Letters

Paper, Not Plastic

Your desire to conserve our natural resources (From the Editor, March/April) is laudable, except when we're talking paper. A major tree species in the papermaking process is aspen, and young, vigorous aspen stands are, as you know, a favorite hangout of ruffed grouse and woodcock. The last time I looked, we were losing the aspen forest type in Northern Michigan because it wasn't being harvested in a timely manner. Effective aspen regeneration depends heavily on the harvest of those stands as they reach maturity and before they convert to some other forest type. This means clear-cutting by commercial loggers. Loggers, of course, need a market for the products they harvest and, in the case of aspen, that means pulpwood for paper.

That's why I always request paper at the grocery checkout.

Jack Lockwood
Registered Forester
Via e-mail

Point well taken-although it would have been more effective had you used stationery and an envelope . . . .

Remington's Team Effort

In the January/February Shooting column about exhibition shooters ("Shooting Stars"), I was disappointed that there was no mention of the Remington exhibition shooting team, of which my grandfather (Wilbur Cox) was a member. When I was a boy, my father would tell me the most amazing stories about my grandfather's shooting abilities. I own a videotape made from an old reel-to-reel that Remington made as a promotional film. In it the five-man Remington team performs some incredible feats with both shotguns and rifles.

Now that I am heavily involved in competitive shooting, I would love to learn more about my grandfather and the Remington team. Can anyone supply information about them?

Robert Cox
Via e-mail

Sniping & More

I wish to thank Vic Venters for his article about snipe ("Three Snipe & a New Year," Jan/Feb). As someone who has missed quite a few, I enjoyed the account of his efforts to bag the erratic little darts. As an old shotgunner well past middle age, I appreciated his thoughts about taking the birds' lives. I certainly find myself ambivalent about killing gamebirds in that I feel worse about it than I used to but have not given it up, nor will I.

Richard Howard
Agoura, California

I often go back and review past issues to make sure I haven't missed a golden nugget of valuable information. Vic Venters' article on snipe in the Carolinas was one of the best-written pieces you have published recently.

I also enjoyed the March/April issue's Guest Guns ("The Unusual Guyot of Henri Roux," by James Flynn), examining designs of older doubles, but pictures of what makes them unique-i.e. special lockwork, bolting methods and so on-would have been a big plus.

Jeff Hartin
Via e-mail

Remembering Jack Mitchell

It was with profound sadness that I learned of the demise of Jack Mitchell (Game & Gun Gazette, Jan/Feb). Jack tutored me in my first "real" shooting lesson, in 1991. He took up my game exponentially in a very short time. Now I teach . . . always using the methods learned from him.

Jim Sarkauskas
Rhinelander, Wisconsin

No Skipping Necessary

A clarification. "Any boy who is able to carry a .30-30" does not have to skip school to go deer hunting [The Major, Nov/Dec], because in the UP opening day is a school holiday. And a lot of the girls carry .30-30s, too.

Steve Atkinson
Channing, Michigan

A Merkel Remembrance

I enjoyed Bruce Buck's Merkel review in the March/April 2005 issue. I was particularly interested in his mention of Don Zutz and subsequent comments in the July/August '05 Letters section ("A Mis-Gauged Merkel").

I met Don Zutz in 1988 at a local gun club after moving back to my home state of Wisconsin from the East Coast. Our introduction was during an informal trap shooting seminar, where I noticed Don shooting a non-typical trap gun that turned out to be a 12-gauge Merkel 200E. I was impressed with both the man and the gun.

The Merkel, which was shown in many of Don's books, was a 200E with a straight grip and a single non-selective trigger. It was made in December 1973. Don had had the barrels shortened to 28 inches, the bores opened to .734", and Briley thin-walled tubes fitted in the lower barrel and fixed Improved Modified (.028" constriction) in the upper. The gun weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and had a 143/8" LOP over a .800" Old English pad.

In August 1992 I had the privilege of purchasing Don's Merkel. At the exchange, I had Don sign the title page of his wonderful book The Double Shotgun. He wrote: "To Bob, Good luck with the great ol' Merkel." Looking back at that day and his words, I realize how blessed I am not only to have known the man but also to now own such a wonderful keepsake. Sadly, Don passed away too soon, in 1998 at the age of 66.

In Mr. Buck's review he mentions that the Merkel 16 O/U was Don's favorite field gun. I only can speak from my experience with Don in saying that he was a 12-gauge man. In his book Shotgun Stuff, he wrote: "I have to admit the 12 is my favorite gauge because of its versatility and effectiveness, but if I had to make a second choice it would be a 16."

Again, thanks for the article and your fine magazine.

Robert Hamann
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Writer Relations

I have been reading your magazine for several years and greatly enjoy it. The range of writers is impressive and strikes a nice balance between the technical, artistic and humorous. One of my favorites is E. Donnall Thomas Jr. Interestingly enough, the teaching hospital where I work sponsors an award for researchers that recently was given to a young doctor I mentored. The award is the E. Donnall Thomas Award and is named after the Nobel Prize-winning physician who helped make bone-marrow transplants possible, thus saving tens of thousands of lives. Could the illustrious writer be related to the illustrious researcher?

Michael Thomas Miller, M.D.
Cooperstown, New York

E. Donnall Thomas Jr. responds:

The distinguished scientist in question is indeed my father. He grew up in Depression-era Texas, the son of one of the last true horse & buggy doctors, and went on to win the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1990 for his pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation. As a kid, I cut my own wingshooting eyeteeth on grouse and woodcock around Cooperstown before my family moved west. Dad always has been an ardent outdoorsman and, at 85, remains one of the best wingshots I have ever seen.

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