When I decided I wanted to hunt, the first thing I wanted to hunt was birds- at first pheasant and ducks- because that was the kind of hunting I always wanted to do and never got to do as a child. My grandfather and uncles were pretty focused on deer by this point, so aside from working for some people who bred and trained Chesapeake Bay retrievers for duck hunting and field trials, my exposure to waterfowl, or any other bird hunting, was limited.
As an adult getting into the pursuit, I had to start at the beginning- I didn’t know enough about guns in general, or shotguns in particular to be sure of what I wanted. Growing up, I aspired to own a pump action 870, because my grandpa owned one. He would say “you can hunt anything in North America with pump action 12 gauge,” but as an adult I wasn’t ready to take that for granted.
After comparing actions, gauges, aesthetics, and tradition, I ended up taking his advice and decided on what is probably the most classic looking 20th century shotgun- a pump action 870 with a nice wood finish- it happened to be called a Wingmaster.
I wanted something reliable, and easy to maintain- in hindsight I doubt a semi-auto would have disappointed me- but I also wanted to cut my teeth on the old-school ways of a manually operated action. I love the solid feel and general vibe of over-unders and side-by-sides, but it seemed like having three shots might come in handy as a novice hunter.
I like the Fudd aesthetic; I think of myself like my ancestors in the 19th and 20th centuries, hunting like a classic American sportsman. I appreciate the look of modern firearms and would absolutely carry them in the field, but I for my first gun I had to go with the look I consider most timeless and iconic.
When I first got the gun, I took it to a local trap range to test it out, and immediately fell in love with shooting clays. I eventually joined a hunting club with trap, skeet, and sporting clay ranges. These outings are a blast to me- pun intended- and essential to feeling confident when the season starts.
Early on I got a sling, and a replacement, sling-ready magazine cap that I only use with the sling, primarily when turkey hunting. I also purchased Carlson’s turkey choke and a long range Cremator waterfowl choke that I’ve only used on occasion.
The Wingmaster has bagged over fifteen species to date: Morning dove, Rock dove, Wood duck, Gadwall, Pheasant, Mallard, Chukar, Canada goose, Black duck, Lesser scaup, Green-winged teal, Blue-winged teal, Ruddy duck, Cottontail rabbit, Grey squirrel, Ruffed grouse, and most recently and satisfyingly- an Eastern turkey.
Hopefully it has more species yet to bag: Canvasback, Pintail, Wigeon, Bobwhite, Woodcock, and Snowshoe hare among them.
After 5 years of hard use, she has some wear and tear- a missing front bead, a dented vent rib, bluing leeched off by mud, and a few dings- but I bought it to use it, and I have. It’s jammed a few times, but I believe those were on me. If you shuck it with authority it always cycles smoothy.
Not long into my hunting career, I decided that after five years, when I had enough experience to make a fully informed decision, I would get a new shotgun that was exactly what I wanted. After five years of hunting with nothing but the Wingmaster, when that time came, I decided to get a lever-action rifle to set myself up for following in my grandfather’s footsteps as an Eastern hunter; I just wasn’t interested in hunting with a different shotgun.