My buddy and I decided to get out Christmas eve morning for a quick hunt.I got off work at 3am and headed over to his place to load up the canoe and gear.I decided to take the new to me 10 gauge bps.We got to the place we had scouted previously and got the canoe in the water for a frigid mile or so of
paddling.Got the deeks set up and kicked back awaiting shooting time and anticipating the flocks of mallards we knew would
come.In the pre-dawn darkness I imagined the devestation the mighty 10 would unleash over the deeks!Shooting time came and the ducks obliged us by funneling in like clockwork.Everything was going according to our plans except....MY SHOOTING!I couldn't hit a broadside of a barn if I was standing INSIDE of it!When the smoke finally cleared and we decided to call it a morning,I had a grand total of ONE drake for 3/4 of a box of shells to show for my efforts,while my buddy was one shy of his limit on mallards an had a goose to boot from his sbe2.And he was the one joking on the morning drive out about me "cheating" by using the 10,lol!And to add insult to injury,i learned that you should not set a synthetic stocked bps butt in the water,as it filled up the stock,then the gun.I noticed it when my arm got wet,and the mini geiyser of water squirting up into my line of sight when I flicked off the safety should have tipped me off to the problem.Hey,i'm known to be kind of dense at times!Any way it still was a great time(except for stripping the 10 completely down when I got home!)and I learned a couple of lessons.1-Always shoot a new gun a bit before going on a hunt.And 2,make your buddy ride in the bed of the truck on way home(see lesson 1 above)!
