5 minute read
Al Rostello,Outdoor Writer
By Al Rostello
Since my last “Question Box” column I have received two very good questions. Therefore in this month’s Adventure Sports Outdoors (ASO), I will try to answer these curious inquiries. Q. How can a shooter find shotshell brands and loads that are not available at Central Illinois sporting goods stores and chain stores like K-Mart? When I was stationed in Europe, the military forces in the NATO Alliance were supplied with Fiocchi ammunition and we thought Fiocchi’s cartridges were top notch. They were good enough to trust our lives with, so this is the ammo I want to use in the field hunting.
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A. In order to best answer your question I called Terri Scherff at (417) 7254118 who handles customer relations for Fiocchi, USA. She recommended checking out Fiocchi’s website (fiocchiusa.com) for distributors and their dealers nearest you.
She also recommended going to your favorite ammunition dealer and request a special order of the shotshells you want. Come to think of it, Terri offered a good tip. The best way a dealer has of knowing what hunters want, is if customers ask for a product.
I would think in today’s economic climate, if consumers wanted to buy certain shotshells, some dealers would be glad to fill that special order. Soooo. Visit the websites of the ammunition companies for all the necessary information you need, and then head to the dealer to make a deal. Who knows? Maybe the particular brand and load of shotshell you want is in a nearby store.
Q. It seems like you are hunting all the time. What do you find to hunt every month? Are you poaching?
A. I’m not Robin Hood, so it’s not necessary to poach King John’s deer. LEGALhunting seasons are open all year in the Rostello household. I’ll answer your question by using “bullets.” • September: that’s easy. There’s dove hunting (one of my favorite seasons),
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September Canada goose and teal seasons. • October: another easy one. Dove season is still open. While October doves require more effort to find than September birds, some of my best dove shoots happened in early October. About mid-October I start hunting waterfowl in the North Zone. By late October I’m after ducks and geese in the Central Zone. • November: a “gimmie” (give me). There’s ducks, geese, pheasants and quail to hunt. I don’t deer hunt but the opportunity to go after whitetails is there. In all my years of hunting, I have never missed going hunting on Thanksgiving Day. • December: the best month of the year. I usually shoot a lot of mallards in December. Goose hunting, which I dearly love, is generally at its best for me. In addition, I always harvest most of my pheasants this month because the cover is not as thick and snow on the ground makes it easier to find birds. • January: still plenty of action. Thanks to CILCO’s warm water and plenty of resident giant Canada geese, I am hunting geese more in January than I ever did 15 years ago. Moreover, crow season is open. Whenever I can’t go goose hunting, I go out for a few hours and blast these raucous varmints. • February: from loneliness to a wedding ring. For years February was the dreaded month because with nothing to hunt I felt alone and sad. Then it happened four years ago, I met a new love of my life - crow hunting. Like a new girlfriend, crow hunting is exciting, challenging and a good time. This February I went crow hunting whenever I could and enjoyed every hunt. Now I can’t hardly wait until next February. • March: enough to hunt. Being busy with February crows means that all my few preserve pheasant hunts occur during this month. What I like most about March is that it’s time to scout for turkeys. Expert gobbler hunters (e.g. Ray Eye) believe that 90 percent of turkey hunting is scouting. I agree and feel that I’m back in the hunting game. • April: quality not quantity. Besides the scouting that’s involved, there is one week of turkey hunting which is my true love. Heaven forbid, but should I ever be told: “Al, you are only allowed to hunt one week a year,” my choice would be to go play chess with the gobblers. • May: more of the same. Every year I apply for an April permit and May permit. This year I did not get a second permit. I’m not upset though, I’ll be in the woods with a camera instead of a gun. • June, July and August: the hard times. I survive by going on a coyote hunt in June, a woodchuck (groundhog) hunt in July, barnyard pigeon hunting whenever a farmer is kind enough to give me permission and shooting sporting clays courses a few times. Since sporting clays simulates wingshooting, I’ll accept it as a substitute for actual hunting.
Good thing I only had two questions because my answers got long-winded. No doubt about it! When I cannot go hunting, I enjoy writing and talking about my favorite sport.
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