Western novelist and outdoor writer Kenny Kieser discovers that shooting the mysterious goose called the brant is actually better than he ever imagined. As a boy, Kenny relished articles in hunting magazines about those lucky guys who made it to Maryland’s fabled Eastern Shore for some of the best waterfowl shooting in the country. Decades later, Kenny got an invitation to try his hand at it – fulfilling one of his lifetime hunting dreams. Check in with Kenny to see how it all turned out and pick up some shooting tips along the way at http:/
Last updated 167 days ago by Shotgun Life
Western novelist and outdoor writer Kenny Kieser discovers that shooting the mysterious goose called the brant is actually better than he ever imagined. As a boy, Kenny relished articles in hunting magazines about those lucky guys who made it to Maryland’s fabled Eastern Shore for some of the best waterfowl shooting in the country. Decades later, Kenny got an invitation to try his hand at it – fulfilling one of his lifetime hunting dreams. Check in with Kenny to see how it all turned out and pick up some shooting tips along the way at http:/
Last updated 167 days ago by Shotgun Life
It’s a double-hitter as Shotgun Life reveals two rare and beautiful upland bird guns. The first is the new Purdey Hammer Gun. The legendary English gunmaker started work on it in 2004 and to date less than 20 of these $95,000 gems have been manufactured – most of them in matched pairs (we tell you what it’s like to shoot one). The other shotgun is the little-known Krieghoff Tiflis side by side pigeon gun. Production started and ended in 1986 – yielding only 80 specimens. We located one Tiflis owner who revealed his story about restoring it to new condition.
If you’re a fan of fine shotguns, visit http:/
Last updated 182 days ago by Shotgun Life
It’s a double-hitter as Shotgun Life reveals two rare and beautiful upland bird guns. The first is the new Purdey Hammer Gun. The legendary English gunmaker started work on it in 2004 and to date less than 20 of these $95,000 gems have been manufactured – most of them in matched pairs (we tell you what it’s like to shoot one). The other shotgun is the little-known Krieghoff Tiflis side by side pigeon gun. Production started and ended in 1986 – yielding only 80 specimens. We located one Tiflis owner who revealed his story about restoring it to new condition.
If you’re a fan of fine shotguns, visit http:/
Last updated 182 days ago by Shotgun Life
Shotgun Life introduces a column about the hunting life by Jennifer L.S. Pearsall. Called “Wildlife,” she starts out talking about the unique path that led her into hunting.
Jennifer writes in the true voice of the hunter. She’s worked as a professional outdoor writer, photographer and editor for nearly 20 years. She started shooting competitively, first skeet and trap, then sporting clays, and became a practiced and dedicated hunter with her fair share of big-game trophies. Still, her deepest passions are bird dogs and upland bird and waterfowl hunting.
Jennifer has contributed to magazines such as Gun Dog, Wildfowl, Whitetail Journal, Petersen’s Hunting, Waterfowl & Retriever, and various publications of the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International.
Check out Jennifer’s new Shotgun Life column at http:/
Last updated 190 days ago by Shotgun Life
Shotgun Life introduces a column about the hunting life by Jennifer L.S. Pearsall. Called “Wildlife,” she starts out talking about the unique path that led her into hunting.
Jennifer writes in the true voice of the hunter. She’s worked as a professional outdoor writer, photographer and editor for nearly 20 years. She started shooting competitively, first skeet and trap, then sporting clays, and became a practiced and dedicated hunter with her fair share of big-game trophies. Still, her deepest passions are bird dogs and upland bird and waterfowl hunting.
Jennifer has contributed to magazines such as Gun Dog, Wildfowl, Whitetail Journal, Petersen’s Hunting, Waterfowl & Retriever, and various publications of the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International.
Check out Jennifer’s new Shotgun Life column at http:/
Last updated 190 days ago by Shotgun Life
Written by John Wiles
You are supposed to title your article when you’re finished with it, so I am already doing this backwards since I just wrote the title. But what you see in outdoor television programming, and what is involved in making it happen, are about as backward as it gets. As a viewer, you see the great dog work, the great shots, the great panorama shots of sky, mountains, birds and the successful hunter. What you don’t see is the WORK, on the part of everyone involved, that goes into making that wonderful entertainment we call Outdoor Television.
Recently, last week in fact, I spent 7 work days (yes, I emphasize work) with two wonderful television personalities, Tom Knapp and Colorado Buck; their cameramen; my partner here in Argentina, Eduardo Martinez; and a host of bird boys, guides, dogs, and locals, creating the base materials for three 22-minute television shows.
People, let me tell you, all those smiles and laughs, great shooting, great dog work, and great views of the woods, waters, marshes and fields are real – but they are also the culminating product of many days afield, not always in the best of conditions, and hours and hours of camera time, editing, voiceovers, cut-ins and many other things too numerous to mention here. Let me elaborate.
The story – Tom Knapp, famous exhibition shooter and host and star of Benelli’s American Bird Hunter; Colorado Buck, famous big game hunter and star and host of Where in the World is Colorado Buck?; Jason Steussy, videographer extraordinaire and one of Tom’s right hand men; and Jake Nay, world traveling big-game videographer and one of Colorado’s right hand men; and me, the American partner in SYC Sporting Adventures, met at the airport in Santiago, Chile, on July 2nd for the last leg of our flight over the Andes and into Cordoba, an adventure that had begun at our various home airports on July 1st.
We left Santiago at 11:00 am and landed in Cordoba about two hours later with guns, clothes, carry-on luggage, everything – except the cameras. Hmmmmm! New game plan. While we had planned to transfer to the pigeon hunting area that afternoon for the first of two days of pigeon filming, we now transferred to a wonderful restaurant in downtown Cordoba, Rancho Grande, with which Eduardo is very familiar. While we waited for LAN Chile to locate the cameras and give us an ETA on their arrival, we enjoyed the first of many stunning meals in Argentina.
ETA update from LAN on Eduardo’s cell phone – cameras will arrive 4:30 pm on the next flight from Santiago.
Hmmmmmm! New game plan. Wait for the luggage, then go to our five-star lodge, El Cortijo, only 50 minutes East of the airport, to shower, relax, have another great meal, some wine, a good night’s sleep and head for the mountains and the pigeons on July 3rd. With half a day of pigeon hunting and filming lost we will have to do our best. And we do.
On July 3rd we arrive at the hunting area in the Comicheng Mountains about 3½ hours west of Cordoba at 11:00 am in time for a short hunt before lunch.
Scenario: The hunting area is excellent, lots and lots of wild Spotted Wing and Picazurro pigeons - sharp eyed, fast flying, acrobatic pigeons who now notice the small, short brushy area over which they are used to flying is now occupied by two hunters, two bird boys, two cameramen, the guides, Eduardo and myself. As Tom says, “I go hunting with a 15 piece marching band including a brass tuba and a set of drums.” So the pigeons all fly about 50 yards off to the right and left.
Hmmmmmm! New game plan. Pick up everything and move to heavier cover. Hide everyone except the cameramen and the hunters. Wait, the sun is wrong for filming and the wind is going to keep the birds from decoying.
Hmmmmmm! Okay, let’s break for lunch and talk this over.
For those of you who have never experienced a wonderful Argentine asado, prepared over hardwood coals, knocked from a hot fire and shoveled under the incredible Argentine beef and sausages, you are missing a culinary experience that rivals any in the world.
