My mentors never had anything positive to say about how our American cousins conducted game shooting. In summary, they believe US shooters “walk through boring covers, shooting with no regard for sportsmanlike conduct, tradition or safety”.
I had long concluded their sentiments were nothing more than blindly patriotic and plainly ignorant lunch-break chat. But when I took part in my first quail hunt, I must admit some small taint from that childhood influence remained.
The story started with a call from Jim Stewart, owner of Longthorne Guns. “Mr Carter, I have made a quail gun,” he began. “It’s a 28-gauge over-and-under sidelock with 32in titanium barrels.”
He then asked if we would be interested in testing the gun out at its intended quarry, quail. How could I say no to that? My first point of contact was Reid Bryant, host of, sporting writer and all-round good guy,
