May 2011 – Page 2 – Sporting Road

Armagnac and Cognac

Armagnac is produced in the Gascony region of France, further south towards the Spanish border, than its more famous and much more expensive cousin, cognac. Both Cognac and Armagnac are certified regions for making these brandies. Armagnac is traditionally distilled once, which results initially in a less polished eau de vie than Cognac, where double distillation usually takes place. However, long aging in oak barrels softens the taste and causes the development of more complex flavours and a brown colour. Aging in the barrel results in some alcohol escaping, the part known as part des anges ("the angels' share). Armagnac is sold under classifications, "VS" is a mix of Armagnac grown brandies with at least two years of aging in wood, "VSOP" is at least five years, and "XO" is at least six. Hors d'âge means the youngest component in the blend is at least ten years old. Older and better Armagnacs are often sold as vintages, with the single year of vintage demarked on the bottle. Brandies keep for years, even after opened, so treat yourself to some Armagnac. An inexpensive one we like is Marquis de Sauval Armagnac, around $30 a bottle at the time of writing. Because of the single distillation versus the double of Cognac (some 150 miles to the north), some French refer to the "taste of the earth" that they experience with Armagnac, while others simply call it "dancing fire followed by velvet flame." Vintage is not as important as the blending. Cost (and quality) is usually dependant upon origin (or terroir), the grapes, the distillation process, the length of time spent in oak casks, and the brilliance of the blending process. If you find a good one, which is easy to do in the Gascony countryside (as this is

By Sporting Road|May 22nd, 2011|Categories: Cuisine|Comments Off

Shot Sizes are Not the Same in the UK as the US

Many of my shooting friends, even those that are well-traveled, are surprised to learn shot shell sizes are not the same everywhere. So when you read that Lord Ripon was shooting driven pheasants with size 7 shot, it was really an American size 6 shot. This rich English tradition on even the toughest of driven birds, known for being shot well overhead, when understood in the proper pellet size, undermines a lot of American thought towards bigger shot sizes, longer shells, and more powerful shot shells. American Size English Size European Size Australian Size Pellet Diameter Inches Pellet Diameter mm Pellet Weight (grains) Lead Pellets Per Oz. Steel Pellets Per Oz. 11 12 12 .062" 1.57 .35 1250 11 11 .066" 1.68 .42 1040 10 10 10 10 .07" 1.78 .52 848 9 1/2 .075" 1.91 .63 688 9 9 9 9 .08" 2.03 .75 568 8 1/2 8 8 .085" 2.21 .97 472 8 7 8 7.5 .09" 2.31 1.29 399 7 1/2 6 1/2 7 .095" 2.41 1.46 338 7 6 7 6 .10" 2.59 1.62 291 423 6 5 6 5 .11" 2.79 1.99 218 317 5 4 5 4 .12" 3.05 2.57 168 243 4 3 4 3 .13" 3.25 3.12 132 192 3 2 3 2 .14" 3.43 3.65 106 154 2 B 2 .15" 3.81 4.38 86 125 1 BB 1 BB .16" 4.09 5.47 71 103 BB A .177" 4.50 6.25 55 72 BBB AA AA .19" 4.83 7.29 42 61 T AAA AAA .20" 5.16 36 53 F .22" 5.59 27 39 #4 Buck .24" 6.10 21 30 #3 Buck SSSG SSG .25" 6.83 19 28 #1 Buck SSG .30" 7.62 11 0 SG 00/SG .32" 8.38 9 00 .34" 8.64 8 000

By Sporting Road|May 18th, 2011|Categories: Wingshooting|Comments Off

Sporting Dog First Aid Kit

Out here in the Wild West, we often bird hunt hours away from the nearest veterinary clinic. Snake bites, gashes from barbed wire fences, porcupine quills in a dog's muzzle, cactus and weed seeds in ears, eyes, paws and various other places, among other injuries are all common place where we hunt. But, all owners, trainers, and dog handlers should be knowledgeable of basic first aid care for hunting dogs. We ask our dogs to hunt and work over varied terrain and conditions, in various Western and Midwestern states, therefore numerous emergency situations can be encountered. Anyone taking a dog afield should have a well-equipped first aid kit available. Do not wait until an injury occurs to gather the necessary items. I find a large tool box/brief bag will carry the most frequently used items. It should be non-locking to provide for easy access to the contents. Label the outside of the box "K-9 FIRST AID" for easy identification. I have a dog first aid kit that would impress a surgeon. Wound gel, gauze pads, bandage tape, suture kit, spare dog booties, even the superglue surgical glue and sutures. The internet is full of canine first aid kits; I suggest using a robust one as a starting point and adding anything you can think of together with the help of your veterinarian. Have emergency vet info on you, too, and if you’re traveling to a new area do a quick search of 24-hour emergency vets in that region ahead of time. If you live in snake country, find a trainer who does snake-avoidance training, and talk to your vet about vaccinations for snake venom. At a minimum, we recommend that you have the following on