An asado and a glass of wine have a calming, relaxing, thought provoking effect on the participant. It allows you to look at things and nature with a better understanding of time and space. Then it dawns on me – “This isn’t hunting, this is making television.” Suddenly, the way to set up and film for the afternoon becomes apparent and easy, and we set up everything in yet another area, with the sun and the wind as our allies and the cameras strategically located to capture the sights, sounds, and beauty of pigeon hunting in the mountains of Cordoba.
It isn’t about the shooting, which can be incredible at times with as many as 100 pigeons in the air; it is about the total experience. Okay, I get it. We wrap up a good afternoon hunt with a review of the day and a game plan for the next day as to where, when and how it all should be arranged. Off to the lodge area in the mountains for showers, snacks, wine, decompression, another large, late supper (I’m beginning to think we are eating too much) and a good night’s sleep.
I have learned several things already on this trip, not the least of which are 1) Tom is not only a very good shot, but a very good teacher; and 2) Colorado Buck is, as Tom so eloquently put it, “the real deal.” He is a true cowboy, from Colorado, a rancher, an outfitter, a big game hunter, a television star, and most importantly, a down to earth, saved by Grace, genuine and enjoyable human being. ‘Nuff said.
Come July 4th we celebrate with lots of gunfire from a well-concealed blind on the edge of an expansive, harvested, peanut field. In front of the blind are 20 or so plastic pigeon decoys, imported from England, some Mojo spinning wing decoys and a carousel of two pigeons going round and round to attract the pigeons much like you would ducks over decoys. And, much like ducks, many of the pigeons see the motion, bank and fly toward the decoys, offering a world class shooter like Tom and his shotgun protégé, Colorado Buck, ample opportunities to take a limit of pigeons under the clear, blue skies and warm Argentina winter sun. A single swings in over the decoys, sees something amiss, and banks sharply right, and then left. Tom misses a tough shot and an expletive not acceptable for television is caught by the microphone. The video footage was great though.
Hmmmmmm! Note to editor – Make that “How did that ‘little’ pigeon get out of here?”
Eduardo and I retire to an area where we can watch but be hidden, and the cameramen and their cameras, completely camouflaged, film and move, film and move, in a seemingly choreographed dance to film as much as they can of the best pigeon shooting to be had in Argentina.
Another great in the field asado for lunch (I am pretty sure we are eating too much now), another well orchestrated set up, we film, they shoot, and the magic which is hunting television begins to take shape. We wrap up early, do some openings and closings for TV (staged entries and exits) and head back to the lodge for some well-earned rest, a debrief on what we have done, a plan for stage two with the raw pigeon footing ‘in the can,’ and supper (now I know we are eating too much).
On July 5th we’re up early and off to El Cortijo. We take another beautiful drive through the mountains and stop at La Condor restaurant and a wayside viewing area for coffee and a bathroom break. Jason and Jake grab their cameras to film some local color – a waitress with a parakeet on her shoulder, and soon Tom is in the mix with the parakeet on his finger and a look on his face that says, “What am I supposed to do if this thing bites me?” The waitress saves Tom, and we all laugh. This, too, is also part of hunting, and we sip our coffees as the boys film the grand views from the terrace and watch for a condor, and we appreciate who we are, and where we are, and how fortunate we are.
Okay, more van time. We have television to make.
We arrive at El Cortijo in time for another wonderful lunch – (didI tell you we eat way too much here, and weight loss is probably animpossible task? Except for the cameramen who are busy walking, trotting, and running everywhere with 50 pounds of cameras, tripods, and miscellaneous equipment on their shoulders). We head to a roost area about 3:00 pm, set up on the edge of what should be a great shooting area if it wasn’t for our 15 piece marching band. Birds stream right and left just out of good shotgun and film range.
Hmmmmmm! New game plan. We separate into two groups and film for a while, then plan on putting the hunters together as we figure this thing out. Within 15 minutes all is in order and we get at least 2 ½ hours of good footage, but not what we had in mind. As the sun goes down we collect at the van, open some beers and discuss the next hunt, albeit three days from now, with Lalo, head guide, scout, and paloma (dove) man especialle (special).
Here’s what we need next time – the sun at our backs, good cover for the cameras, hopefully a favorable wind, etc. Lalo’s response – “No problema!” My man!
A late supper, (it’s so good, you can’t not eat), an after-dinner drink and bedtime. Boy, are we tired.
On July 6th the doves have to wait. We load up in the van for a 5 ½ hour ride to Santa Fe for a day and half of duck hunting.
Hmmmmmm! Why does my butt look like a van seat imprint?
Lali, our professional driver takes over the chauffeur duties, giving Eduardo some much needed rest, and we all take turns sleeping and talking in the van for the next three hours. We arrive at the halfway stop, a GasOil station that also has a restaurant and convenience store all together – not unlike the US, and pile out for coffee, la banjo (bathroom), and a snack.
When we come out of the store, a young man asks Eduardo in Spanish, “Who is the big man with us?” Eduardo tells him it is Tom Knapp. He then says to Eduardo, “No, who is it really?” Eduardo says again that it is Tom Knapp. The young man’s eyes get wide, and he says that it has been his dream to meet Tom Knapp, the famous shooter, and would Eduardo take a picture of him and Tom Knapp with his cell phone. What comes together at a gas station in the middle of nowhere in a very large country has to be a genuine highlight for Tom, for the young man, and for all of us. With tears in his eyes, he thanks Tom and waves goodbye to us. A smile, a handshake, a picture, a moment in time – its value – priceless.
By the time we reach Santa Fe, Tom has two emails from his new friend, complete with pictures of his own dogs, one of his own hunts, and an open invitation to take Tom hunting anytime the opportunity arises.
We arrive at the duck lodge in Santa Fe province, have lunch (another 5 course meal – did I mention we are eating too much?), pull on our boots and head out for an afternoon duck hunt. Our rooms are only 50-yards from the water, but it has been a dry year and the river is down. We should be hunting in a dry blind over a pothole, part of the 50-mile expanse of the Parana River. The band – guides, dog, hunters, cameramen, and outfitters – get in the boat, cruise for 10 minutes pull up into a relatively large, back-water slough as thousands of ducks leave in waves. The guide stops the boat in about a foot to a foot and a half of water, and he and the other guides, and bird boys, and dog, get out and start building a blind. Okay, not the dog.
Hmmmmmm! None of us are in hip boots or waders. New game plan. Build the blind on shore about 50 yards from where we are. No, that isn’t really where the birds want to go. Yes, it is very muddy. No, the blind is only big enough for the hunters and the guide. Yes, the cameramen, and the rest of the marching band stand out like sore thumbs.
Hmm! No, this isn’t hunting, this is making television. We do the best we can. Tom and Colorado manage to scratch down a limit of ducks. Jason manages to fill one boot full of water. I manage to get muddy from my feet to my waist, (No, I don’t know how), but we make some good television. The setting sun is spectacular and Colorado Buck makes some fantastic shots on Rosy Bill drakes that will be incredible – if we got them on film.
Hmmmmm! Okay, pull everything, get back in the boat. Here is what we need for tomorrow – sun behind us, and a good blind higher in the back to conceal the cameramen; the best wind you can find to help decoying ducks; lots of ducks, and can you have all that figured out by 6:00 am tomorrow?
Response, “No problema!” My man!
