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boon hogganbeck
PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 2:15 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Nov 2020
Posts: 83
Location: mtns of central PA

Cold Iron, yes they let me in! I think of your nice early Ithaca 37's in 16 gauge. Amazing guns. One of these days I'll have one, when money isn't so tight. Thanks for the advice on NY. I know the southern tier isn't doing well for grouse, but even so, my young dog could use the contact & I'm happy for whatever I can get. This summer, I'm working for 3 weeks up near the Adirondacks so I'll probably do some scouting in the northern tier as well.

Pine Creek Dave, I had a memorable adventure this year on the Potter/Tioga line. Checked out a new cover and my 10-month-old setter pup immediately stepped into a dirt set trap for coyotes. It happened so quickly I thought a rattlesnake had got him. I was alone, and getting him out of that was a puzzle, he was just screaming. Finally had to wrap a jacket around his head. But he was no worse for wear once I got the trap popped. I am also working on a young dog--he hasn't quite figured out the wily grouse, they mostly outsmart us, but we've managed to put a couple birds on the ground. Love the looks of a Gordon setter. My grandfather raised a long line of setters in WV, mostly English w/ a couple Irish mixed in.
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Cold Iron
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 7:19 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Mar 2016
Posts: 746
Location: Mn.

16gaDavis wrote:
Cold Iron , we are about 5mi's north of the lake and most of the action starts just So of the lake . Will probably be at Naples for Trout opener , just one of those weird old habits one stays with . If it's cold , the creek bank rocks will be slick and this bad hip will be perilous !! Wouldn't miss it .... Keuka is actually one of the easier Trout lakes if you know the secret ! Can't remember the actual name of the spoon is , but these with a slot cut with a string of glass beads strung there . Different sizes depending on the exact time of spring . An old girlfriends gramp had a house on the west side of the lake and we caught boatfulls on the most unsophisticated equipt ! Our lake has tons of Trout , perch and other panfish , but you may also get a 7or8 # smallie , which is a hoot on a 5' perch rod ! This state would die without deer . Kid just sent me a pic of the 11 pt that I've been chasing right at his house the last 2 yrs . Had him at 27/28yds last yr right after I shot my doe and didn't reload the X-Bow ! (too much work getting 2 of them the 40yds to the house ! Now you know I'm getting old !)should be down perching next week on the other branch of the creek from Naples ! Will be down to the camp 5/1 for Turkey opener . There is actually a lot of state land down there if you check out a DEC map . Next co East of Steuben is supposed to be 75% state land - just never needed it !


"LIKE" Except I can't recall the name of that lure with the wire down the center with an opening in it either. Going to drive me nuts the rest of the day until I do LOL.

The County East of Steuben is Chemung. The town or technically Hamlet of Chemung is to the far East of it. South of Ithaca. Maple Hill State Forest is the only public land I can think of there ~600 acres. And yes there is an old over grown apple orchard in it if you know where to look Very Happy

Shot this 8 pointer behind the race track on Bodine's Hill in Chemung with my Ithaca 37 deerslayer 16 ga. years ago. My grandfather took the gun to the Ithaca factory to get the deerslayer bbl. fitted for my 16th birthday. Used my grandfathers (now mine) Winchester 30-30 for reference it is\was my Pa. deer gun.



This is the barn down at the bottom of Bodine's hill, it was in 1983 when I was back home on recruiting duty.



In the 60's while checking the trapline behind the house I seen a wild turkey and told everyone about it no one believed me. There was snow on the ground and dad came out to check it out, sure enough turkey tracks. Everyone got excited no one had seen them in many years if ever. Now they are everywhere.

Thanks for the memories!


