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Got my Ultra Light- Oh Boy!


birdbrooks

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I'm more excited about my new 12 GA Ultralight w/ 24" barrel than any shotgun- bar one- I've ever owned and that's saying something, because like everyone here I've put a whole lot of use on my guns. I've been shotgunning for 38 seasons, starting in Minnesota in the '60's. I've used 6 shotguns throughout, owning two or more at a time for different types of hunting. They were all reliable irons. Some handled real well, some you had to get to know intimately to shoot right-- like my high ramped Ithaca #37. (The old A5's were that way too- remember anyone?!)

 

But this Ultralight handles so sweet and quick it's gotta be illegal. It rates on a shoot-ability level above any auto (or pump) I've ever handled for quickness to the shoulder, natural point, ramp vision and flat out dexterity--in winter hunting clothing too.

 

If I miss with this gun there's no way I can blame the gun. The UL cycles shells as smooth as my M1 (going strong since '94) and the latch carrier allows you to remove shells from the mag w/o cycling them through the chamber, just like the M1. It has met my expectations so far and I am a happy man. The crio barrel and chokes are showing awesome patterns and the pheasants fold the way you want them to-- I'm sold on the crio for long range patterns.

 

The one gun that rates #1 in my bird shooting arsenal is for grouse and early season pheasant only- a Beretta Silverhawk. But that's another story.

 

I would recommend this bird gun to anyone who appreciates a fine handling shotgun.

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There are some pretty good hunting opportunities here in SC, but I guess for upland hunting there are some great opportunities in Minnesota hey.

 

MN grouse: we're still #1 for ruffed grouse. We enjoy a lot of open state and federal land to hunt with aspen stands abounding, and some huge lumber tracts, but it is starting to get broken up through federal land sales and leases and access in the future will change.

 

MN pheasant: came back big time in the last 10 years with CRP, conservation programs and mild winters. The future is less certain and depends on land management decisions. From MN it is not too far a drive to great pheasant hunting.

 

MN ducks: Younger people would not believe how good the duck hunting was until the 80's here. "The Land of 10,000 Lakes" is actually more than 15,000, and big or small, including all the sloughs and wetlands now mostly drained and tiled were full of waterfowl. Hundreds of thousands of canvasbacks, bluebills, ringbills, red heads, mallards and other ducks flew the Mississippi flyway down past the huge northern lakes full of wild rice like Winnibegash, Leech Lake and countless others. Western Minnesota was loaded with sloughs--long ago. We would sometimes get 10-12 different species in the bag including the mallards, gadwalls, woodies and other puddlers on a hunt.

 

Geese: Lac Quie Parle on the western border is still one of the biggest northern refuges allowing hunting and it was spectacular, with over 100,000 geese migrating through the flowage. Now a lot of those geese have shifted west or barrel through later in the season straight to refuges further south. But the hunting there can be still be awesome.

 

I could go on about deer, turkey, etc., but suffice it say between the hunting and fishing, it is still pretty hard to beat MN as a sportsman's headquarters.

 

That said, people like sports writer Dennis Anderson's coalition are working hard here to preserve and improve upon what we have, before it's too late and we lose that quality of life.

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