Back to the lodge for supper (Did I mention we eat too much?), a debrief of what was good about today, what we hope will happen tomorrow, an after dinner toddy, and off to bed.
“Okay, one more toddy, but that’s it.”
“What time is it anyway?”
“Where is my room?”
“What country are we in?”
“What was your name again?”
“What is the meaning of life?”
You get the picture.
On July 7th we awake early, have breakfast (did I mention we eat too much?), get waders for everyone, load the band – guides, dog, hunters, cameramen, Eduardo and me – in the boat and away we go. We land about 10 minutes later and take off walking through the marsh to a good sized pot hole some distance from the river.
The morning sun, a crimson red, is just beginning to come up behind us, (Hey, that’s good), and the full moon is setting in front of us (Man, that’s beautiful). The guide puts out 25 or 30 decoys, and before it is light enough to film, ducks start buzzing the decoys. Two ducks appear from my left and head directly toward the blind.
“Ducks left, Tom!”
“I was going to wait until it’s light enough to film.”
“The limit is 25 each, you can warm up!”
Bang, bang! The dog heads out to retrieve two ducks.
Hmmmmm!! Amazing what a little encouragement can do.
Ducks come and go, and stay. The cameras roll. The cameramen move behind the blind, in front of the blind (okay, no shooting ducks over the cameraman), next to the blind, in the blind, across the pond from the blind. Ducks fly. Blackie, the Lab, makes some great retrieves. It is Heaven. And we are pretty sure it is good TV.
A half dozen working gauchos (Argentina cowboys) herd cattle about 100 yards behind the blind and they shout, “Buen tiro!” (Good shot), when they see a duck fall. One gaucho comes by later and Colorado and he exchange greetings with Eduardo interpreting. The camera rolls as Colorado asks about horses, saddles, quirts, work and all the things cowboys from different countries would want to know about one another. The gaucho asks for two ducks for lunch. We offer him more. “No”, he says in Spanish, “only two. Gracias.” A simple and beautiful person, in a simple and beautiful moment.
By 9:30 am we have 50 ducks, lots of good film, more opening and closings, interviews with the guides with Eduardo translating, filming of the new duck lodge, Irupe, more footage of the gauchos, all done. All the raw footage for the duck hunt is “in the can”.
Whew! Two down, one more dove shoot to go.
We head back to the lodge for lunch, a nap, a drink, and some serious decompression. Three American hunters from Kentucky arrive late in the day and they, too, are big Tom Knapp fans. Let the party begin.
Hmmmmmm! I turn in early. As Colorado would say, “This ain’t my first rodeo.”
On July 8th we’re up early and off to El Cortijo for an afternoon dove shoot and our last filming session in the field. Five-and-a-half hours on the road. God bless Lali, the driver. These are not American roads and these are not American drivers. Why is my butt flat like a van seat?
We arrive in time for lunch (did I tell you we eat too much?), get all our gear together and head out for an afternoon shoot. The weather is picture perfect, about 65 degrees, sunny, and not much wind. Lalo has us in the right spot with the right sun, but we still have the marching band to contend with.
Hmmmmm! We move; we move again; and we move a third time. (Sometimes making a TV show is like wipin` your hind end on a wagon wheel, soon as ya get past some of it.... Here comes some more ! – Colorado Buck), and then - Bingo! Tom and Colorado have the right cover.
Jason, Jake and the rest of us band members have the right cover and the filming gets underway in earnest. By 6:00 pm we have all we need to complete the dove show. Tom and Colorado do some closings by simply talking about their experiences and the bird numbers, and the food, and the wines, and the people. As the American partner in this outfit, SYC Sporting Adventures, it is gratifying to hear their complimentary remarks as we have all worked hard to make this happen.
Back to the lodge for supper (did I mention we eat too much?) we then make a plan for tomorrow, our last day together.
“Jason, Jake, what do we need to complete this event?”
“Interviews.”
“How many interviews?”
“Interviews with everyone. Jake and I need to interview John and Eduardo separately. Tom, you need to interview Colorado. Colorado, you need to interview Tom. We need to interview Jake.”
Hmmmmm!
“How long will that take?”
“Probably two or three hours.”
“We have to leave at 1:30 for the airport.”
“Okay, we’ll do the best we can.”
On July 9th we’re at 9:00 and off to breakfast (did I mention we eat too much?) and today it is, for the first time this trip, “muy frio”, very cold! I mean like 32 degrees cold, and we need to do interviews – outside, in the cold. I do one with Jake outside in my heaviest coat, and a wool sweater, and a scarf, and long underwear, while Eduardo does one inside with Colorado, who is struggling to get the lighting right indoors.
Hmmmmmm! I have a funny feeling about all this. Wait, the sun’s not right, the angle isn’t right, the lighting’s not right, the microphone’s not right; my butt’s not right, I can’t feel it or my legs anymore. Okay, one interview down, and its 11:00. (Did I mention we need to leave by 1:30 for international flight check in? I did. Okay.) Eduardo and I swap. More lighting changes, new microphone set up, (what did I do with the one I just had?) okay, two down – it’s almost 12:00 and we have to do lunch (did I mention we eat too much?)
We eat and look at our watches simultaneously. Everyone packs their luggage and brings them to the van; well, not everyone – the cameramen, who have the most to pack and load, are still working. Jason is sprinting across the yard to set up for Tom’s interview. Jake and Colorado are getting the right lighting so Colorado can interview Jake. It’s 1:15.
Hmmmmmm! Jason’s bag is the biggest. It needs to go on first. Wait, the rest of the bags are loaded. Okay, unload and reload. What time is it? 1:28.
Get in. Close the door. Where is my hat? Is that your tripod in the yard? Why does my butt fit perfectly in this van seat?
We wave goodbye. Outdoor television here we come!
John Wiles is the American Partner of SYC Sporting Adventures, which provides wingshooting and fishing packages in Argentina. For more information about SYC Sporting, please visit their web site at http:/
This story originally appeared in Shotgun Life, the first online magazine dedicated to the best in wing and clays shooting. Please visit Shotgun Life at http:/
Last updated 193 days ago by Shotgun Life
Written by John Wiles
You are supposed to title your article when you’re finished with it, so I am already doing this backwards since I just wrote the title. But what you see in outdoor television programming, and what is involved in making it happen, are about as backward as it gets. As a viewer, you see the great dog work, the great shots, the great panorama shots of sky, mountains, birds and the successful hunter. What you don’t see is the WORK, on the part of everyone involved, that goes into making that wonderful entertainment we call Outdoor Television.
Recently, last week in fact, I spent 7 work days (yes, I emphasize work) with two wonderful television personalities, Tom Knapp and Colorado Buck; their cameramen; my partner here in Argentina, Eduardo Martinez; and a host of bird boys, guides, dogs, and locals, creating the base materials for three 22-minute television shows.
People, let me tell you, all those smiles and laughs, great shooting, great dog work, and great views of the woods, waters, marshes and fields are real – but they are also the culminating product of many days afield, not always in the best of conditions, and hours and hours of camera time, editing, voiceovers, cut-ins and many other things too numerous to mention here. Let me elaborate.
The story – Tom Knapp, famous exhibition shooter and host and star of Benelli’s American Bird Hunter; Colorado Buck, famous big game hunter and star and host of Where in the World is Colorado Buck?; Jason Steussy, videographer extraordinaire and one of Tom’s right hand men; and Jake Nay, world traveling big-game videographer and one of Colorado’s right hand men; and me, the American partner in SYC Sporting Adventures, met at the airport in Santiago, Chile, on July 2nd for the last leg of our flight over the Andes and into Cordoba, an adventure that had begun at our various home airports on July 1st.
