The Tomatoes are ready and so are the Birds

Tess in pool training for the duck season

An other banner year for our victory garden and the tomatoes Gods were good to us again. I

A harvest of tomatoes

think we are on your 3rd side of bacon for our BLT's. We closed the pool for the winter to concentrate on packing provision for our Montana and Canada fall campaign. With the new Lance camper, a 1161,  stocked and ready for bear then hauling a Grand Cherokee behind the 7.3 Ford workhorse.  The Jeep is loaded with boat motors for Canadian fishing and duck hunting. The precise task to pack for 6 weeks of camping in the Canadian bush returning in November is complicated.

Fishing requires streamer rods and
long undies. Upland hunting demand excellent footwear and so I have two pairs of Miendl's. One must be mobile to find the concentrations that shift each year, well trained dogs, good companionship and the right type of smooth bores as life is short so why hunt with ugly guns. This year I will focus on trying my 1886 28 bore rebounding hammers Birmingham made as a true smooth bore rather than a converted cape gun.  The beauty was restocked with Turkish/Circassian Walnut (Juglans Regia) by the Dennis Smith, d.b.a., the Stock Doctor with a slight cast on to a leather pad. Checkering was 26 lines per inch.  Keith Kearcher did the barrel work with his proprietary browning. The Tisdall is choked 1/4 and 1/2 with little pitting and good bore thickness.  Also included on the journey are several other hammer guns and a tidy Holland and Holland 1892 made by W&C Scott and Sons. For geese of course it is the Omar Bradley Winchester Model 21 Duck grade with fluer de lys checkering with 30 inch tube bore out by incomparable Stan Baker R.I.P.

28 bore

1867 Scottish Jones under-leaver, 28 bore Tisdall,, W.C. Scott Premier, Holland and Holland 12 bore

I had a friend load up some black powder 12's for the upland and waterfowl hunt. And so my goal is to get a double with smoke throughout the field of vision. And so I wait till my son returns to the Madison trout stream from his motorhoming up to Helena and Great Fall when we will attack the brown trout as they prepare to run from Quake and Hebgen Lakes.