Last edited by Cold Iron on Sun Mar 21, 2021 8:03 am; edited 1 time in total
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Cold Iron
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 7:31 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Mar 2016
Posts: 746
Location: Mn.

boon hogganbeck wrote:
Cold Iron, yes they let me in! I think of your nice early Ithaca 37's in 16 gauge. Amazing guns. One of these days I'll have one, when money isn't so tight. Thanks for the advice on NY. I know the southern tier isn't doing well for grouse, but even so, my young dog could use the contact & I'm happy for whatever I can get. This summer, I'm working for 3 weeks up near the Adirondacks so I'll probably do some scouting in the northern tier as well.




The top one 26" is pristine and marked Mod but IIRC measures .011. Have never fired it yet I use the middle one all the time. The bottom one is a prewar and the recoil pad needs replaced. Bought it from a Michigan grouse hunter and he told me he wanted it to go to someone who would continue using it for grouse as he was too old to hunt anymore. It had a polychoke on it at one time and he cut it off so it is 25" and enough choke was left that it measures .003 or .004 don't recall exactly. Still haven't gotten around to shooting it either.

Not really looking to sell either of them. But when the time comes that you are ready to acquire a 37 you know how to contact me. For you I'd let one of them go. I know they will get used by you and kind of a shame that they just sit in the safe instead of being used. But I can only carry and shoot one gun at a time. And have a number of other guns that I use more now days. But the middle one gets taken out at least once a year out of tradition.
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16gaDavis
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:02 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 24 Jun 2013
Posts: 2062
Location: canandaigua - western n.y. (formerly deerhunter)

C.I. - yeah , ssooooo many memories from down there . Our old property was 300 acres a little so west of Savona . No turkeys originally , lots now with the overgroth . Lots of deer . The old house had a couple big barns and housed a bull dozer . Nice weather during gun season , and a couple guys went to get the dozer out and nearly got killed by a huge 10 pt that figured out no one used the barn !! That block was shaped like a diamond and was 2mis X 3 mis .... i could go on every inch as a kid . Now , can't access any !! the Cohocton was right out front and the farmers could care less about Trout . Not the same today ! No snakes ! The little river/creek over the hill from my cabin , has lots of trout and lots of Rattlers to play with ! No bears back then - many usually now at my place . Area has morphed a lot since 1954 !!

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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 12:02 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2787
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

Boon,

I hate those stinking leg traps also, my hunting partner Ken Graft had his Gordon female get caught in one, up on one of the Potter County mountains, it was a real mess until I covered the dog with my Grouse jacket, Ken still got bit. Once we got Ruby out of the trap and inspected her foot and leg she was no worse for wear. She limped around for an hour and then went right back to hunting properly.

Ruby is one of Holys dual Gordons and has nice size paws, if my Gordon Penny would have gotten caught, it would have probably broken her foot. I fear for my new Gordon she does not weigh 35 lbs and has real tiny feet. I wish they would put the yellow flags up neat those traps again, to warn us to keep our gun dogs away from the trap areas.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Pine Creek Ripper my male Gordon Grouse dog, he and Penny my female were both incredible natural Grouse dogs. Ripper would never point a planted bird, I acquired him because he would not play FT games. It took me 2 years but he finally trusted me and we trained him on wild Grouse, he became an incredible Grouse dog. His ashes are spread under his favorite 100' Pine Tree on my land in Potter/Tioga, I talk to him often.


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boon hogganbeck
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:11 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Nov 2020
Posts: 83
Location: mtns of central PA

Cold Iron, that's very kind of you. I'll keep in touch. I think one of these light, solid 37's would be perfect for the 10+ mile grouse death marches we do in WV up & down those ridges. I would certainly give one good use! My mediocre boots gave out on me, the soles have totally detached after a busy season, and I'm dropping some $ on a quality pair now. But then I'm going to start putting some nickels aside for guns & dogs.

I can't remember if I told you this elsewhere, but my grandfather was once known as the hardcore grouse hunter, setter man, & wingshot in our WV county (we even had some quail back when)... Not sure I would have believed it otherwise, but my friend Joe, who is 92 years young & was a B-17 gunner in WWII, used to hunt birds w/ my grandfather, who was toting a pump that day. A family group of 5 grouse got out of a clump of greenbrier, trickling out one at a time. Grandpa put all 5 on the ground w/ the pump. Unfortunately I can't say I inherited that skill!