We left Santiago at 11:00 am and landed in Cordoba about two hours later with guns, clothes, carry-on luggage, everything – except the cameras. Hmmmmm! New game plan. While we had planned to transfer to the pigeon hunting area that afternoon for the first of two days of pigeon filming, we now transferred to a wonderful restaurant in downtown Cordoba, Rancho Grande, with which Eduardo is very familiar. While we waited for LAN Chile to locate the cameras and give us an ETA on their arrival, we enjoyed the first of many stunning meals in Argentina.
ETA update from LAN on Eduardo’s cell phone – cameras will arrive 4:30 pm on the next flight from Santiago.
Hmmmmmm! New game plan. Wait for the luggage, then go to our five-star lodge, El Cortijo, only 50 minutes East of the airport, to shower, relax, have another great meal, some wine, a good night’s sleep and head for the mountains and the pigeons on July 3rd. With half a day of pigeon hunting and filming lost we will have to do our best. And we do.
On July 3rd we arrive at the hunting area in the Comicheng Mountains about 3½ hours west of Cordoba at 11:00 am in time for a short hunt before lunch.
Scenario: The hunting area is excellent, lots and lots of wild Spotted Wing and Picazurro pigeons - sharp eyed, fast flying, acrobatic pigeons who now notice the small, short brushy area over which they are used to flying is now occupied by two hunters, two bird boys, two cameramen, the guides, Eduardo and myself. As Tom says, “I go hunting with a 15 piece marching band including a brass tuba and a set of drums.” So the pigeons all fly about 50 yards off to the right and left.
Hmmmmmm! New game plan. Pick up everything and move to heavier cover. Hide everyone except the cameramen and the hunters. Wait, the sun is wrong for filming and the wind is going to keep the birds from decoying.
Hmmmmmm! Okay, let’s break for lunch and talk this over.
For those of you who have never experienced a wonderful Argentine asado, prepared over hardwood coals, knocked from a hot fire and shoveled under the incredible Argentine beef and sausages, you are missing a culinary experience that rivals any in the world.
An asado and a glass of wine have a calming, relaxing, thought provoking effect on the participant. It allows you to look at things and nature with a better understanding of time and space. Then it dawns on me – “This isn’t hunting, this is making television.” Suddenly, the way to set up and film for the afternoon becomes apparent and easy, and we set up everything in yet another area, with the sun and the wind as our allies and the cameras strategically located to capture the sights, sounds, and beauty of pigeon hunting in the mountains of Cordoba.
It isn’t about the shooting, which can be incredible at times with as many as 100 pigeons in the air; it is about the total experience. Okay, I get it. We wrap up a good afternoon hunt with a review of the day and a game plan for the next day as to where, when and how it all should be arranged. Off to the lodge area in the mountains for showers, snacks, wine, decompression, another large, late supper (I’m beginning to think we are eating too much) and a good night’s sleep.
I have learned several things already on this trip, not the least of which are 1) Tom is not only a very good shot, but a very good teacher; and 2) Colorado Buck is, as Tom so eloquently put it, “the real deal.” He is a true cowboy, from Colorado, a rancher, an outfitter, a big game hunter, a television star, and most importantly, a down to earth, saved by Grace, genuine and enjoyable human being. ‘Nuff said.
Come July 4th we celebrate with lots of gunfire from a well-concealed blind on the edge of an expansive, harvested, peanut field. In front of the blind are 20 or so plastic pigeon decoys, imported from England, some Mojo spinning wing decoys and a carousel of two pigeons going round and round to attract the pigeons much like you would ducks over decoys. And, much like ducks, many of the pigeons see the motion, bank and fly toward the decoys, offering a world class shooter like Tom and his shotgun protégé, Colorado Buck, ample opportunities to take a limit of pigeons under the clear, blue skies and warm Argentina winter sun. A single swings in over the decoys, sees something amiss, and banks sharply right, and then left. Tom misses a tough shot and an expletive not acceptable for television is caught by the microphone. The video footage was great though.
Hmmmmmm! Note to editor – Make that “How did that ‘little’ pigeon get out of here?”
Eduardo and I retire to an area where we can watch but be hidden, and the cameramen and their cameras, completely camouflaged, film and move, film and move, in a seemingly choreographed dance to film as much as they can of the best pigeon shooting to be had in Argentina.
Another great in the field asado for lunch (I am pretty sure we are eating too much now), another well orchestrated set up, we film, they shoot, and the magic which is hunting television begins to take shape. We wrap up early, do some openings and closings for TV (staged entries and exits) and head back to the lodge for some well-earned rest, a debrief on what we have done, a plan for stage two with the raw pigeon footing ‘in the can,’ and supper (now I know we are eating too much).
On July 5th we’re up early and off to El Cortijo. We take another beautiful drive through the mountains and stop at La Condor restaurant and a wayside viewing area for coffee and a bathroom break. Jason and Jake grab their cameras to film some local color – a waitress with a parakeet on her shoulder, and soon Tom is in the mix with the parakeet on his finger and a look on his face that says, “What am I supposed to do if this thing bites me?” The waitress saves Tom, and we all laugh. This, too, is also part of hunting, and we sip our coffees as the boys film the grand views from the terrace and watch for a condor, and we appreciate who we are, and where we are, and how fortunate we are.
Okay, more van time. We have television to make.
We arrive at El Cortijo in time for another wonderful lunch – (didI tell you we eat way too much here, and weight loss is probably animpossible task? Except for the cameramen who are busy walking, trotting, and running everywhere with 50 pounds of cameras, tripods, and miscellaneous equipment on their shoulders). We head to a roost area about 3:00 pm, set up on the edge of what should be a great shooting area if it wasn’t for our 15 piece marching band. Birds stream right and left just out of good shotgun and film range.
Hmmmmmm! New game plan. We separate into two groups and film for a while, then plan on putting the hunters together as we figure this thing out. Within 15 minutes all is in order and we get at least 2 ½ hours of good footage, but not what we had in mind. As the sun goes down we collect at the van, open some beers and discuss the next hunt, albeit three days from now, with Lalo, head guide, scout, and paloma (dove) man especialle (special).
Here’s what we need next time – the sun at our backs, good cover for the cameras, hopefully a favorable wind, etc. Lalo’s response – “No problema!” My man!
A late supper, (it’s so good, you can’t not eat), an after-dinner drink and bedtime. Boy, are we tired.
On July 6th the doves have to wait. We load up in the van for a 5 ½ hour ride to Santa Fe for a day and half of duck hunting.
Hmmmmmm! Why does my butt look like a van seat imprint?
Lali, our professional driver takes over the chauffeur duties, giving Eduardo some much needed rest, and we all take turns sleeping and talking in the van for the next three hours. We arrive at the halfway stop, a GasOil station that also has a restaurant and convenience store all together – not unlike the US, and pile out for coffee, la banjo (bathroom), and a snack.
