My First Shotgun

I’ve read many articles over the years by hunters who described how they acquired their first shotgun or rifle. Some were given a gun by a family relative or parent they hunted with as a youth while others worked odd jobs even picking up soda bottles on the roadsides to buy that first gun. These articles were always interesting and sincere, but none of that happened to me. I didn’t even touch a gun until I was a teenager at boy scout camp working on the rifle merit badge. I spent two years during high school on a 22-rifle shooting team. After that, I didn’t touch a gun again for almost seven years when I was a graduate student in the wildlife management program at the University of Minnesota.

A graduate student friend was completing a ruffed grouse food habit study which required collecting grouse every month for a year to analyze the plant residue in their crops. My friend invited me on a collecting trip because finding ruffed grouse in the thick forest in the summer was hard. But I didn’t have a shotgun, so I used the University’s collecting shotgun, an H&R breech loading 12-gauge single shot. It was a heavy cumbersome gun. I was inattentively walking on a trail in the Superior National Forest on a hot July when I realized there was a ruffed grouse standing in front of me. I raised the gun and shot, which was the first bird I ever harvested.

But this was enough of a positive experience for me that I bought a hunting license and hunted frequently for ruffed grouse in the fall since I was working in the Superior National Forest and had opportunities to go hunting almost daily. Since I didn’t have a shotgun, I surrounded myself with friends who had plenty of guns. I was a gun mooch. Actually, this worked out well for me because I used many different styles and models of guns, learning about their advantages and disadvantages.

I sent a picture of me holding a limit of ruffed grouse home to my parents in Colorado Springs, CO. They decided to buy my first shotgun. My parents were not outdoor types. For them, a trip from the front door to the mailbox on the curb was a significant and refreshing outdoor experience. Consequently, they went to Abercrombie & Fitch, which at that time was located in the Broadmoor Hotel and sold hunting and fish equipment, mostly highend.

For ruffed grouse hunting in Minnesota, the salesperson recommended a Remington Model 870 12-gauge pump shotgun with full choke and 32-inch barrel. Then my parents went to a considerable effort to find someone who was driving to the Twin Cities and could deliver the gun. When I opened the box, I realized it was not suitable for ruffed grouse hunting. It was like a canon and much too heavy to carry for long periods in an alert and ready position.

The next day I took the shotgun to a gun store in St. Paul. After a period of negotiation plus $100, I walked out with an Ithaca Model 100 20-gauge side-by-side shotgun as my first shotgun.

Technically, the Remington Model 870 was my first shotgun, but since I never fired it, I considered the Ithaca my first shotgun. I never told my parents that I immediately traded off the gun they gave me. There are some things parents just don’t need to know.

Our three sons adopted this same strategy early in their childhood. Unfortunately, it frequently didn’t work out well for them and they would have been ahead to keep Mrs. Urich and me in the loop, especially when they became teenagers. The Ithaca was my only shotgun for over ten years and was the only shotgun I had when I moved to Missouri. I hunted quail, ruffed grouse, rabbits, pheasants, waterfowl and even wild turkeys with it.

I had finished up a quail and pheasant hunt on the Lake Paho Conservation Area, Mercer County, with three friends who were having a terrible time loading their disobedient dogs into my truck. I leaned the Ithaca against the welcome sign post in the parking lot so I could help. After getting all the dogs loaded, we drove off, completely forgetting about my shotgun.

An hour later, I realized my shotgun was still at the parking lot and I hurried back but it was gone. I stood there looking at that post, lamenting my first shotgun was gone forever. I didn’t realize how important my first shotgun was to me until it was gone. I reported the loss to the Mercer County Conservation Agent and the county sheriff’s office, but I had little hope.

Two months later, I got a call from the Department of Conservation office in Chillicothe. A hunter brought my shotgun to the office after tracking me down through the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office. A staff member was traveling to Jefferson City the next day and brought me the shotgun stopping at the gun store to buy a new case for it. I had my first shotgun back. It was a miracle and I was elated. I called the hunter who found it and offered a reward which was declined. But I boxed up coffee, summer sausage, cheese and other items which I mailed to him along with the story of how I acquired my fist shotgun. Maybe if I had told my parents that I traded off the shotgun they gave me, I wouldn’t have lost the Ithaca.

Sadly, the Ithaca was not the only shotgun that I’ve left lying around over the years. But thanks to significant and timely intervention on my behalf by the celestial forces, I’ve gotten them all back. Now when I take others hunting, I explain the two rules before we leave.

First, if anything goes wrong on the trip, it is not my fault. Second, everyone is responsible for keeping track of my stuff. I have a typed list in a clear plastic sheet cover in the center console of the truck listing my hat, sunglasses, wallet, lumbar support, reading glasses, gun, camera and cell phone.

The last two items require extra attention because of significant losses in recent years. We don’t leave any location until the list is checked and rechecked and there is a visual record of all my gear. Recently, two of our sons typed the list into their cell phones and now I can send the list to the cell phones of others I’m hunting with which makes tracking my equipment much more efficient.