The top one 26" is pristine and marked Mod but IIRC measures .011. Have never fired it yet I use the middle one all the time. The bottom one is a prewar and the recoil pad needs replaced. Bought it from a Michigan grouse hunter and he told me he wanted it to go to someone who would continue using it for grouse as he was too old to hunt anymore. It had a polychoke on it at one time and he cut it off so it is 25" and enough choke was left that it measures .003 or .004 don't recall exactly. Still haven't gotten around to shooting it either.

Not really looking to sell either of them. But when the time comes that you are ready to acquire a 37 you know how to contact me. For you I'd let one of them go. I know they will get used by you and kind of a shame that they just sit in the safe instead of being used. But I can only carry and shoot one gun at a time. And have a number of other guns that I use more now days. But the middle one gets taken out at least once a year out of tradition.[/quote]
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boon hogganbeck
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:21 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Nov 2020
Posts: 83
Location: mtns of central PA

Pine Creek Dave, that is quite a handsome Gordon. Hope to keep one someday.

If you ever see somebody in a red Jeep Cherokee w/ a tricolor setter up in your territory, pull over & say hi. I work all week but try to spend Saturdays in the north woods. This was my pup's first season. He really struggled with grouse at first, he is a big-running dog and tended to out-run his nose and bump birds, but as the season rolled on he had some solid points. Here's Vance with first grouse, at 10 months old, on a very hot November day. Not in your territory, but it's a hard-won Pennsylvania bird.



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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:27 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2787
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

Boon,

Will keep an eye out for ya.

Hay looks like an old double gun under that nice Grouse, what gun are you carrying in the Grouse woods?

Beautiful Grouse tail - congrats to your young Setter! All Pa Grouse are hard won.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

We call it God's County cause it is!




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boon hogganbeck
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:07 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Nov 2020
Posts: 83
Location: mtns of central PA

Dave, I own a grand total of 2 shotguns but that SxS you see is my prized possession, as it was my grandfather’s last grouse gun. A Browning BSS Sporter in 20 gauge, 26”, single trigger, English stock, IC/Mod. He was one of 32 heirs to a family property in Greene County PA; when the sale was forced through the court, he had enough money to buy a good shotgun. (He was a pipeline mechanic and this was a big purchase.) He didn’t use it many seasons before a stroke affected his trigger hand. So it’s in good shape, but with just the right amount of scratches that I don’t mind banging through the mtns with it. I’m thinking of having the Mod barrel opened to something like Sk1, though, as I tend to use this gun in the early season. (I can’t seem to make the long late season shots with it.)
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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:52 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2787
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

Boon,

Man that is great stuff, prize you're grandfathers good double gun, use it as much as you can and pass it down thru the family.

Use some 6's in your 2nd barrel for the longer shot, you will see a great deal of difference in your Grouse count. I use 8's in the 1st barrels and 6's in the 2nd most all the time.

Nice old gun, congrats on owning it!

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man


Last edited by Pine Creek/Dave on Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:57 am; edited 1 time in total

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Swampy16
PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:12 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Oct 2019
Posts: 453
Location: New Jersey

Boon, when did you move to PA? You’re that much closer to making it to the Catskill Gathering UJ puts on. We’d love to see you there. You’re in great area, get some miles on the truck scouting, even morel hunting so you have a good idea where to start in October. Potter is a gorgeous part of PA.
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boon hogganbeck
PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:31 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Nov 2020
Posts: 83
Location: mtns of central PA

Swampy16 wrote:
Boon, when did you move to PA? You’re that much closer to making it to the Catskill Gathering UJ puts on. We’d love to see you there. You’re in great area, get some miles on the truck scouting, even morel hunting so you have a good idea where to start in October. Potter is a gorgeous part of PA.