When we come out of the store, a young man asks Eduardo in Spanish, “Who is the big man with us?” Eduardo tells him it is Tom Knapp. He then says to Eduardo, “No, who is it really?” Eduardo says again that it is Tom Knapp. The young man’s eyes get wide, and he says that it has been his dream to meet Tom Knapp, the famous shooter, and would Eduardo take a picture of him and Tom Knapp with his cell phone. What comes together at a gas station in the middle of nowhere in a very large country has to be a genuine highlight for Tom, for the young man, and for all of us. With tears in his eyes, he thanks Tom and waves goodbye to us. A smile, a handshake, a picture, a moment in time – its value – priceless.
By the time we reach Santa Fe, Tom has two emails from his new friend, complete with pictures of his own dogs, one of his own hunts, and an open invitation to take Tom hunting anytime the opportunity arises.
We arrive at the duck lodge in Santa Fe province, have lunch (another 5 course meal – did I mention we are eating too much?), pull on our boots and head out for an afternoon duck hunt. Our rooms are only 50-yards from the water, but it has been a dry year and the river is down. We should be hunting in a dry blind over a pothole, part of the 50-mile expanse of the Parana River. The band – guides, dog, hunters, cameramen, and outfitters – get in the boat, cruise for 10 minutes pull up into a relatively large, back-water slough as thousands of ducks leave in waves. The guide stops the boat in about a foot to a foot and a half of water, and he and the other guides, and bird boys, and dog, get out and start building a blind. Okay, not the dog.
Hmmmmmm! None of us are in hip boots or waders. New game plan. Build the blind on shore about 50 yards from where we are. No, that isn’t really where the birds want to go. Yes, it is very muddy. No, the blind is only big enough for the hunters and the guide. Yes, the cameramen, and the rest of the marching band stand out like sore thumbs.
Hmm! No, this isn’t hunting, this is making television. We do the best we can. Tom and Colorado manage to scratch down a limit of ducks. Jason manages to fill one boot full of water. I manage to get muddy from my feet to my waist, (No, I don’t know how), but we make some good television. The setting sun is spectacular and Colorado Buck makes some fantastic shots on Rosy Bill drakes that will be incredible – if we got them on film.
Hmmmmm! Okay, pull everything, get back in the boat. Here is what we need for tomorrow – sun behind us, and a good blind higher in the back to conceal the cameramen; the best wind you can find to help decoying ducks; lots of ducks, and can you have all that figured out by 6:00 am tomorrow?
Response, “No problema!” My man!
Back to the lodge for supper (Did I mention we eat too much?), a debrief of what was good about today, what we hope will happen tomorrow, an after dinner toddy, and off to bed.
“Okay, one more toddy, but that’s it.”
“What time is it anyway?”
“Where is my room?”
“What country are we in?”
“What was your name again?”
“What is the meaning of life?”
You get the picture.
On July 7th we awake early, have breakfast (did I mention we eat too much?), get waders for everyone, load the band – guides, dog, hunters, cameramen, Eduardo and me – in the boat and away we go. We land about 10 minutes later and take off walking through the marsh to a good sized pot hole some distance from the river.
The morning sun, a crimson red, is just beginning to come up behind us, (Hey, that’s good), and the full moon is setting in front of us (Man, that’s beautiful). The guide puts out 25 or 30 decoys, and before it is light enough to film, ducks start buzzing the decoys. Two ducks appear from my left and head directly toward the blind.
“Ducks left, Tom!”
“I was going to wait until it’s light enough to film.”
“The limit is 25 each, you can warm up!”
Bang, bang! The dog heads out to retrieve two ducks.
Hmmmmm!! Amazing what a little encouragement can do.
Ducks come and go, and stay. The cameras roll. The cameramen move behind the blind, in front of the blind (okay, no shooting ducks over the cameraman), next to the blind, in the blind, across the pond from the blind. Ducks fly. Blackie, the Lab, makes some great retrieves. It is Heaven. And we are pretty sure it is good TV.
A half dozen working gauchos (Argentina cowboys) herd cattle about 100 yards behind the blind and they shout, “Buen tiro!” (Good shot), when they see a duck fall. One gaucho comes by later and Colorado and he exchange greetings with Eduardo interpreting. The camera rolls as Colorado asks about horses, saddles, quirts, work and all the things cowboys from different countries would want to know about one another. The gaucho asks for two ducks for lunch. We offer him more. “No”, he says in Spanish, “only two. Gracias.” A simple and beautiful person, in a simple and beautiful moment.
By 9:30 am we have 50 ducks, lots of good film, more opening and closings, interviews with the guides with Eduardo translating, filming of the new duck lodge, Irupe, more footage of the gauchos, all done. All the raw footage for the duck hunt is “in the can”.
Whew! Two down, one more dove shoot to go.
We head back to the lodge for lunch, a nap, a drink, and some serious decompression. Three American hunters from Kentucky arrive late in the day and they, too, are big Tom Knapp fans. Let the party begin.
Hmmmmmm! I turn in early. As Colorado would say, “This ain’t my first rodeo.”
On July 8th we’re up early and off to El Cortijo for an afternoon dove shoot and our last filming session in the field. Five-and-a-half hours on the road. God bless Lali, the driver. These are not American roads and these are not American drivers. Why is my butt flat like a van seat?
We arrive in time for lunch (did I tell you we eat too much?), get all our gear together and head out for an afternoon shoot. The weather is picture perfect, about 65 degrees, sunny, and not much wind. Lalo has us in the right spot with the right sun, but we still have the marching band to contend with.
Hmmmmm! We move; we move again; and we move a third time. (Sometimes making a TV show is like wipin` your hind end on a wagon wheel, soon as ya get past some of it.... Here comes some more ! – Colorado Buck), and then - Bingo! Tom and Colorado have the right cover.
Jason, Jake and the rest of us band members have the right cover and the filming gets underway in earnest. By 6:00 pm we have all we need to complete the dove show. Tom and Colorado do some closings by simply talking about their experiences and the bird numbers, and the food, and the wines, and the people. As the American partner in this outfit, SYC Sporting Adventures, it is gratifying to hear their complimentary remarks as we have all worked hard to make this happen.
Back to the lodge for supper (did I mention we eat too much?) we then make a plan for tomorrow, our last day together.
“Jason, Jake, what do we need to complete this event?”
“Interviews.”
“How many interviews?”
“Interviews with everyone. Jake and I need to interview John and Eduardo separately. Tom, you need to interview Colorado. Colorado, you need to interview Tom. We need to interview Jake.”
Hmmmmm!
“How long will that take?”
“Probably two or three hours.”
“We have to leave at 1:30 for the airport.”
“Okay, we’ll do the best we can.”
On July 9th we’re at 9:00 and off to breakfast (did I mention we eat too much?) and today it is, for the first time this trip, “muy frio”, very cold! I mean like 32 degrees cold, and we need to do interviews – outside, in the cold. I do one with Jake outside in my heaviest coat, and a wool sweater, and a scarf, and long underwear, while Eduardo does one inside with Colorado, who is struggling to get the lighting right indoors.
Hmmmmmm! I have a funny feeling about all this. Wait, the sun’s not right, the angle isn’t right, the lighting’s not right, the microphone’s not right; my butt’s not right, I can’t feel it or my legs anymore. Okay, one interview down, and its 11:00. (Did I mention we need to leave by 1:30 for international flight check in? I did. Okay.) Eduardo and I swap. More lighting changes, new microphone set up, (what did I do with the one I just had?) okay, two down – it’s almost 12:00 and we have to do lunch (did I mention we eat too much?)
