I bought a double...now what?

BrentD said:
If you have removable chokes,more open on the bottom for the first shot. But which chokes for any given day depend on conditions and bird jumpiness..

Overall, most of us way overthink choke issues.

Welcome to the Twin-Tube Club (aka TTC)!

PS. NICE DOG! You did the right thing, buying her a new gun.. now, you owe it to her to practice with it. 2 rounds of trap every week (shoot low gun style)
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What does low gun style mean?
 
2ski said:
What does low gun style mean?
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Sorry. International skeet requires starting from "low gun" where butt of shotgun must be touching a piece of tape at waist marking lowest point of shooter's elbow when target is pulled. High gun is with shotgun fully mounted when target is pulled. Trap is shot high gun because 1) the shooter is already sixteen yards from the house when target is thrown and 2) oscillating machine means shooter will not know which direction clay is thrown. Only an expert would have much chance shooting trap low gun. In skeet the shooter always knows the flight pattern of every target when it leaves the house ... except maybe on days when wind is gusting. Shooting international skeet competition low gun is supposed to make it more fairly challenging. However, shooting low gun skeet actually improved my scores significantly (most noncompetitive skeet shooters shoot high gun). Easier to see the targets and no time to overthink the shot. Also, shooting low gun emulates field hunting. No one walks up on a birdy/pointing dog with shotgun mounted. Not hunting over my dogs anyway.

Also in international skeet, the thrower has up to three seconds delay to throw the target after shooter calls for it to be pulled. Gun butt cannot move from tape until the target leaves the house. Tricky.
 
Call for the bird ("PULL") with your gun at the ready but not on your shoulder. Raise the gun and shoulder it as the bird comes out of the house. The purpose of this is to make a perfect gun mount subconscious and consistent. Don't rush the mount. Begin the process as you call, but learn to make it feel smooth and natural. Real birds are much slower, of course, but they provide the surprise and excitement that leads to poor mounting and bad shots and, therefore, unhappy dogs.
 
crock239 said:
Starter kit? ;)
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The funny thing here is that the O/U used to be considered the newest, greatest technology out of Britain & Germany - ultra rare & commanding premiums while the side by sides were becoming heavy, ungraceful sticks in the US to handle the meatpaws of mill workers & farmers. Until John Moses Browning designed the Superposed, the over/under was for the elite and cheap SxS's were a dime a dozen. Browning's design was made to allow the average man the ability to own a quality double without breaking the bank and he designed the single selective trigger that we all know and love today.
 
BrentD said:
Call for the bird ("PULL") with your gun at the ready but not on your shoulder. Raise the gun and shoulder it as the bird comes out of the house. The purpose of this is to make a perfect gun mount subconscious and consistent. Don't rush the mount. Begin the process as you call, but learn to make it feel smooth and natural. Real birds are much slower, of course, but they provide the surprise and excitement that leads to poor mounting and bad shots and, therefore, unhappy dogs.
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On some skeet stations I will sometimes pull the target with my big A-5 lower than "low gun." For hunting practice (and to show off 😀) I sometimes pull #1, 2, and 7 with gun hooked under my right arm like I'm walking out of the field. Of course safety must be engaged (as it is in the field). Station seven is a piece of cake starting underarm, even the doubles. For most skeet doubles I'll usually come off the gun and remount for second target. Not all the way down to low gun but enough to make it a repeat of instinctive find target-mount-shoot-follow through all in one motion. The only station I shoot high gun is number eight. I'm too old and slow to find the targets and get on them in time from low gun. Anyway I'd never shoot at a bird in the field that close. It would be just a sack of hamburger with a few feathers still attached.
 
Ben Lamb said:
Now, you'll want a side by side in a year or two. Listen to that instinct. ;)
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rwc101 said:
The next step after buying an over under is drinking port and wearing cashmere cardigans while extolling the virtues of a double over pumps and semiautomatics in front of a lit fireplace. Until, of course, you buy a side by side when your next step is drinking sherry and wearing cashmere turtlenecks while extolling the virtues of a side by side over an over under. Chokes don't matter. Birds die out of respect.
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BrentD said:
I have been shooting doubles for 30 years. I have zero cashmere or turtlenecks of any type and I don't drink sherry. Must be missing out.

