|
|
Stories from the Line
Lars Magnusson of Blixt & Co.
Like many seasoned hunters, Don Valentine (a retired businessman now living in Steamboat Springs, Colo.) has travelled internationally on his quest to wingshoot. Game counts now become secondary to the challenge of the shoot. Numbers of game killed has instead been replaced with different numbers – the velocity, trajectory, angle of approach, and height of the flighted bird that was successfully brought down. Large bore guns have been replaced with small bore double guns in this pursuit. The thrill has been in the handicapping he places upon himself in bringing down the difficult bird – less firepower and more skill. It’s a natural progression for most confident wingshooters. Remembering that fallen high fast bird replaces the photographs of the numbers tied to the bird rack at the lodge.
Like many wingshooters, Don enjoys the many sporting journals that feature articles and advertisements for the lodges that offer wingshooting. This was the case for Don with Lazy Triple Creek. He saw an ad and read an article. A telephone call with Lars Magnusson brought some skepticism. Promises of driven high fast birds are replete in the conversation of many American estate managers. Some even advertise "driven" birds when in actuality the birds are thrown from either a tower or a hill. No stranger to adventure, Don booked a trip to Lazy Triple Creek. What happened changed his thinking of shooting true driven birds in the US.
There is a saying you only have one chance to make a good first impression. Well, Don’s first experience at Lazy Triple Creek was more than impressive. The lodge, situated on one of the many hills of the ranch, has a circular view of the vast topography that matches many of the famous shooting estates in the British Isle. Add to this the knowledgeable and attentive staff that Lars and Jen Magnusson have assembled. But what really got Don excited was the high, fast driven birds that he encountered on every drive. Like many experienced driven bird shooters, Don had encountered some British estates where the numbers of birds presented were impressive but not challenging. Add to that that when you reach a certain number of fallen birds in some of these estates, the shoot is stopped. Not so at Lazy Triple Creek! Don experienced fast, high driven birds that were a challenge even with his international driven bird experience. Plus, there was no stopping after a certain bird count because at Lazy Triple Creek there is a no bird limit.
(Don reported that on his driven day, he and follow guns accounted for over 400 birds) Plus, Don got to meet other like minded sportsman who enjoy the British traditions of ceremony and dress in the pursuit of driven birds that Lars and Jen have embedded at Lazy Triple Creek. Now he wants to come back and bring some his friends that enjoy this same sporting challenge in shooting fast, high driven birds. . He is keen on coming back in the summer to keep his skills sharp on the simulation days that Lars has developed – shooting high, fast clays on the very same drives as the driven birds are presented in the fall.
A few years ago Don treated himself to a bespoke Piotti side-by-side 28 bore. He visited the factory in Val Trompia, Italy and personally picked out the stock wood. As a tribute to his Labrador and Cocker he had their images bulino engraved by Creative Arts on the gun. It is now his favorite gun in his collection of the guns of other famous makers.
Lazy Triple Creek has a special place in Don’s journal of wingshooting. Shooting his 28 bore Piotti with his dogs memorialized in metal at challenging driven birds on a crisp fall day with friends in the dress and ceremonial traditions of Edwardian days of as century ago – well, it doesn’t get any better!
For more information or to sign up for an event,
please contact Jen Magnusson
jennifer@blixtco.com |
|
