Hip flask etiquette
Earlier this week, our favourite African American posted a comment that I made the other day
Time for one of my favourite pastimes: weapons cleaning. Now that is one of the advantages of a semi-automatic…lots of lovely little bits to clean. Yes I know, some actually regard this part of the post-shooting ritual as a bit of an anathema, but I take a simple pleasure in sitting down with either a mug of tea (or a large glass of whiskey) & taking the time to clean a firearm really well. Well it sure beats having to talk to the children
which got this reply from 1776 Rebel
I get nervous when folks talk about whiskey and guns. Even unloaded guns. Lots of time for the whiskey when everything is back in its cabinet or safe or wherever. Then the mind does the final safety check and the bottle opens up. I’m a gin and toxic guy.
Firstly lets get this straight, when I am down at the clay ground or on a rifle range I never touch a drop. Afterwards..oh yes & indeed there have been times when I have needed a couple of come back bracers to keep a hangover & the shakes at bay before picking up a rifle first thing in the morning. OK, but that being said, when your humble correspondent is out game shooting matters are slightly different. On a typical days pheasant shooting, my basket will contain at least the following:
Frankly, in between drives how are you going to properly enjoy the company of your fellow guns without a little social lubricant being passed around. However recently I have decided to stop messing about with all of those little metrosexual girlyman sized hip flasks & bought one of these wee fellows…
& yes that is a full sized shotgun next to it & those are 12 bore cartridges! Trust me when I say that a few snorts from that bad boy & you don’t have to worry about whether you should be shooting ‘maintained lead’ or ‘swinging through’ the birds …if you get my drift
Of course, this sort thing causes our cousins on the left hand side of the pond for blanche somewhat. A couple of weeks ago when I was smart shooting – we had 75 partridges & 165 pheasants on the day – one of the guns hailed from Chicago. Although he was an experienced shot, he had never shot driven game before. When after the first drive, we all tucked into the slogasms (sloe gin cut with champagne), his face was an utter picture & he wouldn't touch a drop all day. Of course we respected his views & got stuck in
Comments
And you don't seem to be dressed in Hi Viz Dayglo, how can you go shooting like that?
Posted by: The Englishman | October 31, 2008 10:00 AM
"Hi Viz Dayglow"?!? Please, that's for wuzzies! ;-) Nothing beats going out with a couple of friends, enjoying a (small) nectar in the knowing that any of their shots could announce your last seconds on God's green earth. Next to sticking relatively close together, staying away from their wifes is the next good precaution for not getting shot. And if I am gonna die in a hunting accident, I''ll be damned if it is while wearing "HiVizDayGlow"... What a fashion-disaster that is...
Besides, if they are after you, it's better to be camoflaged... ;-)
Posted by: Mischa, taking one for the team in the Netherlands. | October 31, 2008 12:32 PM
Where on earth do you get a 'whole body' flask like that from? This post cheered up my TFI Friday morning no end.......
This is also my favorite part of the year, sloegasm and hot saussage season is upon us again.... Yum Yum Yum
Posted by: Rod | October 31, 2008 12:36 PM
All right... Mr. FM, could you, would you be so kind to disclose the recepy of the mentioned "Slogasms"...? My quest on the world wide came up with somewhat different results then hoped for. (Unless we have a completely different definition of "Hunting Trip" but let's not go there, okay?)
Sloe gin cut with champagne... sounds like beefed-up champus... am I correct, Oh Wise One?
Posted by: Mischa, taking one for the team in the Netherlands. | October 31, 2008 12:39 PM
I don't drink for religious reasons, but what I am curious about, and no one has really seemed to answer this question for me, so I am going to ask it here.
Way back in the days before the War Between the States, a gentleman was required to know how to 'hold his liquor.'
From what I have read over the past couple of years, you seemed to have mastered that art. Is that something you learn? If so, who teaches you or what is the process?
Posted by: Cricket | October 31, 2008 4:14 PM
The only reason I don't drink while I shoot is that my vision gets (more) blurred and I can't see a damn thing.
Oh, that and gout. If I had a gout flare-up while shotgunning, the urge to blow my whole foot off would be temptation indeed.
But point taken, Mr. FM. Our next shoot here in Cuidad Tejas will include a hip flask of fiery Cape brandy, or similar. A gracious host could do no less.
Posted by: Kim du Toit | October 31, 2008 5:02 PM
I really dislike puritans of any variety.
Either you know when to stop or you don't. If you do, then stopping very early (when shooting) is no harder than stopping just short of the world tipping you off the edge.
Posted by: Dave | October 31, 2008 5:55 PM
Yup ... a Chicago Yankee. Out in the Red States we do things a bit differently.
Last hunting camp I was at, the folks there the previous weekend were kind enough to leave a half case of beer sitting prominently on an old picnic table, out in the rain staying cold ....
As long as nobody is soused while shooting, I could care less.
Posted by: Kristopher | October 31, 2008 6:26 PM
And a lack of day-glow regulations is one of the reasons I prefer muzzleloader hunting.
If we could just sell off all that public land out West, the new land-owners would keep the idiots out of their hunting leases, and get rid of any need for wearing funny orange suits.
Posted by: Kristopher | October 31, 2008 6:29 PM
Boozin' 'n blastin! Great FUN -- Just ask Shotgun Dick Cheney!
Posted by: Strudel Man | October 31, 2008 6:50 PM
*clap clap*
Now that is a "Man sized" flask.
Good to see you don't do things by half measures.
Posted by: pdwalker | October 31, 2008 7:41 PM
Bless you, Mr FM
You put the "Great" back into "Britain"
Posted by: BushRat | November 1, 2008 1:19 AM
"Just ask Shotgun Dick Cheney!"
I happen to think that booze is an excellent companion when hunting lawyers.
It's where the VP and I differ: he wasn't drunk when he shot the sumbitch.
Posted by: Kim du Toit | November 2, 2008 12:50 PM
Oh, vis-a-vis your new hip flask, Mr. FM: I see you've gone all Green on us, and are recycling your Land Rover's old exhaust muffler.
Good for you.
Posted by: Kim du Toit | November 2, 2008 12:54 PM
After this Tuesday, 4 Nov, I will need one that big to deal with the next four years.
Posted by: Yank in Germany | November 2, 2008 10:36 PM
The great thing about that flask is it's name.
Who would call their product "The Growler"?
Posted by: Lurch | November 2, 2008 10:42 PM
& better still, The Growler is so named after one of the Old English measures for a gallon…
"In England units of measurement were not properly standardised until the 13th century, though variations (and abuses) continued until long after that. For example, there were three different gallons (ale, growler and corn) up until 1824 when the gallon was standardised"
Posted by: Mr Free Market | November 2, 2008 10:58 PM
As much as I have to commend you and your colleagues on finding and carrying around "the biggest flask on Earth," I still have to wonder if it's worth it considering it probably weighs more full than does the game you'll eventually acquire?
Then again; the game stays at one consistent weight all through the hunt, while the flask seems to weigh less and less the longer the hunt takes to complete, right?
Posted by: Mike | November 3, 2008 10:44 PM