I will ask him. My family had a small piece of land up around the Le Mars area that had a draw that ran through it. The state paid us to leave it alone and to not clear any trees or brush around it. It wasn't a huge amount, but it made sense.
Anyone get any birds today?
- Thread starter DooBi
- Start date
Thank you sir. I take back 2 of the things I said about your politics.
Thank you again.
We need to be promoting the shit out of this in Iowa.
Gasp...... I'm going to say something for the socialist farmers !!!!!!!!
We need to make this thing financially viable enough Farmers actually do it in our state. Win for water quality, win for wildlife.
Not the same thing as the wetlands program, but Iowa has had the IHAP program for a few years now, but I didnt realize how prevelant it was in Kansas.....literally thousands upons thousands of acres all over the place out there.....whereas here in SE Iowa, we have about 4 different 80 acre tracks across 3 or 4 counties.
I wish that would take off in Iowa as well. Not sure what the kickback is...
If you have not already, I STRONGLY recommend reading "The Old Man & the Boy" by Robert Ruark.
Literally an entire book of life lessons, funny yet true sayings, conversations about life, women and the relationship between Grandpa and Grandson.....all the while intertwined with all things hunting and fishing.
Really makes a guy appreciate and remember the good times hunting and fishing as well as those that you shared it with.
A few examples:
"'The best thing about hunting and fishing,' the Old Man said, 'is that you don't have to actually do it to enjoy it. You can go to bed every night thinking about how much fun you had twenty years ago, and it all comes back clear as moonlight.'"
"...a sportsman, is a gentleman first. But a sportsman, basically, is a man who kills what he needs, whether it's fish or bird or animal, or what he wants for a special reason, but he never kills anything just to kill it. And he tries to preserve the very same thing that he kills a little of from time to time. The books call this conservation. It's the same reason why we don't shoot that tame covey of quail down to less'n ten birds."
"A fish, which you can't see, deep down in the water, is a kind of symbol of peace on earth, good will to yourself. Fishing gives a man ... some time to collect his thoughts and rearrange them kind of neatly, in an orderly fashion."
“The old man used to say that the best part of hunting and fishing was the thinking about going and the talking about it after you got back.”
“Rich," the Old Man said dreamily, "is not baying after what you can't have. Rich is having the time to do what you want to do. Rich is a little whisky to drink and some food to eat and a roof over your head and a fish pole and a boat and a gun and a dollar for a box of shells. Rich is not owing any money to anybody, and not spending what you haven't got.”
Shot a Jake this morning. Not super happy about it but whatever. These 2 assholes have been pushing everything in the woods. Wife will probably be happy there won't be any worries about mounting it.
This is kind of cool: csb
My dad( bio) calls me awhile back and tells me he found an old shotgun in my step mom's grandmother's home. It's rusty and "broke" so I tell him to bring it the next time I see him and I'll look at it. Fast forward, I saw him this weekend at a gathering and he brought the shotgun. It's ROUGH, but, right away I see "Winchester model 1897". Alright, get it home give it a good hops#9 bath, start taking it apart, scrub everything with a tooth brush and hops#9, knock enough rust off to find a serial number and I'm noticing something right away, this thing has SUPER basic markings on it and 5 digit serial number for a firearm they made millions of. Now, my dad wanted it to be a "trench gun" as the 1897 is most noted for but this was quite obviously not. It's a "c" model with a fixed barrel and choked in "cylinder" a model known as the "brush gun". So then I go down the history rabbit hole, I really knew nothing of the model 1897 prior to Saturday evening at about 8pm.
So, pour a nice glass of whiskey and start learning.
There is no model "a" the model 1893 were stamped "B" and my understanding is there are a few, but incredibly rare, 1897s stamped "B" the "c" production started in 1899. But, things were not standardized like they are today. So "my" 45xxx, which i believe was made in 1910, actually has the "1893" magazine tube cap and has a foregrip on it I CANNOT find on a 1897 but is on a generation of 1893s. ( which has created some issues because thst is the "broke" part.
So, after some elbow grease and a little whiskey confidence I get it completely cleaned up and oiled up and put back together. I believe it was so gummed up it had gotten stuck in a half cocked position and couldn't release itself. So, my dad is like great! You can rack the slide, it looks and feels like an 1897 I'll hang it on the wall. He isn't a gun guy, these things are made to run. So then I get after the trigger/ firing pin, a little more hops#9 and cleaning with dental tools and it's free. At about 530 last night I brought the old girl back to life with a round of 7.5 and it cycled, fired, and ejected like the day it was made.
