Wingshooting

Greater sage grouse counts tick up West-wide August 25, 2020 by Angus M. Thuermer Jr.  Spring counts of strutting male greater sage grouse increased slightly this year across their western strongholds, possibly indicating the end of a three-year decline. Wildlife officials in Idaho, Montana and Oregon reported small increases seen on breeding-ground leks this spring. Wyoming reported a small drop of 0.3 birds per lek — a 1.5% decline — which Game and Fish officials said indicates a “leveling out” of a three-year slide in the Equality State. The annual count of strutting males suggests the status of the overall population, said Leslie Schreiber, Wyoming Game and Fish’s sage grouse and sagebrush biologist. “It’s an index,” she said of the count. “It’s a trend of the population.” Together, the four states hold about 76% of the world’s greater sage grouse. The population dropped an estimated 44% in key western states and provinces between 2016 and 2019, driving worries about the imperiled bird that was once a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. While the 2020 uptick is encouraging, one year does not a trend make, wildlife officials told WyoFile. “It’s the first year since 2016 we haven’t seen a decline,” said Oregon’s Lee Foster, who is concluding work as sage grouse conservation coordinator with that state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Hopefully that means the population will go up in the next three years.” But, “you can’t make any real predictions on one year’s data,” he told WyoFile. Catherine Wightman, wildlife habitat coordinator with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, agreed. “I don’t think we can say from one year of data what our populations are doing over the long term,” she said.  The numbers In

From Good Shot.

I wanted to post these up here before I forgot to show our daughter how to make these rubber boots for bird dogs hunting in cactus country.  These come out like Lewis dog boots, which have gotten very expensive and are frequently lost afield.  However, these are more single use compared to the Lewis boots..  They are make from motorcycle inner tube tires and can be single use, but they work great.  From our Bird Dog Doc. Alternate method of improved stretchy Velcro attachment for 1000D nylon boots These are surprisingly decent for $3 each and I haven’t lost one yet with the improved closure system that they call Velstretch. Typical Velcro comes undone or slips off too easily in the field, but these work surprisingly well. https://dogbooties.com/shop/1000-denier-cordura-booties/ Lewis Dog Boots instructions for use

Instinctive Shooting - The Making of a Master Gunner by Buz Fawcett as Featured in the Double Gun Journal.  Buz Fawcett has been an associate editor at Sports Afield, an editor at Guns & Ammo, and a writing instructor. He founded Buz Fawcett's Wingshooting Workshop, which is internationally recognized and nationally advertised.  If you enjoy the reprint of this article, which was with the author's permission, you'll love Buz's new book  Instinctive Shooting, available from Amazon.  

I picked up a few things on attire from Buz Fawcett, Jack O'Connor, and others along the way during my travels.  I discovered that we, as American , hunters, don't have to be dressed in  blaze orange and camo and covered in blood all the time, or just turning up with whatever we are wearing for the day such as jeans.  We can learn a lot from the Brits' attire, using driving shoots and safaris as good examples of both cold weather and warm weather winshooting attire options.   And, while catalog companies such as Orvis and LL Bean used to provide quality options for hunters, now they are just largely marketing companies for goods made in China by non-hunters, so you have to dig deeper to find quality manufacturers than just relying on catalogs. Willis and Geiger was my long time favorite outfitter for safari clothes.  A new company is trying to replicate their old lines at https://avedoncolby.com.  A Tilley hat often completes the warm weather look, as felt is often impracticably hot. Wellies are pretty impractical for most Western hunting, but the French model with leather lining by Le Chameau is very nice.  However, in the West, absent duck or snipe hunting, Russell moccasins are generally my favorite all-around boots.  And, I generally deviate from Buz's English recommendations and go for more of a proper safari look. And, you can't really beat a custom safari felt hat, or what they call a Terai, from Priest Hat Company, which is now https://www.facebook.com/SilverTipHatCompany or the practicality of a wool driving cap.   A beaver felt hat with a 3” brim will help your shooting if you wear it low in front and high in back.  A Tilley