Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/116174
EDEN Postscript: Matt Behe and Dan Torgerson did indeed hit the road that night for the World Championships of the Bird Dog Challenge in Meriden, Kansas. But I stayed alone at the lodge and gave them a call around 1 a.m., and they were somewhere in middle Tennessee, bearing west with their German shorthairs. Two days later the competition kicked off with the top 72 ranked dogs in the nation. And when it was all said and done, Matt and Brute had won the whole event and wound up ranked Number One in the World. Continued from 125 started out this morning." And so we crossed the road and then crossed the creek and finally crossed into the edge of the field just as the sun began sinking into the tops of the trees a thousand yards to the west. The sky was pale and airy blue, but the woods and fields were bathed in warm colors of russet and oak and the soft cool glow of gathering dusk. The path where we entered was steeped in twilight, with only a single sprig of goldenrod surrounded by shadow but still bravely holding its ground against the night, and we hadn't gone 50 yards when Shooter and Brute locked up on the last point of the day. Perhaps it was the light. Perhaps it was the coolness of the evening or the inevitable sigh of the wind as it whispered through the grasses and the trees. Perhaps it was the perfection of the moment or my own introspection at the longing feeling of having returned to a land and a moment that I could inherently understand. But whatever it was, it transcended the ageless act of hunting and instead bordered on art as the evening breezes washed over us and we eased into the point. I edged up alongside Shooter's left flank as Dan fell in behind me with the cameras, and when the covey broke, it broke east into the wind. There were seven birds in the air at once, a natural right-to-left as my gun began swinging with the covey, and as the muzzle caught up with the second bird from the front my finger began to tighten on the trigger. And now I barely remember shooting, only the distant staccato cadence of the camera going off in rapid fire and the warm sunset glow shearing the field out ahead and brushing the edges of the oaks in warm shades of gold as that beautifully trained and sculpted brace of German shorthairs stood frozen in time next to me – the perfect finale to the finest evening of wingshooting with which I have ever been blessed. S IF YOU WANT TO GO Willow Oaks Plantation provided as fine a wingshooting experience as any I have enjoyed. The staff, facilities and dining are superb, the landscape and hunting is the real deal, and the guides and dogs are proven champions. Call 336-707-7814 or visit www.willowoaksplantation.com. FIELD TEST by Chuck Wechsler As a rising (much too quickly) septuagenarian, I no longer enjoy the quick reflexes and keen eyesight of my teenage years when I chased ringnecks across the snowy plains of South Dakota. But now, toting a sweet little over-and-under that both fits my frame and balances perfectly, I can not only hold my own in the gamefields, but even enjoy a few precious moments of truly blissful wingshooting. My shotgun of choice at Willow Oaks Plantation was a Fausti Class Round over-and-under. CNC machined with a round receiver, the little 20-bore features a distinctive coin finish (it's also available in case coloring), pierced top lever, round pistol grip, Scottish checkering, and hand-finished engraving. Even with its 3-inch chamber and 28-inch barrels, the gun weighs only 6.3 pounds. For more on the Class Round and other fine shotguns, visit Faustiusa.com. Note: The author always welcomes your comments, questions and input. Please keep in touch at Mike@AltizerJournal.com. P O R T I N G C 175 L A S S I C S