What Shotgun did you shoot your FIRST bird with? and do you still have it?

Brasilia De Cartoucho
12 gauge
Single Shot
Break action
28" barrell

Just deWat'ed it a few weeks back after years of neglect and no use, was rusted too much, barrel was shot (de-tempered from attempting to fire a rescue/emergency flare that caught in the choke and burned the barrell) and the price of fixing it wasn't worth it. Instead went and bought a new pump action to replace it.

It was a good gun for what I used it for and was perfect on the farm for the muskrats.
 
Stevens side by side .410 given to me by my godfather when I was 9. That gun helped me prevent the robbery of our home in Montreal when I was 13, lol. Unfortunately it was stolen during a b&e to that house a few years later...
 
Grouse with a Coey .410, duck was years later with an old 1200 winchester 12ga. The winchester still works perfect and much smoother than my 870 supermag. Would have stayed with just the 1200 if I hadn't crippled so many geese last season. For me, 2.75" is not enough to consistantly drop those 15lb and up canada geese.
 
Ruffed Grouse on the fly and it dropped like a rock, I was wound up for a week... Cooey 840 .410 and yes I've still got it.
 
Ruffed Grouse with a King Auto Five (Japanese copy of the Browning Auto 5 Lite). I got it for my 16th birthday back in the 70's and I still use it once in a while.
 
12g 870 Wingmaster. Shot a grouse budding in a yellow birch. I can still point out the exact tree.

Also shot my first woodcock and duck with it as well. Will Probably shoot my first goose and turkey despite it only being 2 3/4 too.
 
My beloved 870, complete with 18 inch barrel and folding stock.

A cousin of mine and his father, the uncle is a HARDCORE old-school hunter, the cousin "doesn't mind it" turned out to be those people I had been looking for.
My first "hunting" experience was a so-called "canned" pheasant hunt. With so many people shooting at the same bird at the same time I had no "confirmed" kill, yet for the first time in my life somebody FINALLY took me "hunting".

I had been wanting to go for so long it was like a 25+ year old dream come true. I was hooked.

The cousin and I have been shooting together for a few years, he is a knowledge sponge when it comes to guns, and I am his teacher. I guess I worded my desire to hunt badly with him since I once told him I'd really want to "shoot a critter" one day. It stuck. Not sure I'll ever outlive that particularly badly worder statement.

I've been fishing all of my life, dad taught me early, and I still don't like the idea of killing (hate killing even fish, but will kill, and filet them anyway). I just rationalize it that the reward is food.

The next year the cousin called being quite apologetic that he didn't find a way to take me.

This year, I ended up going twice, for ducks. First time we bagged 2 but I didn't have a confirmed kill (assist in the 2nd). I was a little queasy when a particularly stubborn mallard had to be finished off manually, after 3 attempts, but I stuck with it. We bagged two again the next time around, 2nd one was mine since I was the only one that took a shot at it. Perfect head shot, feathers flew, but despite half of the bloody thing's head being blown off it still tried to swim away. I ended up finishing it manually, it too two tries to get it right. There is a definite technique to it that I have yet to master.

That duck currently resides in my freezer for a "special occasion" (since I am a notiriously bad cook, I guess I'd better have a backup meal planned though).

I am hooked.

If I win the lottery, I know that one of the things I'd like to do is put together a fully "handicapped friendly" hunting/fishing business.
 
1956 Wingmaster ADL

starling

still got and it's been in the family since 1968. gun not the bird...............
 
In 1965 I shot my first bird, it was a duck. It was either a blue wing teal or a black. Shot it with a Stevens 44-40 using 2 1/2 inch 410 shotgun shell. My kid brother owns the gun today.
 
Man... had to think long and hard. First bird I killed was a starling in my yard with a BB gun, was sitting at the top of our Holly tree. Was stunned when it fell. But as for shotgun... Crows with an old Winchester pump, couldn't put a finger on the first one shot many with it, gun is long since gone.
 
a ruffed grouse with a baikal 12ga, almost 30 years ago and I just sold it this year to make room in the gun cabinet - probably been 15 years since it was fired and maybe longer
 
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