# 2013 Report; first ever Small Bore Challenge



## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

First of all, sorry, but no pictures.

We had a very good season in northeast southcentral westeast North Dakota. Although bird numbers were down from last year, there were still opportunities for shooting a limit of birds for most of us each day. Over a week or so, I hunted with my 2 brothers and 4 cousins. Not all were there for the full week and this group included guys whose only hunt each year is the family gathering in ND. Lots, I mean LOTS, of misses for the casual hunters in the group. Stayed on for a 2nd week with one of my brothers.

I had 5 or 6 limits in 11 days of hunting, which included 2 days in which I was skunked (= 0 birds). Probably shot 22-23 pheasants in total. We ate a bunch. And I got literally skunked on the 2nd day of the trip (note to self: when your Lab pounces on a patch of brush and no bird erupts, you might want to consider the possibility that it's a skunk or porcupine at the bottom of that brush patch before you rush in to flush the bird that wouldn't flush for the dog).

Highlight for me may have been the accomplishment of the Small Bore Challenge, a goal I concocted to spice things up. Don't misunderstand this as cockiness -- I'm an average shot and grateful for every bird I bring to the game bag. On November 20, with a Plains snow storm enveloping my brother and me, I was able to shoot a day's limit with 20, 28 and 410 gauge shotguns. Oddly the toughest bird of the 3, the first of the day, was an easy going-away shot with the 20 ga., which went down a runner on the 3rd shot. Only excellent dog work saved that bird for me. The 28 and 410 gauge birds went down like a sack a bricks with one shot each. It was fun and I was really pleased when the 3rd bird fell.

Already thinking about next year. One of my brothers suggest that I toughen the Small Bore Challenge -- 3 different birds (pheasant, Hun, Sharptail) with 3 different gauges (20, 28, 410) in one day. Now that's a challenge!


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