Snapshots

There has been a lot of curiosity and speculation in recent months about the inventory from Cape Outfitters, the Cape Girardeau, Missouri-based shooter's emporium that closed shortly after the death of founder and owner Don L. Shrum. As for the company's popular line of accessories, Jeff Mayfield, Cape Outfitters' former sales manager, has bought the entire inventory and will offer these items and more through his new business, Jeff's Outfitters.

Mayfield worked closely with Shrum for 15 years and knows the inventory like perhaps no one else. He says that he will focus on cases for shotguns and rifles, including canvas (oak??) and leather cases, soft-leather and trunk-style leather cases, as well as ABS plastic cases. (Mayfield anticipates a redesigned line of leather cases in the future.) He also says that he will honor the advertised pricing previously offered by Cape Outfitters.

Jeff's Outfitters also will carry metallic sights, leather shooting supplies, barrels and books for the fine-gun enthusiast. For more information, contact Jeff's Outfitter's, 63F Sena Fawn Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO, 63701; 573-651-3200; www.jeffsoutfitters.com.

Polywad, Inc., has introduced two new 21/2" Spred-R loads in 12 and 16 gauge called Doublewides. The loads essentially duplicate the company's Vintager loads in payload and velocity-7/8 oz of magnum-grade lead shot in the mid-1,100-fps range for both gauges-but include a spreader device for shot dispersal. Doublewides also are roll-crimped. According to Polywad's Jay Menefee, the 12s generate from 6,000 to 7,000 psi and the 16s about 7,000 to 8,000 psi.

"Doublewides are delightful to shoot out of old doubles," Menefee said, "and now the gunner can really work over targets that are right in front." Currently Doublewides are available only in No. 8 shot and in bulk flats of 250 shells at $85 per flat. For more information, contact Polywad, Inc., PO Box 7916, Macon, GA 31209; 800-998-0669, fax 478-477-0666.

Hodgdon Powder Co. announced in October that it had purchased IMR Powder Co., Inc. As part of that announcement, Hodgdon President Tom Shepherd said that IMR powders will continue with the same product lines and will be manufactured to the same specifications and in the same plants.

"IMR is manufactured in the same plant with exacting performance criteria and quality assurance standards that Hodgdon users have come to expect," Shepherd said. (??)

Hodgdon plans more aggressive marketing for IMR powders and will update some of the reloading data for the line. Although the company is currently out of printed reloading manuals for IMR products, the entire manual is available online in a printable format at www.improvedmodernrifle.com/safe.html.

For more information about IMR powders and Hodgdon, contact Hodgdon Powder Co., PO Box 2932, Shawnee Mission, KS, 66201; 913-362-9455; www.hodgdon.com.

Armes de Chasse, LLC, of Hertford, North Carolina, has selected Armas Ego SL, of Eibar, Spain, to be the supplier of its Albemarle Game Gun line of side-by-side shotguns.

Armes de Chasse Marketing Director Art Foley announced that Armas Ego will replace the company's former supplier, Gil y Compania, and that the company has cancelled all of its customers' back orders and refunded their deposits. Foley said Armes de Chasse will honor its five-year warranty on the guns it has sold and will continue to offer parts and service in the US.

Foley said Armas Ego, although not well-known in the US, has a devoted following among European sportsmen, both for its shotguns and its big-game double rifles.

For more information, contact Armes de Chasse, PO Box 86, Hertford, NC 27944; 888-291-4636, fax 252-426-1557.

The first sportsman's group dedicated strictly to the conservation and management of the American woodcock is in its formative grassroots stages and is seeking members and state chapters. Frank Jezioro, a West Virginia native and avid woodcock hunter, has served as a touchstone for the organizing efforts behind Woodcock Limited and will serve on the group's first board of directors.

"The number-one fact is that the nesting surveys show the woodcock population has been declining 2 percent a year during the past 15 years," Jezioro said. "We need to look at woodcock all up and down the flyway and isolate and identify the problems."

The plan for Woodcock Limited is fairly simple: Gather annual dues ($20, though larger donations are welcome); hire Jim Hammill, a former Michigan DNR habitat biologist, as spokesman; and advocate for greater woodcock research dollars and habitat management with both state and federal land and wildlife agencies. Organizers hope to produce a quarterly newsletter to keep members informed of the group's mission and activities.

"We don't plan to become a new banquet circuit," Jezioro said. There will be no funds for administration and salaries, and the directors will pay their own travel costs until July 2004.

Jezioro said he hopes the group can become a clearinghouse for better coordination of woodcock research. He also said the group plans to work with large private landowners on habitat management and will advocate for a greater portion of license fees to be dedicated to woodcock, perhaps even through a "non-web-footed" migratory bird stamp.

For more information or to join Woodcock Limited, contact Frank Jezioro, Rte. 1, Box 183-A, Flemington, WV 26347; fjezioro@msn.com; www.kingsfarms.com/WoodcockLimited.