By Sporting Road|May 18th, 2011|Categories: Wingshooting|Comments Off

Samoon and Tandoori Bread

A few times a month, I frequent Diyar International Market in Denver, Colorado to get some steaming breads from its Middle-eastern shaped ovens. These samoon are usually scooped up as fast as they come out, five loaves cost less than $2. There samoons are pizza-shaped dough which is slapped onto the oven wall. They are also baking tandoori breads which are produced from circular dough and baked in the clay oven. The proprietors are from northern Persia. Their butcher section is stocked with fresh halal meat, butchered weekly from local goat, chicken, lamb and beef carcasses. It is the freshest and best looking meat selection of any Middle-Eastern market in Denver. Diyar International Market, 2159 S. Parker Road; 303-337-6527 Another worth a visit is Haji Baba Bakery, 5708 E. Colfax Ave. for pita bread baked here but it is sold at other Middle Eastern grocery stores throughout Denver, as well as Wild Oats Market. We also like two of the other International Markets along Parker road and Iliff and Evans for hard goods. Pick up some Mediterranean roasted almonds while you are there.

By Sporting Road|May 18th, 2011|Categories: Cuisine|Comments Off

Nabulsi Cheese Starter

Nabulsi (or naboulsi) is one of the white brined cheeses made in the Middle East. Its place of origin, Nablus, is well-known throughout the West Bank and surrounding regions of Lebanon. It is the number one cheese consumed in Jordan. Produced primarily from sheep milk, goat's milk is also used, and I just loved some made of cow's milk. Nabulsi cheese is white and rectangular in shape. It's texture is similar to feta, but it is very salty from the brine and it becomes soft and elastic when heated, as is often used in deserts, including the Palestinian dessert knafeh. It is seasoned with salted brined and blacked coriander seeds and stored in cans which last months. While there are many dessert recipes featuring Nabulsi cheese, and some calling for it in salads of tomatoes and chick pea salads, I opted for something of a Mediterranean version of this great starter. 4 oz. Nabulsi cheese cubed 2 tomatoes cubed handful of olives a few tears of basil s couple of peporcinici Sala andfreshly ground pepper

By Sporting Road|May 18th, 2011|Categories: Uncategorized|Comments Off

Mighty-Lite Shotgun Shells Are a Thing of the Past
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Mighty-Lite Shotgun Shells Are a Thing of the Past

Gone---as are inexpensive shotgun shells in 2021 of any brand. Shotgun shells now cost triple what they did just a year ago under Trump and center fire rounds have gone from $.10 each to $1.00 a round for rifles and handguns. If you can find it, as there remains year long waits for various ammunitions due to national shortages. Our wingshooting instructor, Buz Fawcett, always recommended Estate Cartridge Company Mighty Lite loads in 3/4 oz loads for 12 gauge. We used to special order them by the pallet from the factory at near wholesale rates from Texas. They were just under $2 a box delivered in 2996-2006. But Buz said if can no longer get Estate Cartridge, which happened around 2011, try Winchester 7/8 oz load, or shells by Caladre, Fiocchi, or Buschare-Ilagre, all Italian made shells. Well the day has come and Estate Cartridge Company has been acquired by Federal and the new company is no longer making the Mighty Lite loads. And, as of 2021, all of the above cartridges sell for $10 a box, some are $16/box such as those by RST, which are made for side by side guns. Modern factory shotgun loads are often labeled in "drams equivalent" or "dr. eq." A dram of black powder is 1/16 of an ounce. Dram equivalent means the powder charge in the shell is supposed to produce the same shot velocity as the listed dram equivalent of black powder. So if the box is labeled 3 drams, that means the velocity will be the same as a black powder shell containing 3 drams of powder. In 12-gauge, 2 1/2 dr. eq. s is a very light or low recoil load, 3 is typical for

By Sporting Road|May 17th, 2011|Categories: Uncategorized, Wingshooting|Comments Off