Swampy, I'd like to go to the Catskills (if I can get the vaccine by then). Depends on my spouse, though... she seems to want to drive out to Montana this summer (fine with me, I'll get to trout fish) and do some camping, and I can't get away till July, so that might have to be the time.

I moved up to PA the fall before Covid hit to take a job. Enjoying it so far. I'm close to some excellent trout fishing, and I can hit a few wild birds if I drive north a couple hours. I found a few morels on our place in WV last year, but haven't yet gotten lucky in PA, though I did find a couple nice chicken-of-the-woods around here.
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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:30 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2787
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

Boon,

If you can try to acquire a nice camp on the northern tier, pick out a county where the taxes are low and try to purchase some land with the camp. Having my log cabin on the line of Potter and Tioga county right up against the SGL, I love both the Grouse hunting and the fly fishing along Pine Creek. Moving to this area is definitely something to consider, especially if you are retired.

Welcome to the Pa mountains, we call Potter County Gods Country cause it is!


Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

West Branch of Pine Creek - Potter County

.

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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:33 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Boon, that grouse is beautiful! My favorite by far is a gold hued bird with a chocolate tail band, we rarely see one here in Wyoming. For that matter, the ruff hunting where I live is rather poor but we have a variety of other birds to make up for it.

Dave, you probably don't have as much to worry about with traps as you might suspect. My previous dog, Katie, was rather tiny. She never weighed over 23 lbs. in her 15 years. Early in her career she stepped in a bobcat set and squalled like the demons of Hades had a hold of her. She let me open the trap with out biting me and went back to work with a slight limp. Five minutes later the limp was gone and she was hot on the trail of a covey of chukars. No broken bones or residual negatives.

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Cold Iron
PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:18 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Mar 2016
Posts: 746
Location: Mn.

WyoChukar wrote:
Boon, that grouse is beautiful! My favorite by far is a gold hued bird with a chocolate tail band, we rarely see one here in Wyoming. For that matter, the ruff hunting where I live is rather poor but we have a variety of other birds to make up for it.

Dave, you probably don't have as much to worry about with traps as you might suspect. My previous dog, Katie, was rather tiny. She never weighed over 23 lbs. in her 15 years. Early in her career she stepped in a bobcat set and squalled like the demons of Hades had a hold of her. She let me open the trap with out biting me and went back to work with a slight limp. Five minutes later the limp was gone and she was hot on the trail of a covey of chukars. No broken bones or residual negatives.


I have hunted Ruff from the Southern Appalachians where they are primarily Red phase, Western Wa. State where they can be a rainbow of colors and my favorite phases, Twin Tiers of NY and Pa. where they can be 50/50 red or gray, and now here in Mn. where they are primarily gray. But some times get lucky and got a pair of reds here one day, it was a rare day.



I keep moving North and actually am often on the Canadian border. Last couple of years have shot a couple of ruffs that were "off" and are a hybrid of spruce and ruff. Yes it happens. Next time it happens will take a picture of them finally.

Agree with the leg hold traps although now to be political correct they are called toe hold traps. Growing up in Tioga County Pa. everyone I knew trapped that lived outside of the towns. Got my first $100 bill from fur. Used to go up to Elkland Pa. to sell my furs but gave a big boar coon hide and a couple of muskrat furs for my first fly rod. Yellow Shakespeare fiberglass broom stick that had a rotted cat gut leader. My grandfather put a piece of monofilament on it for a leader, not much for a tippet LOL.

Never caught a dog in one of my fox dirt hole sets. What scares me out here and a few other States are the snares and 220 Conibear traps. The Conies are often set in bucket sets which are dangerous IMO. And once trapping season opens anytime the dogs get near a culvert I freak out and call them away. That is where conibears are often set. Usually the snow is too deep for the dogs to run by the time trapping season opens. But not always.

I carry heavy duty wire ties for the Conibears just in case. And a pair of Stainless Steel cable cutters for snares.



Leghold traps I don't worry about so much.
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