Tower Shoot

 I have posted on this event before. Several times a year a group of like-minded sportsmen convene on a friend's farm in Berks County for a tower shoot. This Sunday was the last of the season. Here the Barbour and L.L. Bean and Boyt and Filson is not some catalogue charade; rather it is real gear for the intended purpose.

These shoots find a gathering of a great group of wing shooters in beautiful setting in rural South east Pennsylvania. When we marshal before the shoot there are greetings and good natured insults and the bark and cry of dogs. The double guns are un-cased and pockets and bags are filled with shells.We all put money in a pot for the shot of the day. After the shoot we return to the house for hot soup and a cold beer. There are a lot of laughs and ribbing about shots missed and compliments on shots made.

The landowners home. It has the feel of a Bavarian manor.

 This Sunday the weather was raw and windy. The field was still hard from the freeze last week. However,there was a veneer of thawed mud from the warm weekend and it made walking out to the posts something like treading through chocolate pudding smeared over glass.

 The shooting in challenging and fast. The birds are hardy and game. Each hunter shoots from 12 stations and when the wind is right you can go through 3 boxes of shells and shoot as fast as you can load.

 The dogs get in a lot of work. They retrieve from the field and the woods lining the farm, hustling about and likely having more fun than the shooters.

My Browning 12 gauge got a good work-out yesterday and I made a few fine shots...including a double. I also had my share of misses. When the shoot was over we enjoyed a venison and vegetable soup, some home made smoked venison sausage , a wheel of Gouda and some cold beer....a fine way to spend a Sunday morning with a convivial group of guys....some robust wing-shooting and fine dogs.