The FORD Lounge

[Ford F834]

That is wonderful, Jonathan! Prayers answered!

As for analytical quantitative chemistry, I've run a gas chromatograph or two. Does that qualify?

It does Gary! 😉

[1986F150Six]

It does Gary! 😉

I, too, worked in a GC laboratory.

[Ford F834]

I, too, worked in a GC laboratory.

We are birds of a feather then David! 😎

[1986F150Six]

We are birds of a feather then David! 😎

HPLC, too.

[ctubutis]

Wish me luck, today I start a new job in quality assurance at the Griffith Praxair plant.

Congratulations, Jonathan!!!

17 months for me, I start a new job next Tuesday doing Linux/UNIX/IT system administration & support for a government contractor in the aerospace industry.

Sorry for the terseness, I don't know if I'm allowed to say anything more than that in social media.

[Gary Lewis]

Congratulations, Jonathan!!!

17 months for me, I start a new job next Tuesday doing Linux/UNIX/IT system administration & support for a government contractor in the aerospace industry.

Sorry for the terseness, I don't know if I'm allowed to say anything more than that in social media.

Congrat's, Chris!!!! Another prayer answered!

[Ford F834]

Congratulations, Jonathan!!!

17 months for me, I start a new job next Tuesday doing Linux/UNIX/IT system administration & support for a government contractor in the aerospace industry.

Sorry for the terseness, I don't know if I'm allowed to say anything more than that in social media.

Congratulations Chris!

[Nothing Special]

Congratulations Chris!

My "other" hobby is pointing dogs. For the last 30 years I've always had one or two. I don't compete with them (other than an occasional fun run with my club). But I train my own dogs and enjoy following them around in the woods while they hunt grouse and woodcock (I do carry a gun so I can help the dogs get the birds).

My current dog, Kenzie, is a 6 year old Gordon Setter. In her first year or two she showed promise of being the best hunting dog I've had, but then we ran into some really poor years with not enough birds for her to really develop.

Friday we finally got out for the first time this year. I wasn't expecting to find many birds, but in about 3 hours of hunting we moved 12 ruffed grouse and 12 woodcock. 12 woodcock isn't a bad day, but 12 grouse is a pretty great day! Most of the grouse flushed without being pointed (they haven't broke up from their family groups yet, and they tend to be more skittish when they are grouped up). But Kenzie had a couple of good points on grouse, and she pointed most of the woodcock.

We had limited on woodcock (3 birds), and it had started raining, so we were headed back to the truck when Kenzie locked up again. Given the cover I thought it was probably another woodcock, so I put the gun down and tried for a picture. Keeping in mind the kind of cover you hunt grouse and woodcock in (thick!) and that wet dogs aren't the most photogenic, I wasn't expecting a calendar picture. But I was able to get a couple shots before the bird (yes, a woodcock) flushed. Here's the best one.

And here's a wet, tired dog, along with the results of some pretty poor shooting (3 birds, 10 empty hulls)

 

[Gary Lewis]

My "other" hobby is pointing dogs. For the last 30 years I've always had one or two. I don't compete with them (other than an occasional fun run with my club). But I train my own dogs and enjoy following them around in the woods while they hunt grouse and woodcock (I do carry a gun so I can help the dogs get the birds).

My current dog, Kenzie, is a 6 year old Gordon Setter. In her first year or two she showed promise of being the best hunting dog I've had, but then we ran into some really poor years with not enough birds for her to really develop.

Friday we finally got out for the first time this year. I wasn't expecting to find many birds, but in about 3 hours of hunting we moved 12 ruffed grouse and 12 woodcock. 12 woodcock isn't a bad day, but 12 grouse is a pretty great day! Most of the grouse flushed without being pointed (they haven't broke up from their family groups yet, and they tend to be more skittish when they are grouped up). But Kenzie had a couple of good points on grouse, and she pointed most of the woodcock.

We had limited on woodcock (3 birds), and it had started raining, so we were headed back to the truck when Kenzie locked up again. Given the cover I thought it was probably another woodcock, so I put the gun down and tried for a picture. Keeping in mind the kind of cover you hunt grouse and woodcock in (thick!) and that wet dogs aren't the most photogenic, I wasn't expecting a calendar picture. But I was able to get a couple shots before the bird (yes, a woodcock) flushed. Here's the best one.

And here's a wet, tired dog, along with the results of some pretty poor shooting (3 birds, 10 empty hulls)

Cool! Some of my most fun days were hunting dove, quail, and pheasant. But I didn't enjoy hunting in close quarters like you show in those pics! I found it really hard to get a shot.

And I don't know anything about grouse or woodcocks, nor how they compare to the game I've hunted. But I do know that a good dog makes a huge difference, so it sounds like you make have the makings of a really good one. Congrat's!

As for the shooting, I'm not so sure that 3 out of 10 isn't pretty good in those conditions. Having said that, I see at least 3 different hulls out of 10 shells.

[Nothing Special]

Cool! Some of my most fun days were hunting dove, quail, and pheasant. But I didn't enjoy hunting in close quarters like you show in those pics! I found it really hard to get a shot.

And I don't know anything about grouse or woodcocks, nor how they compare to the game I've hunted. But I do know that a good dog makes a huge difference, so it sounds like you make have the makings of a really good one. Congrat's!

As for the shooting, I'm not so sure that 3 out of 10 isn't pretty good in those conditions. Having said that, I see at least 3 different hulls out of 10 shells.

We don't have quail hunting up here, but we have dove and pheasant. From my observations dove and pheasant hunters (as well as duck hunters) think it's impossible to get the quick shots off needed to hit grouse and woodcock, while grouse and woodcock hunters think it's impossible to hit fast flying birds that don't give you close shots. Both types of shooting are challenging, but in different ways. So yeah, it's tight quarters where I hunt. But a really long shot at a grouse is about 20 yards (woodcock shots are even closer). About 5 of those 10 shots were at grouse and none of them were long shots. So if you can get a gun up and pointing where you are looking quick enough they're pretty easy to hit (not that it's a small "if").

And for a poor hunter and dog trainer like me (OK, I'm not terrible, but I'm not competitive even in the fun runs I enter, so I know others are better), grouse and woodcock are the only game in town for a pointing dog. Dove and ducks are either shot as they pass over, or else jumped up from ponds (in the case of ducks). Decoys and so forth can improve your chances, but about the only use for a dog is retrieving. Not to put down the value of a good retriever, but I have a pointing dog, not a retriever, so that's not for me. And in Minnesota most peasant hunting is in cattails or corn, neither of which is a place a pointing dog is of much benefit. Minnesota pheasant hunting is more about getting a line of hunters and dogs to push birds toward another line of hunters so the birds will fly when trapped between the lines. Grouse and woodcock are perfect for one pointing dog who's being followed by one or two hunters.

As to the shells, I reload. So while the hulls look different they were really all the same loads. And in fact two of the hulls were even the same, Winchester AA target loads in red or in gray.

And 3 out of 10? I don't feel terrible about it, but I wouldn't call it good shooting by any means. If I had bagged a couple grouse as well with the same number of shots I'd have felt better about my shooting. But I'm mostly out there to have fun (and let Kenzie have even more fun than me). So it was definitely a great day.