We eat and look at our watches simultaneously. Everyone packs their luggage and brings them to the van; well, not everyone – the cameramen, who have the most to pack and load, are still working. Jason is sprinting across the yard to set up for Tom’s interview. Jake and Colorado are getting the right lighting so Colorado can interview Jake. It’s 1:15.
Hmmmmmm! Jason’s bag is the biggest. It needs to go on first. Wait, the rest of the bags are loaded. Okay, unload and reload. What time is it? 1:28.
Get in. Close the door. Where is my hat? Is that your tripod in the yard? Why does my butt fit perfectly in this van seat?
We wave goodbye. Outdoor television here we come!
John Wiles is the American Partner of SYC Sporting Adventures, which provides wingshooting and fishing packages in Argentina. For more information about SYC Sporting, please visit their web site at http:/
This story originally appeared in Shotgun Life, the first online magazine dedicated to the best in wing and clays shooting. Please visit Shotgun Life at http:/
Last updated 193 days ago by Shotgun Life
Written by Irwin Greenstein
There are no signs on the factory at 420 North Walpole Street in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, but open the old door and the pungent smell of machine oil is your first hint that the Ithaca shotgun is being re-born.
This rambling building that once housed a rolling rink, an automotive center and mold-making operation has been transformed into the backbone of the Ithaca Gun Company. Hard-working American men and women, like so many discarded in the upheaval of globalization, are now devoting their full measure of sweat and muscle to manufacture a new 100-percent American-built over/under shotgun code-named Phoenix.
“It’s nice to think that we could help our brothers and sisters in America by keeping and creating new jobs,” said Ithaca machinist, Tom Troiano.
Every screw, spring and steel billet is sourced from the U.S. as the company brings to life the stunning new 12-gauge Phoenix. From its inception, the Phoenix was designed to honor the proportions and sturdy sensibility of the classical over/under American shotgun.
Shotgun Life recently enjoyed the privilege of spending a full day at Ithaca talking with nearly everyone in the company. We spoke with the men who made the barrels, the receivers and the stocks. We spent time with management. And we were given the unique opportunity to be the first one outside of the company to shoot a prototype of the forthcoming Phoenix.
We can report unequivocally that design breakthroughs engineered into the Phoenix have made it the softest shooting 12-gauge over-under we have ever pulled a trigger on. The felt recoil on the Phoenix is virtually nonexistent – on par with the benchmark Beretta 391 Target Gold 12-gauge semi-auto – kicking only just enough to reset the inertia trigger.
Better yet, with a starting price of about $2,500 and moving to $10,000 depending on the type of engraving and grade of American walnut, the Phoenix could easily mark a renaissance of the big Ithaca shotguns.
That’s why Ithaca named the Phoenix after the dazzling mythical bird which rose from the ashes to fly once again. But leading Ithaca authority, Walt Snyder, author of the definitive books The Ithaca Company From the Beginning and Ithaca Featherlight Repeaters…The Best Gun Going observed that the new Phoenix also has an historical precedence.
In 1945, Ithaca had built a one-of-a-kind 12-gauge, over/under prototype. As the Model 51, it had serial number EX1, for experimental 1. It now appears that the new Phoenix is a direct descendant of that orphaned masterpiece.
Our first glimpse of the new 12-gauge over/under took place in January 2009 at the expansive Shot Show. There in booth 1736, I was drawn to the allure of an elegantly understated over/under that was all chrome-moly black steel and American walnut. The receiver, devoid of engraving, drew me in and I picked up the gun. I mounted it to my shoulder, my immediate impression one of a tight, well-balanced shotgun. Then I moved the top lever to the right and to my astonishment the barrels slowly fell open as though on hydraulics.
This was the shotgun that Walt would see several months later at a dealer event in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ithaca’s Mike Farrell arrived with it and Walt’s initial impression was that “It looked like a very well made gun. It seemed to mount and balance very well.”
At the time of the Shot Show, the gun remained months away from being in shooting condition and it hadn’t been christened the Phoenix. But after returning to the office, I would occasionally call Mike, the company’s number-two guy (no one at Ithaca has a job title), until he agreed to let me visit the company and actually try the shotgun.
For those of you familiar with Ithaca shotguns, it would be easy to dismiss the Phoenix as another heartfelt effort to salvage this fabled American manufacturer established in 1883.
Taking its namesake from the first factory in Ithaca, New York, the company’s fortunes in later years have been a tortured tale of missteps as one management team after another tried to reclaim the glory years that spanned the late 1800s until Pearl Harbor. That was a triumphant epoch when Ithaca manufactured shotguns such as the Flues side-by-side, the Knick trap gun, the 3½-inch Magnum 10 and the Model 37 pump based on a design by John Browning.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the company changed hands several times until it padlocked the doors in1986. The following year a new investor group took the helm until 1996, when entrepreneur Steven Lamboy acquired the assets and rights to make the Ithaca doubles. He turned out some beautiful shotguns in Italy bearing the Ithaca name but fell into bankruptcy in 2003. By 2004, the Federal government attached the company’s bank accounts for back taxes and a bitter lawsuit ensued in New York state between various stakeholders. In 2005, Ithaca’s assets were surrendered and the company liquidated.
That’s when Craig Marshall entered. Owner of MoldCraft in Upper Sandusky, he converted the family mold-making business into a new iteration of Ithaca. During the transition, the Marshalls assembled the flagship Model 37 pumps from existing inventory with every intention of restoring the marque’s luster. Unfortunately, the Marshalls eventually found themselves under-capitalized for the venture to the extent that they were forced to idle the factory for eight months between 2006 and 2007.
Finally, in June 2007 industrial glass magnate David Dlubak acquired the company's assets and Ithaca name from the Marshalls. He started making fresh plant investments in the nondescript Upper Sandusky facility and brought back the team working on the Model 37.
As Dave explained to us in Ithaca’s distinctly blue-collar conference room, “We want to make a high-quality shotgun, at an affordable price, that will fit in the working man’s hands. The gun is going to be that guy’s pride and joy. The old Ithacas lasted fifty or sixty years. Now we make them to tighter tolerances and with better steel. We don’t want cheaper, we want better.”
Like many luminaries in the industry, Dave did not get his start making shotguns. Just as Harris John Holland began as a tobacconist, and Charles Parker a maker of spoons, curtains and locks, Dave comes from a family that owns and operates one of the largest industrial glass recycling businesses in the U.S., Dlubak Glass.
Dave was in the process of finalizing a new product called “bubble glass” that combined concrete and glass in faux log building material. Replete with grains and knots, bubble glass is resistant to fire and insects but soft enough for an ordinary drill bit. He was looking for a mold maker who could package the bubble-glass logs for affordable and dependable shipment.
He went to MoldCraft and met the Marshalls. Dave was presented with an opportunity to invest in Ithaca. Instead, he bought it.
Although a long-time aficionado of Ithaca shotguns, he acquired the company because of “the quality of the people and their ability.” These tool-and-die makers were the “elite of the elite,” he said.
For example, barrel-maker Roger Larrabee has been a tool-and-die machinist for 47 years. He trained Tom Troiano, who turns out the receivers.
“Roger trained a lot of the guys here,” Tom said.
As a self-described “control freak” with a passion for quality, it was paramount for Dave to build a team with the capabilities to “make all the parts here,” he said. “I’m interested in making it all under one roof.”