My dad( bio) calls me awhile back and tells me he found an old shotgun in my step mom's grandmother's home. It's rusty and "broke" so I tell him to bring it the next time I see him and I'll look at it. Fast forward, I saw him this weekend at a gathering and he brought the shotgun. It's ROUGH, but, right away I see "Winchester model 1897". Alright, get it home give it a good hops#9 bath, start taking it apart, scrub everything with a tooth brush and hops#9, knock enough rust off to find a serial number and I'm noticing something right away, this thing has SUPER basic markings on it and 5 digit serial number for a firearm they made millions of. Now, my dad wanted it to be a "trench gun" as the 1897 is most noted for but this was quite obviously not. It's a "c" model with a fixed barrel and choked in "cylinder" a model known as the "brush gun". So then I go down the history rabbit hole, I really knew nothing of the model 1897 prior to Saturday evening at about 8pm.
So, pour a nice glass of whiskey and start learning.
There is no model "a" the model 1893 were stamped "B" and my understanding is there are a few, but incredibly rare, 1897s stamped "B" the "c" production started in 1899. But, things were not standardized like they are today. So "my" 45xxx, which i believe was made in 1910, actually has the "1893" magazine tube cap and has a foregrip on it I CANNOT find on a 1897 but is on a generation of 1893s. ( which has created some issues because thst is the "broke" part.
So, after some elbow grease and a little whiskey confidence I get it completely cleaned up and oiled up and put back together. I believe it was so gummed up it had gotten stuck in a half cocked position and couldn't release itself. So, my dad is like great! You can rack the slide, it looks and feels like an 1897 I'll hang it on the wall. He isn't a gun guy, these things are made to run. So then I get after the trigger/ firing pin, a little more hops#9 and cleaning with dental tools and it's free. At about 530 last night I brought the old girl back to life with a round of 7.5 and it cycled, fired, and ejected like the day it was made.
Last edited:
Arrowed a smaller tom, 3/4 inch spurs and only 6.5 inch beard. He and two bigger birds flew into an open field behind me at 530 PM thursday. My decoy was to my west, they were to my east and I was between two hay bales. The two bigger birds stayed at 80 yards, while young and dumb bird came running in. I waited 5 minutes while he dry humped my decoy..the two older fellas knew something wasn't right. As the bird I got walked past me at 8 yards, I stuck his head.
Congrats. You can't eat the beard. ( atleast that's what I'm telling myself) This year was odd, tons of birds but Jake's and young birds seems to rule to roost.
I have one tag for me to fill yet, and my wife bought an apprentice tag... so I'll be up at 4:30 tomorrow
This is kind of cool: csb
My dad( bio) calls me awhile back and tells me he found an old shotgun in my step mom's grandmother's home. It's rusty and "broke" so I tell him to bring it the next time I see him and I'll look at it. Fast forward, I saw him this weekend at a gathering and he brought the shotgun. It's ROUGH, but, right away I see "Winchester model 1897". Alright, get it home give it a good hops#9 bath, start taking it apart, scrub everything with a tooth brush and hops#9, knock enough rust off to find a serial number and I'm noticing something right away, this thing has SUPER basic markings on it and 5 digit serial number for a firearm they made millions of. Now, my dad wanted it to be a "trench gun" as the 1897 is most noted for but this was quite obviously not. It's a "c" model with a fixed barrel and choked in "cylinder" a model known as the "brush gun". So then I go down the history rabbit hole, I really knew nothing of the model 1897 prior to Saturday evening at about 8pm.
So, pour a nice glass of whiskey and start learning.
There is no model "a" the model 1893 were stamped "B" and my understanding is there are a few, but incredibly rare, 1897s stamped "B" the "c" production started in 1899. But, things were not standardized like they are today. So "my" 45xxx, which i believe was made in 1910, actually has the "1893" magazine tube cap and has a foregrip on it I CANNOT find on a 1897 but is on a generation of 1893s. ( which has created some issues because thst is the "broke" part.
So, after some elbow grease and a little whiskey confidence I get it completely cleaned up and oiled up and put back together. I believe it was so gummed up it had gotten stuck in a half cocked position and couldn't release itself. So, my dad is like great! You can rack the slide, it looks and feels like an 1897 I'll hang it on the wall. He isn't a gun guy, these things are made to run. So then I get after the trigger/ firing pin, a little more hops#9 and cleaning with dental tools and it's free. At about 530 last night I brought the old girl back to life with a round of 7.5 and it cycled, fired, and ejected like the day it was made.
This is a CSB.
I too have a 1897 that was my Grandpa's...still in good, clean working order. I believe it is just a standard full choke. I think i searched the serial number years ago and it was a 1927.
Not near as cool a back story as yours, but my wife's aunt had a husband pass from cancer years ago and he had an old Remington 1100 that had been in a closet for a long time and she wanted to give it to someone, so she technically gave it to my son (12 years old) and we spent some time taking it apart, cleaning everything (put a new gas seal on it), etc etc this winter but have yet to go out and fire it. Still too big and heavy of a gun for him to use yet, but was a good father/son project.
I love those old guns, make something right and it will last forever.
Does your 97 have a rounded end cap to the magazine tube? And a pin you can rotate to remove the mag tube?
