My son's best friend, Jason, was rummaging around his grandmother's attic in New Jersey the other day and found an unopened bottle of Ducks Unlimited Commemorative Jim Beam bourbon whiskey from the 1974-75 DU banquet season.

Now, Jason's Grandfather did not hunt. Nor did Jason's father or any of his uncles, with one major (and I do mean MAJOR) exception. You see Jason's great uncle (his grandfather's brother) was Gene Hill, arguably one of the best American outdoor writers of all time!

When I heard about Jason's find, I started thinking that, probably, this bottle of bourbon was a Christmas gift from Gene Hill to his brother that year. Being the celebrated writer that he was, I'm sure that DU (or Jim Beam Company itself) saw to it that ole Gene got plenty of commemorative bottles for his friends. Then again, maybe he bought it at a DU auction, just like you and me would have to do today. Either way, I'm sure there is a Gene Hill connection to this bottle of whiskey (or at least I hope there is).

As an aside to this story, Jason was not brought up to hunt, but four years ago he told my son he'd like to try it. That year, after my son and I outfitted him with a Marlin XL7 in 30-'06, he killed his first deer on my lease. Since then he's killed one or two with us every season, has acquired a half-dozen rifles and an equal number of scatter guns, started reloading, and now he's shooting trap every chance he gets. Last year he fell in love with Duck Hunting. He and my son are presently planning multiple trips to Arkansas this season, as well as future elk and moose hunts out west and in Canada. Jason is planning on them opening the Jim Beam he found after a successful day in the duck blind this year.

All I can say is there's a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that I had a hand in bringing Gene Hill's great nephew into a love affair with the shooting sports. It wasn't hard; it's definitely in his genes!

Here's the Jim Beam:

nice and good work on the recruiting too

Now that is a good story!

Nice Job!


ddj

Great story!

That XL-7 is a pretty darn good rifle! Great story.

Great story. Mr. Hill became a part of my life when I began being owned by the only love money can buy. His stories were featured in the pages of the Retreiver Journal(great publication). On his death, they credited him w/ writing one of 2 of the greatest dog stories ever. "One" by Mr. Hill & "The Road to Tinkhamtown" by Cory Ford. For us hunters and working dog lovers, there is no finer.

quote:

Originally posted by kudu56:
That XL-7 is a pretty darn good rifle! Great story.

I found the rifle for him at one of the big box stores priced, on sale, for $252. I was very impressed with the Marlin version of the accu trigger and the feel of the rifle (even though it has one of those melted Clorox bottle stocks), however I became much more impressed when we took it to my gun club and it shot MOA right out of the box! Who cares that you can't do any customization to it. It get's the job done!

Great story - and very cool bottle!

Thanks for sharing!!!

and a kudos to you leon

I just realized that what I showed was the back of the bottle (which is pretty confusing as to why it would be a DU commemorative). Here's the front:

Hey thats a better picture!
Now if those boys need help figuring out how to get the cap of that thing I've been known to pull a cork on just the right occasion.
38 year old whiskey may be the appropriate occasion.

I'm just hoping I'll get a shot out of it, if for no other reason than to salute Gene Hill, my all-time favorite writer!

There will be four boys on their duck hunt, all close friends and recent Ga Tech graduates (except for my son, who is about to finish Ga State) who have scattered to the four corners of the country to work as engineers for different industries. I have a feeling that this bottle of bourbon will not survive the first night.

I'm hoping I can talk Jason into letting the bottle grace my bar as a decanter for a while after they return. It's presence would be a story in waiting for anyone who asked about it.