Romeo y Julieta Cigars

I have been fortunate to try a fair number of cigars, both at home and abroad. Cuban cigars are currently illegal in the United States, except for pre-embargo cigars which are very rare and perhaps not well stored. Technically, an American citizen cannot even legally purchase or smoke a Cuban cigar while traveling abroad, although many Americans have indulged in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Europe, among other places where Cuban cigars are sold. I have to say, Cuban cigars may be overrated as the forbidden fruit. Pre-ban, Cuban cigars were rated the best in the world--no doubt due to the fact that Americans comprised the majority of the cigar market of the world and bought all the Cubans could make. Today, Americans buy nearly all the Dominican, Honduran or Nicaraguan cigars that can be made, and they can even taste better than the previously famous Cuban cigars, which have also declined along with everything else in Cuba since the Americans left. But being an authentic Cuban cigar does make it the forbidden fruit for Americans and, therefore, desirable to some connoisseurs. To prove the point, one can expect to pay as much for top Dominican and Nicaraguan cigars as for many mediocre Cubans. I used to attend quite a few cigar tastings. And, the best Dominican cigar currently available is arguably the Fuente Fuente Opus X. And, the Padron 1926 could be the best cigar from Nicaragua. Depending on your individual taste, these cigars will likely be better than most anything currently rolled in Cuba. Macanudu is a good cigar and has an interesting history in Jamaica and now the Dominican Republic. The label was a spin-off from Punch, which is also a decent cigar. Arturo Fuente has a similarly mediocre story and taste, along with Hoyo de Monterrey, which is one of the least expensive, decent cigars and mild

By Sporting Road|May 15th, 2011|Categories: Uncategorized|Comments Off

From Ranch Hands to Royalty

For over 20 years, Meg Anderson and John Lake catered all manner of shindigs at her Cherokee Ranch and Castle, which is now an open-space foundation, for then-owner Mildred Montague Genevieve “Tweet” Kimball. They recently published a book, which contains not only recipes, but reminiscences of the horse people, the cattle woman herself, and the charmed life she lived at the Colorado landmark. I knew Tweet fairly well, which is as much as anyone can probably say, as she was a character unto herself. I particularly enjoyed attending political dinners and being invited to sit next to her, as it was better than sitting at the Governor's table, as literally everyone who was anyone, and then some, would stop by her table to say hello. John Lake doubled as Tweet's butler and upon making the faux paux at one of our closing hunts of calling one of her traditional Bow Tie servings at the castle a "hors d'oeuvres," he pleasantly went on to tell me, "Actually, this would be called a canapés. Most of us use the words hors d'oeuvres and canapés interchangeably. Tweet was very clear on the different meanings of these items. For sit-down dinners and buffet style, she served canapés. These were bite-sized items passed before dinner on silver trays, usually on crackers or toast points. Hors d'oeuvres are dips or items that require a toothpick. Appetizers would be served as a first course at a sit down dinner."

By Sporting Road|May 15th, 2011|Categories: Cuisine, Foxhunting|Comments Off

Snake Breaking

Bird dogs are usually interested in chasing anything that moves, which can include rattlesnakes. The first sequence shows a dog who hears, smells, sees, and then tries to chase a rattlesnake which has been defanged for use in this specialized training. The dog suffered no pain, as there were no fangs in the snake and, after being bit, he went right back to trying to chase it again, so the bite itself is not a future deterrent. The second sequence shows a dog being trained to avoid snakes. The tape flags mark an e-collar around the dog's neck, as they train multiple dogs at the same time during these sessions. The dog is corrected when he clearly hears, smells and sees the snake. Usually this process takes just 1-2 corrections and they won't even look at a snake again (and will avoid one if they hear or smell it), as shown in the third photo where the handler is trying to get this Brittany to walk near the snake, but he wants nothing to do with it.

By Sporting Road|May 11th, 2011|Categories: Wingshooting|Comments Off

Favorite Books about Upland Hunting and Dog Training
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Favorite Books about Upland Hunting and Dog Training

Being a voracious reader, I am often asked about my favorite books for upland bird hunters. All books by Jim Fergus, such as A Hunter’s Road and A Sporting Road, are among my chief favorites. And, I enjoy reading Mike Gould again and again, especially Plateaus of Destiny. But, I have to confess they all feature Brittanys, so that may be part of the allure for me. Gould's Labrador Shooting Dog (it features pointing labs, but this training method works for all pointing dogs and is the method I follow, having studied under Gary Ruppel. And Bob Wehle’s Wing and Shot features the more traditional methods and is well written. If you had to stop with just these few, you really wouldn't need any more to become fully educated on pointing dog training, especially for Gary Ruppel’s natural method of dog training, which is not focused on the electric collar and force breaking methods. The others mentioned above will show you what you can accomplish with this training method. But if you will not be satisfied knowing that there are so many more books out there to read, one could move on to all of the books written by the late, great Bill Tarrant would be next to add. Bill was a gentle soul, a voracious writer and focused heavily on learning from and writing about professional trainers. He praised most, both in his writings and in his conversations with me, Mike Gould and (his protégé at the time) Gary Ruppel, for the “new school” of professionals. Some of Bill's books are more how-to, others are more interviews, and some are fictional. The titles tell you which way they go, there are about 8-10 of them all together. Then you could add one more book directed at Brittany lovers, which features a very natural method but a bit more directed to

By Sporting Road|May 11th, 2011|Categories: Wingshooting|Comments Off

Monthly Archives: May 2011