But I am cooking 3 ruffed grouse for dinner tonight. Must be doing something right.
View attachment 229445View attachment 229446

That junker probably cost considerably less than the OPs Berretta, just about all of the new autos. It's just a clunker, but it kills stuff. Most importantly, my dog loves me :).
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Salmonchaser said:
I quit reading when he showed the O/U. Double should be SxS😁
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These four men --- :love::love::love::love:

Ben Lamb said:
The funny thing here is that the O/U used to be considered the newest, greatest technology out of Britain & Germany - ultra rare & commanding premiums while the side by sides were becoming heavy, ungraceful sticks in the US to handle the meatpaws of mill workers & farmers. Until John Moses Browning designed the Superposed, the over/under was for the elite and cheap SxS's were a dime a dozen. Browning's design was made to allow the average man the ability to own a quality double without breaking the bank and he designed the single selective trigger that we all know and love today.
Click to expand...
Except for those of us who were setting in front of a fireplace, wearing a cashmere sweater and drinking the adult beverage of are choice,

and--CSMC -----;)
 
Nice shotgun. How did the “I bought the gun for the dog, not for me” line go over with the significant other?
I don’t know about yours, but my dogs can’t work a trigger.
 
rwc101 said:
Until, of course, you buy a side by side when your next step is drinking sherry PBR and wearing cashmere turtlenecks mismatched 10 year old Sitka gear, while extolling the virtues of a side by side over an over under. 870. Chokes don't matter. Birds die out of respect still fly away but you can revel in how good you look.
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Minor edits.
 
Chokes would depend a lot on the dog you hunt. if it's a flusher, normal first shots are gonna get longer. If it's a pointing dog, first shots get shorter. I hunt over pointing dogs. Most used gun is a 28ga SxS with IC/SK3. I thing SK3 is what the smith called it. Just a bit less than Mod he said. I since got another SxS in 28ga and it has removeable chokes, first gun I've ever had with removeable chokes! I have it set up with IC/MOD chokes. The dog is going to dictate chokes for most shots! With a poinging dog, shots can be awful close. With a flushing dog shots are gonns start quite a bit farther out.
 
Don Fischer said:
Chokes would depend a lot on the dog you hunt. if it's a flusher, normal first shots are gonna get longer. If it's a pointing dog, first shots get shorter. I hunt over pointing dogs. Most used gun is a 28ga SxS with IC/SK3. I thing SK3 is what the smith called it. Just a bit less than Mod he said. I since got another SxS in 28ga and it has removeable chokes, first gun I've ever had with removeable chokes! I have it set up with IC/MOD chokes. The dog is going to dictate chokes for most shots! With a poinging dog, shots can be awful close. With a flushing dog shots are gonns start quite a bit farther out.
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I'll argue exactly the opposite. The first week of hunting public land (or any time hunting posted private reserves) a pointing dog MAY give you closer shots. After that the pheasants I hunt won't hold long enough to catch up to a typical far ranging pointing dog. Most good flushing dogs work close ... or they should if handled properly. Pheasants and Huns are problematic because they run so much. Most flushing dogs are bred to be clingy and will turn back or wait if a bird does a runner. Most pointing dogs are bred to run like hell. No stopping them when they are on a runner. Sure, they may be able to get a point at 300 yards, but can you catch up in time for a shot? Doubtful, especially if that bird has already done a runner. He's already nervous.

I hunted most of last season on a highly pressured federal bird refuge with a flushing Lab that just happens to also be an exceptional pointing dog. Until the snow was on the ground I had skeet in my 12 gauge shooting 3" mag #4s (only steel shells I could find). I did well and surprisingly few birds shot up (but I'm experienced enough to pull close shots for edge of pattern or miss and pick it up on second shot). After snow I switched to modified as the birds were so spooky they were busting at the mere sound of us coming. Dog must work VERY close then.
 
OntarioHunter said:
I'll argue exactly the opposite. The first week of hunting public land (or any time hunting posted private reserves) a pointing dog MAY give you closer shots. After that the pheasants I hunt won't hold long enough to catch up to a typical far ranging pointing dog. Most good flushing dogs work close ... or they should if handled properly. Pheasants and Huns are problematic because they run so much. Most flushing dogs are bred to be clingy and will turn back or wait if a bird does a runner. Most pointing dogs are bred to run like hell. No stopping them when they are on a runner. Sure, they may be able to get a point at 300 yards, but can you catch up in time for a shot? Doubtful, especially if that bird has already done a runner. He's already nervous.

I hunted most of last season on a highly pressured federal bird refuge with a flushing Lab that just happens to also be an exceptional pointing dog. Until the snow was on the ground I had skeet in my 12 gauge shooting 3" mag #4s (only steel shells I could find). I did well and surprisingly few birds shot up (but I'm experienced enough to pull close shots for edge of pattern or miss and pick it up on second shot). After snow I switched to modified as the birds were so spooky they were busting at the mere sound of us coming. Dog must work VERY close then.
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I'm sorry but you don't know what you are talking about concerning pointing dogs.

An honest dog will hold pheasants, huns whatever... for you to flush. Does it work EVERY time? No, what does? Does it work a lot? It does in my experience.

Here's a mess of pheasants shot in December over big running pointing dogs.
F661EFA6-8910-4D5F-9911-C4B4A5F3BDEE_1_201_a.jpeg
 
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