We measure time by our seasons in the field, firsts, lasts, bountiful, and empty alike become markers of past, present, and future. The partnership of an upland hunter and their shotgun often becomes one of adoration and spirit. The years that followed were the years that the Model 12 became his. The Winchester pump shotgun was a welcome home gift, purchased at the local hardware store, to my grandad from his father. Fulfilling his duty in 1960 at the age of 24, he took his place alongside his wife and his daughter, my mother, at home on the high plains of Kansas. Army in 1958, grandad served as a marksman on the Army’s BAR Rifle Team, with most of his time in Germany.
After being drafted into the 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. It was a gift of pride, and no doubt one of thankfulness, extended past a lump in the throat to his reunited son. Grandad’s shotgun was a gift to him from his father. An American classic pump, this Winchester Model 12 is indeed that.
My grandad’s Winchester 12-gauge shotgun with its fixed full choke and worn oil finish is a perfect example of pump action shotgun tradition.
Like a well-worn favorite hat or a broken-in pair of boots, my shotgun this season was familiar and reliable. This turkey, this moment, wasn’t particularly exceptional, or more fantastic than any of the other amazing hunts I have enjoyed, except for the shotgun that I carried into the woods this spring. I had hunted and taken spring turkeys for years, but none like this, none with the promise of the fellowship of family, and pledge of tradition that this hunt brought.
My eyes squinted into the late morning sun on the first day of May as I struggled to steady my hand and scratch my name across a filled turkey tag with a ballpoint pen. From the iconic American pump shotgun, the Winchester Model 12, comes a legacy of hunting moving into the future