lead to TSS

[hawglips]

The first to the last....

Here's a picture of the first time my brother and I killed ducks together - January 1974. We had discovered a small flock of wood ducks in that was feeding in a large cornfield field first thing in the morning, and hid ourselves in a large ditch in the general area hoping they'd swing by close enough for a shot. I was shooting a Belgium made Browning Light 20 Auto 5 with a 28" full choke barrel and 1 oz of Winchester lead 4s. He was shooting an older Belgian made Browning 12 ga with a 26" improved cylinder - but don't recall the ammo. They passed by close enough....




Then here was our last hunt together, nearly 45 years later - October 2018. It was our first time in about 40 years getting back together in our old wood duck stomping grounds, in a swamp about a mile away from where we killed those ducks in 1974. This time I was shooting 7/8 oz of TSS 8-1/2s out of a Franchi 48AL 28 ga with 26" barrel and light skeet choke, while he was shooting a Remington 870 20 ga with 26" barrel and cylinder choke with 7/8 oz of TSS 8-1/2s.



Funny how things change a lot but the essence remains the same...

[derbyacresbob]

That is pretty cool hawglips!

I like the 1974 picture. I graduated from high school in 1971, got married in 1972 and had a two year old daughter in November of 1974.

[bullet225ho]

That's awsome!

Don't have a brother that I shared hunts with but I do have great memories of wading the Rio Grande river with some Air Force buddies when I was in my early 20's. Those were fun times. Funny thing is, back then I shot an 870 20ga with 3/4oz #4 and #3 steel shot. The guys that hunted with me made fun of me over that gun until about half way through a limit. LOL

[hawglips]

I used to shoot that gun and load at everything from wood ducks and teal to snow geese. I could hang with the 12 ga guys with no problem. Then my buddy and I started handloading our own #4s and would pack it a little heavier and add a pinch more powder.... Never blew anything up, fortunately, and we killed a lot of birds with it till they made us start shooting steel.