel down so any loose oil doesn't leak into the wood and weaken it.

Here is a re-posted sample of a few decent places to stay for your New England grouse hunting, ranging from the simple to the quite comfortable (some have fishing too):

Bosebuck Mountain Camps

Miramichi Inn

King and Bartlett

Partridge Cabins

Lopstick Cabins

and in the Adirondacks, The Hungry Trout

These are just some of the places we've been to or heard about first-hand. Here's a good source for Maine outfitters.

Photo: A cabin at Bosebuck, where the only heat is your wood stove and your dog, the bunks are lumpy, the Canada Jays steal the dog kibbles of a slow eater, and where the locals cruise the dirt roads and shoot the partidges along the road from their pick-ups, while the sports in their expensive attire bust the brush with their dogs. Grouse huntin' ain't shopping. It's a rare occasion when I've limited out at 4 birds in an 8-hour, leg-testing day in the woods and marsh edges (think 8 hours of singles tennis in mud, bogs, raspberry brambles and cage-like alder thickets). It's a work-out. At some point, you start wondering how long it is to cocktail hour. The Woodcock keep it interesting and varied. It's a 20 ga. sport, or even 28 ga.

Hunting grouse is wonderfully difficult, challenging, and frustrating - but you get to spend time in the wild woods with dogs and pals and guns, smoking at will and accumulating precious memories to re-live in your old age.

Pic via Synthstuff:

A re-post from many years ago -

The chirp of the crickets reminds us that hunting season is fast approaching. I have been too busy focusing on yard and farm work to pick up my 12 ga. Belgian boxlock s/s which I only use for pheasant, which has been at the gunsmith since January for a bad firing pin. Sad to say, I only have a paltry two non-local trips planned for the fall: Duck, goose and grouse in Manitoba, and grouse + woodcock (and maybe trout) in the Adirondacks. I made a mistake and scheduled my Adirondack trip to overlap with an annual group trip to New Brunswick for grouse, and puddle duck too.

But there are abundant local opportunities for winter duck, grouse, and "flying mattresses," (ie pen-raised pheasants which is to hunting as miniature golf is to golf but is highly gratifying to dogs who get a little bored or frustrated after two hours without putting up a grouse). The pup is definitely ready and I have gotten him off pointing turtles, mice, and grasshoppers. He still points snakes, and finds them interesting but fortunately will not pick them up. Yes, he likes birds. Why does the subject come up? It's time to get to the outdoor catalogs real quick.

I like The Ugly Dog and of course Filson's. Cabela's hardly needs my help. Sierra Trading Post often has very good deals on outdoor stuff, along with lots of other useful clothing.

I should put in a plug for Arrow Lake Lodge in Canada where a pal of mine likes to go - photo from their website.

What kit catalogs do our readers enjoy?

I used to have a Browning 28 ga Featherweight. It was truly light. In fact, a little too light in weight for my accuracy or lack thereof. However, it was a pleasure to carry for 6 hours in the woods.

At some point, I turned it in to buy something else in s/s, but I wish I had that 28 now for grouse and especially Woodcock.

Many claim that a 28 patterns better than any other gauge. I wonder whether any of our readers ever hunt with a 28.

Should be, but are not. Long-time readers know that is part of a bay on Lake Winnipegosis, with the duck boats ready to go.

NYM posted this pic of Virginia's Thornton Hill Hounds, eager to get out of the trailer and to work. He notes that these are mostly Penn Marydels. Not house pets.

More cool stuff about dogs - How dogs became domesticated. h/t Classical Values. Dumb soundtrack and no real audio, from a Russian fox farm -

Watch the video