Been awhile since I have given it the once over, but yes its the round end cap (and yes I think on the pin as well).
Pretty sure is basically this exact gun (as like I say i think it was 1927 manufacture year when i checked)
https://auctions.everard.com/online...ster-model-1897-12-gauge-shotgun-1927-2452000
The number of parts and springs inside the receiver of those old 97s is something else. My oldest has one that belonged to my Grandfather that needed some cleaning and had a broken spring inside. It's now back to firing condition and he actually shot a few roosters with it this past Winter.
While we are on the theme of cool old hunting & fishing stuff.....been going through some items from the garage up at Mom and my late Dad's and I came across a couple old baitcast reels that I remember as a kid but then honestly kind of forgot about.
Fast forward to now and I brought them home and actually looked at them a bit closer and they are actually pretty sweet and potentially pretty valuable if they get cleaned up right....but they are both mid-1970's Abu Ambassadeur reels.....a 5000D (the green one) and a 2500C.
Like I say, I remember them as a kid but never looked them up until now.....appears they were kind of a big deal back in the day, ahead of their time really and looks like some of those 5000D's when cleaned up can go for over $500 (which I am not going to sell).
Anyways they both still function as-is and after looking at some maintenance vids online I am not sure I have the confidence to do a full disassemble, clean and re-assemble....so might just try to clean up best I can and go from there (looks like A TON of little moving parts if you fully break it down).
Anybody familiar with these??? I think i am going to try and get the 5000D rigged up for trolling in Canada this year for Walleye.....I am a spinning reel guy, but might be fun to catch a few on Dad's old reel (and I like vintage stuff anyways)
Fast forward to now and I brought them home and actually looked at them a bit closer and they are actually pretty sweet and potentially pretty valuable if they get cleaned up right....but they are both mid-1970's Abu Ambassadeur reels.....a 5000D (the green one) and a 2500C.
Like I say, I remember them as a kid but never looked them up until now.....appears they were kind of a big deal back in the day, ahead of their time really and looks like some of those 5000D's when cleaned up can go for over $500 (which I am not going to sell).
Anyways they both still function as-is and after looking at some maintenance vids online I am not sure I have the confidence to do a full disassemble, clean and re-assemble....so might just try to clean up best I can and go from there (looks like A TON of little moving parts if you fully break it down).
Anybody familiar with these??? I think i am going to try and get the 5000D rigged up for trolling in Canada this year for Walleye.....I am a spinning reel guy, but might be fun to catch a few on Dad's old reel (and I like vintage stuff anyways)
This is kinda cool:
Took the 1897 down again this weekend and really scrubbed it, she runs smooth now.
But... the first time I opened it up.i found these pieces of paper, I figured it was Winchester stuff. This time I took them apart and pieced them together.
At first it didnt make sense... until....
I flipped it over. I can read that it's from December 9th but don't have a year and can read that enemy planes were seen off the coast of New York at 1pm CST and the first "xxxx" (something) of the new York Air force had said it was a practice run but we should be ready for war. It appears to be a clipping this guy hid in his gun about the start of WW2. It talks about Hitlars advancement and something about Poland I can't make out.
Took the 1897 down again this weekend and really scrubbed it, she runs smooth now.
But... the first time I opened it up.i found these pieces of paper, I figured it was Winchester stuff. This time I took them apart and pieced them together.
At first it didnt make sense... until....
I flipped it over. I can read that it's from December 9th but don't have a year and can read that enemy planes were seen off the coast of New York at 1pm CST and the first "xxxx" (something) of the new York Air force had said it was a practice run but we should be ready for war. It appears to be a clipping this guy hid in his gun about the start of WW2. It talks about Hitlars advancement and something about Poland I can't make out.
Last edited:
This is kinda cool:
Took the 1897 down again this weekend and really scrubbed it, she runs smooth now.
But... the first time I opened it up.i found these pieces of paper, I figured it was Winchester stuff. This time I took them apart and pieced them together.
At first it didnt make sense... until....
I flipped it over. I can read that it's from December 9th but don't have a year and can read that enemy planes were seen off the coast of New York at 1pm CST and the first "xxxx" (something) of the new York Air force had said it was a practice run but we should be ready for war. It appears to be a clipping this guy hid in his gun about the start of WW2. It talks about Hitlars advancement and something about Poland I can't make out.
This cool story bro....just got cooler.
I love this kind of stuff.....where exactly was it hidden?
Ahhhhhh.....that makes sense. Was trying to figure out where it would have survived all these years and I can see that now.
Yeah, super crusty, pretty cool. I don't think this thing had been cleaned in decades and likely fired in as long.
Very cool. Even though not a trench gun be careful when shooting. It wasn't just the trench gun model that can be slam fired.
My cousin ended up with great grandpas 97 and we tried it a few times. We saw why the Germans cried foul.
Similar threads
