A fine old L.C.Smith twenty gauge, double-barreled masterpiece of the gun maker’s art, its richly grained stock worn satin smooth by the touch of a hunter’s hand, a favorite hunting vest still smelling of feathers and gunpowder, and a tail feather trophy from a frosty morning in October are only objects in a still life composition to some viewers. But to the grouse hunter they inspire memories of pleasant seasons from the past and anticipation of enjoyable hunts yet to come when the now silent bell will once again hang from the big Setter’s collar and its clinking will trace his path as he probes the blackberry thickets.
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