He characterizes the Ithaca Gun Company as being in “stage two,” meaning that it has resolved the manufacturing issues with its current popular pump guns: the accurate Deerslayer series, the rugged Model 37 Defense, and the sweethearts of the pump-gun community, the 28-gauge Model 37 and the Model 37 Featherlight and Ultralight.
These shotguns showcased the production capabilities of the company. They demonstrated the team’s ability to craft receivers from a billet of steel or aluminum, to do away with soldering or any other heat-inducing joining, and to machine one-piece barrels with integrated rib stanchions that eliminate any potential warpage from the run-of-the-mill rib soldering.
“Ithaca certainly seems to have manufacturing savvy,” Walt said. “I’ve seen their Model 37 and it’s beautiful and I would assume they would be successful with the new over/under.”
These accomplishments came from “spending many midnights sorting these things through,” Dave said. “We’re not in love with wood, we’re in love with steel.”
The company’s passion for steel is clear when you tour the factory floor. As raw Pittsburgh steel goes from the mill-turn lathes to to grinders to finishing machines to polishers there is an almost monastic sense of duty among the people making parts for the shotguns. All the tooling and fixturing was developed in-house. Custom software was written by the youngest guy on the crew for the tightest possible tolerances. The individual components are funneled into an assembly room where one person hand fits everything together into a single shotgun.
After the factory floor I spent time with Aaron Welch, Ithaca’s designer and engineer. Looking over his shoulder in the cramped office, he rotated the solid-block 3D models of the Phoenix on his computer monitor.
There was the Anson-Deeley boxlock action ready to fire 2¾ inch shells.
I discovered that a secret to the low recoil of the Phoenix are the three capsule-shaped pockets machined into the bottom of the receiver. They are designed to distribute the load of shooting, improve longevity of the components and help absorb the spent gasses. Moreover, the slightly greater mass of the receiver and monobloc combine to give the Phoenix a lower felt recoil. The less-restrictive 1.5 degree forcing cone and somewhat heavier burled stock also helped tame excessive kick.
In examining the monobloc, Aaron talked about how the barrels are held to the breech section by a tubular connector, instead of being soldered, to improve reliability. At the business end of the 30-inch barrels, the muzzles are dovetailed together, rather than soldered, to prevent distortion from thermal expansion.
That sense of a hydraulic assist when opening the shotgun comes from cocking rods that push against the hammer springs when you move the top lever.
The top bolting mechanism was borrowed from the old Ithaca Knick. It sits high in the receiver for a stronger grip on the monobloc.
Next I looked at how the rib slides into the stanchions and is mounted with a single screw. Aaron said that interchangeable ribs would be available to provide different points of impact.
In the end, the Phoenix would weigh about eight pounds.
Now it was time to see how all the parts worked together.
Mike grabbed the prototype of the 12-gauge Phoenix. The shotgun was still in-the-white with a couple thousand test rounds through it.
We drove a few minutes to a piece of property on a lake that had once been a quarry. A house overlooking it was under construction. The house belonged to Dave and was being built from bubble glass in cinder-block form factors.
In addition to the house and lake, the property also had a trap machine set up by the previous owners.
Mike handed me the gun and in fact it did feel very well balanced. I practiced mounting it a few times. The straight stock fit quite well. Dan Aubill, the guy in charge of Ithaca’s custom stock program, had told me that it was measured to fit the “average guy” with a 14¼ inch length of pull, zero cast, drop at comb of 1½ inch and drop at heel of 2¼ inch.
Pushing the top lever, the barrels slowly fell open. I loaded in two 1⅛ ounce shells. Mike took up the controller and when I called “pull” two things immediately took me by surprise. The first was the extremely low recoil, the second is how I completely pulverized the targets.
Mike and I went through a couple of boxes of shells, the two of us taking turns pulling targets. The trigger was light and crisp, the beads lined up perfectly and the tapered forend enabled a wide range of control.
I turned out to be the last one who shot the Phoenix that day and when the time came to return it to Mike I thought “I gotta get one of these.”
Irwin Greenstein is the Publisher of Shotgun Life. Please send your comments to letters@shotgunlife.com. This article originally appeared in Shotgun Life, the first online magazine dedicated to the best in wing and clays shooting. You can find Shotgun Life at http:/
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Last updated 194 days ago by Shotgun Life
Written by Irwin Greenstein
There are no signs on the factory at 420 North Walpole Street in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, but open the old door and the pungent smell of machine oil is your first hint that the Ithaca shotgun is being re-born.
This rambling building that once housed a rolling rink, an automotive center and mold-making operation has been transformed into the backbone of the Ithaca Gun Company. Hard-working American men and women, like so many discarded in the upheaval of globalization, are now devoting their full measure of sweat and muscle to manufacture a new 100-percent American-built over/under shotgun code-named Phoenix.
“It’s nice to think that we could help our brothers and sisters in America by keeping and creating new jobs,” said Ithaca machinist, Tom Troiano.
Every screw, spring and steel billet is sourced from the U.S. as the company brings to life the stunning new 12-gauge Phoenix. From its inception, the Phoenix was designed to honor the proportions and sturdy sensibility of the classical over/under American shotgun.
Shotgun Life recently enjoyed the privilege of spending a full day at Ithaca talking with nearly everyone in the company. We spoke with the men who made the barrels, the receivers and the stocks. We spent time with management. And we were given the unique opportunity to be the first one outside of the company to shoot a prototype of the forthcoming Phoenix.
We can report unequivocally that design breakthroughs engineered into the Phoenix have made it the softest shooting 12-gauge over-under we have ever pulled a trigger on. The felt recoil on the Phoenix is virtually nonexistent – on par with the benchmark Beretta 391 Target Gold 12-gauge semi-auto – kicking only just enough to reset the inertia trigger.
Better yet, with a starting price of about $2,500 and moving to $10,000 depending on the type of engraving and grade of American walnut, the Phoenix could easily mark a renaissance of the big Ithaca shotguns.
That’s why Ithaca named the Phoenix after the dazzling mythical bird which rose from the ashes to fly once again. But leading Ithaca authority, Walt Snyder, author of the definitive books The Ithaca Company From the Beginning and Ithaca Featherlight Repeaters…The Best Gun Going observed that the new Phoenix also has an historical precedence.
In 1945, Ithaca had built a one-of-a-kind 12-gauge, over/under prototype. As the Model 51, it had serial number EX1, for experimental 1. It now appears that the new Phoenix is a direct descendant of that orphaned masterpiece.
Our first glimpse of the new 12-gauge over/under took place in January 2009 at the expansive Shot Show. There in booth 1736, I was drawn to the allure of an elegantly understated over/under that was all chrome-moly black steel and American walnut. The receiver, devoid of engraving, drew me in and I picked up the gun. I mounted it to my shoulder, my immediate impression one of a tight, well-balanced shotgun. Then I moved the top lever to the right and to my astonishment the barrels slowly fell open as though on hydraulics.
This was the shotgun that Walt would see several months later at a dealer event in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ithaca’s Mike Farrell arrived with it and Walt’s initial impression was that “It looked like a very well made gun. It seemed to mount and balance very well.”
At the time of the Shot Show, the gun remained months away from being in shooting condition and it hadn’t been christened the Phoenix. But after returning to the office, I would occasionally call Mike, the company’s number-two guy (no one at Ithaca has a job title), until he agreed to let me visit the company and actually try the shotgun.
For those of you familiar with Ithaca shotguns, it would be easy to dismiss the Phoenix as another heartfelt effort to salvage this fabled American manufacturer established in 1883.
