My Wife's First Hunting Season

chiendog · Post by **chiendog** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:12 pm

My wife Lisa and I spend a lot of time in the field chasing game. For years, I carried a shotgun to put meat on the table and Lisa carried a Canon to put photos in our picture albums. Then, last February, she said: “I think I‘m ready to be a ‘real‘ hunter. Find out how she did here:

https://cdog.exposure.co/the-huntress

DudeRN · Post by **DudeRN** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:15 pm

very nice, great pictures! now you'll have to take turns with the gun and camera

chiendog · Post by **chiendog** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:25 pm

Thanks!

Actually we got fewer photos and video this season than we normally do since I carried my gun most of the time and only picked up the cameras once every few days. On most days, I wanted to be there with my gun in case Lisa needed a back-up shooter, especially when we were hunting pheasants. As you probably know, those wild Dakotas roosters can sometimes be hard to kill outright and I did not want her to lose any cripples. It turns out that my backup shots were not needed. Lisa crumpled every bird she hit (and missed clean the ones she missed).

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 4:00 pm

Not only got a wife that hunt's but she use's a SxS to boot. Where did you find that girl anyway?

chiendog · Post by **chiendog** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 4:49 pm

She's from Québec so maybe the whole 'classy side by side' thing is in the genes

Either that or she was just so used to seeing me shoot side x sides (Darnes, French sliding breech guns) that all other types just seemed a bit strange to her. In any case, whenever we go shopping for a guns, the only ones she ever wants to check out are side by sides. We were lucky to find a sweet 20 gauge Yildiz at a local store and had the stock cut by a pro. The gun now fits her to a tee and she handles it like a champ!

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 5:55 pm

You've got a Darne? Other than photo's I've only seen one in my lie. I was at a gun show and a lady came in with one and had no idea what it was. apparently her husband died and she was wondering what it was worth. I had no idea but I'll never forget that sliding breech! How do you like shooting it?

chiendog · Post by **chiendog** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:57 pm

DonF wrote:You've got a Darne? Other than photo's I've only seen one in my lie. I was at a gun show and a lady came in with one and had no idea what it was. apparently her husband died and she was wondering what it was worth. I had no idea but I'll never forget that sliding breech! How do you like shooting it?

Yes, I have two Darnes; a 20 gauge and a 16 gauge. Both are model V21 (Darnes come in two types, V's and R's. Both are nice, the V's are fancier). I used to have a 12 gauge but I sold it since I mainly used it for waterfowl and shooting tungsten through it was getting a bit pricey

As for how I like shooting them? I LOVE it!! They are light, super fast handling guns that are now like an extension of my arm/eye. I am not a good shot by any measure, but I do my best shooting with my Darnes and I can carry one all day, every day for the whole season.

Here is a video of me shooting snipe with the 16 gauge Darne, originally purchased for my wife. Somehow it became my gun though..she prefers a more traditional action (and a pistol grip) and we could not bring ourselves to lopping off some of the stock so it would fit her. http://www.craigkoshykphoto.ca/p864745993/e3afb796

And here's another from this year. It is just me blabbing at the camera about a cool double I made on pheasants over my old girl Souris, but you can see the 20 gauge that I use most often. http://www.craigkoshykphoto.ca/p864745993/e180601ee

And here is a photo of the 20 gauge (top) and the 12 gauge (bottom) and a limit of roosters.

chiendog · Post by **chiendog** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:05 pm

I just realized that I have another video where my Darne is front and centre. It is of a rooster hunt in South Dakota on a cold day with my dog Uma (Pont Audemer Spaniel, another strange French thing I hunt with). As you will see in the video, on the first rooster my second shot was a misfire. Turns out it was a bad batch of shells (faulty primers). I had the gun cleaned anyway and the firing pins checked (they were fine). I've not had a problem since (and never had one before either). http://www.craigkoshykphoto.ca/p864745993/e328d259a

chiendog · Post by **chiendog** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:14 pm

Ok, just one more, I promise!

In this video, I am using the 16 gauge Darne (mainly because it has a sling so I can also carry a camera). If you skip to just beyond the 2 minute mark, I start putting the camera down and shooting with the gun. At about the 3 minute mark, footage from the Go Pro on my head clearly shows the gun... and me missing a snipe with both shots

http://www.craigkoshykphoto.ca/p864745993/e7e8b6b1d

Fran Seagren · Post by **Fran Seagren** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:28 pm

Wow. Great story and great pics. Thanks for sharing.

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 10:18 am

That Wiem in the first one is one nice dog! I was hoping you'd put in the Darne with the action open. I bet there's a lot of people on here that never heard of a Darne. Nice looking gun!

1gundog · Post by **1gundog** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 10:48 am

Liven the dream, great thread.

chiendog · Post by **chiendog** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:49 pm

Here ya go! My 12 gauge Darne with the breech open.

And closed:

MNTonester · Post by **MNTonester** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:55 pm

very nice. wish my wife would have become a hunter, but at least she is an extraordinary cook and never disappoints with the stuff I manage to bring home

DudeRN · Post by **DudeRN** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 8:22 am

chiendog wrote:Here ya go! My 12 gauge Darne with the breech open.

And closed:

whoa! I didn't know such a thing as a sliding breech shotgun existed!!

chiendog · Post by **chiendog** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 8:39 am

The sliding breech design dates back to the late 1800s and has not really changed much since then. Lots of info here: http://www.shotgunlife.com/shotguns/art ... -lust.html

And here is a video of a top of the line model (with top of the line price!) http://youtu.be/Dc3mcdyS5R0

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