When our three sons started hunting with me, they needed a first shotgun. Sharing a shotgun on a hunting trip is a big downer. For the cost of a $5 raffle ticket, I won a Browning side-by-side 20-gauge shotgun at the first Ruffed Grouse Society banquet in Missouri, which became our oldest son’s first shotgun. Of course, winning this shotgun used up my luck at fundraising banquets and with lottery tickets for decades. I bought another Ithaca 20-gauge sideby-side shotgun for our middle son from a hunter who didn’t need it because it was not steel-shot compatible.

Our youngest son used a commemorative Department of Conservation Browning 20-gauge over-and-under shotgun. Since our lives were hectic and busy as our sons became teenagers, I neglected to inform Mrs. Urich how much it cost to outfit them with double-barrel shotguns, which were a necessary but unbudgeted family expenditure squeezed in under the radar.

When our sons turned 30 years old, I gave them two items. The first was the shotgun they used growing up because I knew their first shotgun would mean as much to them as mine did to me. The second was a series of folders with items and mementos from their childhood. One folder had old-school assignments. Another folder had the programs from their athletic events and other activities.

The third folder had memorabilia from their time as boy scouts and with other organizations. The last folder was labeled legal. It contained conduct slips for bad behavior on the school bus, after school detention notices, letters from principals, court notices and other documents related to their participation in the justice system. At one time, Mrs. Urich’s 3 sons were the backbone of the county community service program working long, hard hours without pay to atone for their transgressions and errors in judgment.

Our sons have busy lives now that makes it extremely difficult for all of us to get together. But when we do have a gathering, there is always a series of clay bird shoots in different categories. One of those is the first shotgun shoot. We all use our first shotguns, and I put up the $100 prize for the winner since I’m pappa dollar for the family. About half of the time, I’m the winner of the first shotgun contest and I’m adept at celebrating my victory ostentatiously. I also offer helpful tips to our sons so they can improve their wing shooting skills and possibly win the prize next time. They find this gloating very irritating, which is why I do it. But now that I’ve eased into my mid-70s, I’ve earned the right to celebrate shamelessly on the rare occasions when I win. Plus, I get my 100 bucks back which I always spend lavishly on Mrs. Urich typically taking her to the dinner theater.

David Urich

48 Conservation Federation

Fly Fishing: Unconventional Tools

Walk into your local fly shop, and the amount of tools available is overwhelming to even the most experienced tyer. Dubbing brushes, vise attachments, bobbin threaders and the like are strewn across the walls in varying prices. However, there are many valuable household or otherwise unconventional items available for little to no cost that can help you in your flytying endeavors.

I asked some of the best tyers in the state what they use, and here is what they had to say.

Chuck Gries, Owner of Anglers Outfitters in Branson: Dental floss threaders. I use them to thread my bobbins and they work way better than any conventional threader

Ryan Walker, Founder of Ozarks Smallmouth Alliance and Guide: Small butterfly clips girls use in their hair. They are perfect for holding materials or fly segments back when you are doing multiple-step flies like articulated streamers. The more you can keep stuff out of the way the better, and these are perfect. Have your wife or girlfriend buy them!

I also like having toothpicks around. Use them to spread UV resin or other adhesives when finishing flies. It is a lot easier than having to clean a bodkin every time you use it.

Tyler Menton, Springfield fly tyer and fisherman: One of the best dubbing brushes you can use for a dubbing brush is an old toothbrush. I trim the front of it and leave the back. With the long handle and varying depth of the bristles you can brush out scuds all the way to articulated streamers.

I really like keeping safety pins around to store bare hooks. It keeps them organized and in reach when you are tying a lot of flies.

Tyler Dykes, the Show-Me Fly Guy: I like having an extendable magnet tool around. The amount of hooks, beads, and tiny metal stuff you drop when fly-tying is immeasurable. Having this tool allows you to easily find and pick up these items, especially if you are tying over carpet. I also use hair clips to hold materials like Walker.

Darren Sadler, Mozark Fishcapes: I use an old coffee grinder for mixing and blending dubbing and other materials. It allows me to make my own colors of scuds or other bugs. Another great tip is to have dryer sheets on your desk. It cuts the static electricity down and makes cleaning up those stray hairs and fibers a breeze on the desk top or inside the coffee grinder.

Duane Doty, Ozark Trout Runners: A good knife and plastic bag in your vehicle to collect materials laying on the side of the road. Along with that, a shotgun/rifle/bow with a hunting license to collecting materials. Freeze the hides you are going to use and you have a lot of usable materials (squirrels, deer hair, possum hair for dubbing, etc.).

I also like having a small TV hooked up to the internet right by the tying desk. I look up fly-tying videos, pictures or recipes and it is a lot easier than using your phone.

As you can see, there are a lot of useful tools right at hand when tying flies. From size twenty scuds to size one or two streamers, countless household and everyday items can help you get your homemade bugs ready to hit your favorite Ozark stream.

Use these tips to make your fly-tying setup as streamlined and efficient as possible, all for little to no cost!

Ryan Miloshewski

Road trip. We didn’t choose the perfect playlist. Or program the GPS. But we did fuel the car that made you realize there are no wrong turns, only new adventures. When the energy you invest in life meets the energy we fuel it with, amazing journeys happen.