Taking its namesake from the first factory in Ithaca, New York, the company’s fortunes in later years have been a tortured tale of missteps as one management team after another tried to reclaim the glory years that spanned the late 1800s until Pearl Harbor. That was a triumphant epoch when Ithaca manufactured shotguns such as the Flues side-by-side, the Knick trap gun, the 3½-inch Magnum 10 and the Model 37 pump based on a design by John Browning.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the company changed hands several times until it padlocked the doors in1986. The following year a new investor group took the helm until 1996, when entrepreneur Steven Lamboy acquired the assets and rights to make the Ithaca doubles. He turned out some beautiful shotguns in Italy bearing the Ithaca name but fell into bankruptcy in 2003. By 2004, the Federal government attached the company’s bank accounts for back taxes and a bitter lawsuit ensued in New York state between various stakeholders. In 2005, Ithaca’s assets were surrendered and the company liquidated.
That’s when Craig Marshall entered. Owner of MoldCraft in Upper Sandusky, he converted the family mold-making business into a new iteration of Ithaca. During the transition, the Marshalls assembled the flagship Model 37 pumps from existing inventory with every intention of restoring the marque’s luster. Unfortunately, the Marshalls eventually found themselves under-capitalized for the venture to the extent that they were forced to idle the factory for eight months between 2006 and 2007.
Finally, in June 2007 industrial glass magnate David Dlubak acquired the company's assets and Ithaca name from the Marshalls. He started making fresh plant investments in the nondescript Upper Sandusky facility and brought back the team working on the Model 37.
As Dave explained to us in Ithaca’s distinctly blue-collar conference room, “We want to make a high-quality shotgun, at an affordable price, that will fit in the working man’s hands. The gun is going to be that guy’s pride and joy. The old Ithacas lasted fifty or sixty years. Now we make them to tighter tolerances and with better steel. We don’t want cheaper, we want better.”
Like many luminaries in the industry, Dave did not get his start making shotguns. Just as Harris John Holland began as a tobacconist, and Charles Parker a maker of spoons, curtains and locks, Dave comes from a family that owns and operates one of the largest industrial glass recycling businesses in the U.S., Dlubak Glass.
Dave was in the process of finalizing a new product called “bubble glass” that combined concrete and glass in faux log building material. Replete with grains and knots, bubble glass is resistant to fire and insects but soft enough for an ordinary drill bit. He was looking for a mold maker who could package the bubble-glass logs for affordable and dependable shipment.
He went to MoldCraft and met the Marshalls. Dave was presented with an opportunity to invest in Ithaca. Instead, he bought it.
Although a long-time aficionado of Ithaca shotguns, he acquired the company because of “the quality of the people and their ability.” These tool-and-die makers were the “elite of the elite,” he said.
For example, barrel-maker Roger Larrabee has been a tool-and-die machinist for 47 years. He trained Tom Troiano, who turns out the receivers.
“Roger trained a lot of the guys here,” Tom said.
As a self-described “control freak” with a passion for quality, it was paramount for Dave to build a team with the capabilities to “make all the parts here,” he said. “I’m interested in making it all under one roof.”
He characterizes the Ithaca Gun Company as being in “stage two,” meaning that it has resolved the manufacturing issues with its current popular pump guns: the accurate Deerslayer series, the rugged Model 37 Defense, and the sweethearts of the pump-gun community, the 28-gauge Model 37 and the Model 37 Featherlight and Ultralight.
These shotguns showcased the production capabilities of the company. They demonstrated the team’s ability to craft receivers from a billet of steel or aluminum, to do away with soldering or any other heat-inducing joining, and to machine one-piece barrels with integrated rib stanchions that eliminate any potential warpage from the run-of-the-mill rib soldering.
“Ithaca certainly seems to have manufacturing savvy,” Walt said. “I’ve seen their Model 37 and it’s beautiful and I would assume they would be successful with the new over/under.”
These accomplishments came from “spending many midnights sorting these things through,” Dave said. “We’re not in love with wood, we’re in love with steel.”
The company’s passion for steel is clear when you tour the factory floor. As raw Pittsburgh steel goes from the mill-turn lathes to to grinders to finishing machines to polishers there is an almost monastic sense of duty among the people making parts for the shotguns. All the tooling and fixturing was developed in-house. Custom software was written by the youngest guy on the crew for the tightest possible tolerances. The individual components are funneled into an assembly room where one person hand fits everything together into a single shotgun.
After the factory floor I spent time with Aaron Welch, Ithaca’s designer and engineer. Looking over his shoulder in the cramped office, he rotated the solid-block 3D models of the Phoenix on his computer monitor.
There was the Anson-Deeley boxlock action ready to fire 2¾ inch shells.
I discovered that a secret to the low recoil of the Phoenix are the three capsule-shaped pockets machined into the bottom of the receiver. They are designed to distribute the load of shooting, improve longevity of the components and help absorb the spent gasses. Moreover, the slightly greater mass of the receiver and monobloc combine to give the Phoenix a lower felt recoil. The less-restrictive 1.5 degree forcing cone and somewhat heavier burled stock also helped tame excessive kick.
In examining the monobloc, Aaron talked about how the barrels are held to the breech section by a tubular connector, instead of being soldered, to improve reliability. At the business end of the 30-inch barrels, the muzzles are dovetailed together, rather than soldered, to prevent distortion from thermal expansion.
That sense of a hydraulic assist when opening the shotgun comes from cocking rods that push against the hammer springs when you move the top lever.
The top bolting mechanism was borrowed from the old Ithaca Knick. It sits high in the receiver for a stronger grip on the monobloc.
Next I looked at how the rib slides into the stanchions and is mounted with a single screw. Aaron said that interchangeable ribs would be available to provide different points of impact.
In the end, the Phoenix would weigh about eight pounds.
Now it was time to see how all the parts worked together.
Mike grabbed the prototype of the 12-gauge Phoenix. The shotgun was still in-the-white with a couple thousand test rounds through it.
We drove a few minutes to a piece of property on a lake that had once been a quarry. A house overlooking it was under construction. The house belonged to Dave and was being built from bubble glass in cinder-block form factors.
In addition to the house and lake, the property also had a trap machine set up by the previous owners.
Mike handed me the gun and in fact it did feel very well balanced. I practiced mounting it a few times. The straight stock fit quite well. Dan Aubill, the guy in charge of Ithaca’s custom stock program, had told me that it was measured to fit the “average guy” with a 14¼ inch length of pull, zero cast, drop at comb of 1½ inch and drop at heel of 2¼ inch.
Pushing the top lever, the barrels slowly fell open. I loaded in two 1⅛ ounce shells. Mike took up the controller and when I called “pull” two things immediately took me by surprise. The first was the extremely low recoil, the second is how I completely pulverized the targets.
Mike and I went through a couple of boxes of shells, the two of us taking turns pulling targets. The trigger was light and crisp, the beads lined up perfectly and the tapered forend enabled a wide range of control.
I turned out to be the last one who shot the Phoenix that day and when the time came to return it to Mike I thought “I gotta get one of these.”
Irwin Greenstein is the Publisher of Shotgun Life. Please send your comments to letters@shotgunlife.com. This article originally appeared in Shotgun Life, the first online magazine dedicated to the best in wing and clays shooting. You can find Shotgun Life at http:/
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Last updated 194 days ago by Shotgun Life