Shotguns

Just about every weekend around Shawnee, Oklahoma, Riley Motrych is either hunting, scouting for hunting, or bass fishing either for fun or in tournaments. And although he clearly loves the outdoors, it’s the indoors where we can express his creative passion through waterfowl taxidermy.

“I like taxidermy because I’m recreating the animal to look as realistic as possible and put it together in an artistic way and showcase the beauty of it,” he explained.

There’s that old saying about necessity being the mother of invention, and in Riley’s case taxidermy helps finance his hunting and fishing exploits.

The four lanes of U.S. Route 84 cut through rural South Georgia. You’ll pass churches, body shops, gas stations, convenience stores, tired farm houses, old double-wides, acres of agriculture, Dollar General, skirt the downtown Cairo (home of the Syrupmakers high-school football team), before reaching Broad Avenue and the town limits of Whigham – population 428 as of the 2020 census. Having driven through the town several times over the years on my way to someplace else, and with Whigham’s total area of 1.2 miles overshadowed by a few blocks of derelict storefronts, you’d think it would be pretty easy to find a business that is still in operation.

Taking part in Delta Waterfowl’s University Hunting Program in fall 2022 was one of my most memorable experiences at Cornell University, where I’m a senior studying animal science with the goal of becoming a veterinarian. I was interested in hunting but hadn’t ever done it until I took Delta’s course, which was coordinated by Cornell professor Orin Robinson.

It’s not every day that we see an 11-year-old kid jump out of bed at 4am to go hunting, especially when the thermometer only peaks out at a bone-chilling eight degrees. But that’s exactly what happens when Fernandus Garrett, Jr., known to friends and family as LJ,  gets an invitation to go hunting.  Hunting since the age of seven, LJ can be best described as an All-American boy that lives to hunt, fish, and explore the outdoors.  

“I love hunting and shooting. I like shooting rifless more, but I also like shooting shotguns” LJ shared as he and his dad spoke via Zoom from the cab of his father’s 18-wheeler tractor-trailor. “I want to be able to feed my family in case life goes out, and nobody has money anymore.  I want to be able to go out and hunt deer, turkey, and catch fish.”

There’s something to be said about being open to trying new things. Well that’s exactly the mindset that Averie Link had, when she went on her first turkey hunt recently with her dad, Joe, for the Texas south zone spring turkey early youth weekend. The 16 year old grew up sitting in a deer blind with her father, but only recently in the last two years had she actually spent time as a hunter behind the trigger of a gun, rather than just an observer. Over that two-year span, she was able to expand her hunting experiences from deer to wing shooting, and she was excited to pursue Rio Grande gobblers for the very first time.

Turkish-made semi-automatic shotguns have gained in popularity through their rock-bottom prices and wide-spread availability. Just about any gun store in America will have a model or two (or more) that appeals to budget-minded wing and clays enthusiasts, while the online selection seems almost boundless. In addition to routinely getting the job done for diehard shooters, these semi-automatics are often a cost-effective go-to choice for first-time shooters dipping their toe in the water, or as a knock-about when the weather turns foul in the field.