The Warmth of a Good Fire

It’s been cold up on Lookout Mountain the past few weeks. It has felt especially cold out at the farm. Thankfully at the Old Swede and our other structures we have wood burning stoves and fireplaces and lots of hardwood trees on the farm. Almost all the wood we burn is either red or white oak and hickory. We have several large trees down right now, blown over from past storms. The supply of quality firewood is plentiful. Thankfully we enjoy cutting and splitting firewood as well. I love the saying about how many times firewood warms you. I usually hear it said as three times but the Swedish saying is “Veden värmer många gånger.” or literally, “It warms you many times”. When you cut it, split it, stack it, and finally burn it.

In the Old Swede we have three wood stoves and a fireplace in the main dining room. This may seem to be overkill but when it's as cold as it has been, I don’t think that there is any more comforting warmth than from a wood fire. I chose a different wood stove for each of the rooms based on the room size and its layout.

In our mudroom we have a large potbelly stove that really heats that space up extremely well that sits against the far wall from where you walk in. The stone against the wall serves two purposes, it protects the wall from overheating and potentially causing a fire and secondly it absorbs a lot of heat and radiates it out over a longer period of time even when the fire dies down. The shape of the stove is tall and slender giving us plenty of room to move around the the gun cleaning table when moving to the restroom or the bar. I imagined that room with people hanging their coats up to dry and cleaning wet guns with a dog curled up in front of the stove getting warm after spending a long day out in the cold.

Walking into the bar you can see a small rectangular stove just over the bar top. This space is tight and I imagine it’s going to get crowded in here as most bars do so I didn’t want anything too intrusive. I am still not sold on this little stove. For some reason it’s not drawing very well and therefore it never gets very hot. That might be a good thing with a packed room but we’ll see.

Next to the bar and mudroom is the library. This room is pretty narrow but I really wanted some sort of fire in here, for ambiance and of course warmth. Melinda, my wife, had the great idea of cutting a hole in the wall to the outside and push out and to build a stone enclosure, so that’s what we did. It left our walk through open to the dining room while giving us a place to have a fire. This stone as well was sourced completely from around the farm.

Our last room is the dining room. It is the only room with a fireplace. It was painted with a thick coat of gray epoxy and some other colors beneath that through the years. After a few hours of tedious labor with a scraper and wire wheel, it got down to an acceptable rustic look. I was able to source some old wood cabin logs for the mantle. Having a good size group of people in this room for a Shoot Lunch with the fire crackling will definitely be a good memory.

Outside we have two large fire pits for people to sit around and enjoy the cool air while still staying warm, well maybe a nice cigar and a little bourbon will help as well.

In all of these spaces I hope that people will be able to relax and enjoy themselves, “and embrace the bonhomie of time spent among friends, old and new.” (James Purdey)

See you in the field,
Randy

Over the years Overfinch has collaborated with Holland & Holland to create bespoke offerings for the discerning gun who has an appreciation for what is unique in the fine sporting world. This past year Holland & Holland teamed up with Overfinch again to create a truly unique and over the top SUV to take you to all of your shooting engagements in ultimate style.

Overfinch is a London based company that specializes in commissioning high end luxury modifications of Land Rover vehicles since 1975. Their Heritage edition Range Rover, shown below, was released a few years ago and it was anything but spectacular.

The company’s attention to detail is second to none as seen in these photos. Who wouldn’t want to roll up to your next shooting day out and unload your pair of side x sides from the back of one of these.

New School Style

The latest collaboration, which was just released before the end of the year 2025, paid homage to shooting and the iconic Holland & Holland brand in an incredible display of creativity and craftsmanship.

This new Holland and Holland edition will set you back about $650,000 and only 25 will be produced. The Holland & Holland nods are everywhere you look on this vehicle, both on the interior and exterior.

Obviously this Range Rover is extreme and will more than likely see very few shooting days, especially in the states. Despite it being bold in almost every detail though, it still remains at it’s heart a 4x4 that is built to go off-road and take you and your guns wherever your next shoot day may be. It is not a gimmick, but a true display of British craftsmanship, the same craftsmanship that goes into every “London Best” gun.

See you in the field, Randy

PS: Be sure to pick me up, if you come in one of these, I’ll be ready.

Never thought after we moved from California and sold our property just outside of the city limits that we would own a piece of land large enough to require multiple pieces of equipment again. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with tractors and the equipment that goes along with them. When we left California though, that seemed like a chapter that was closed for good. The reality is that both my wife Melinda and I enjoy having a little land to spread out on. A few years back Melinda found a 154 acre farm for sale on the mountain in Georgia. Old Head River Farm was purchased.

With the purchase of our farm came the opportunity to purchase some new equipment including tractors. My favorite addition was probably our excavator. I never had a need for an excavator in California, but on the mountain where rocks and trees seem to be in the way of everything you do and excavator with a thumb attachment is maybe the most useful tool I have now.

Our farm came with a long and interesting history. At one point in the 50’s and 60’s a Doctor Stevens out of Chattanooga owned the farm and kept an assortment of wild animals, including elk, wolves and other exotic animals that you would only see at a zoo. The long stretches of 6’ high chainlink fence and posts that were embedded into older trees and thick vines that I removed were visible proof of the enclosures that once housed the animals. The doctor also had a grass airstrip running across a diagonal strip of the property that he would land his plane on. It seems that every few months I run into someone who has lived on our farm as a youngster along with their parents who were caretakers. I recently met a gentleman in his 60’s that claimed he was born in our main house at the farm. He said that he had a picture of his mom on our property leaning up against the wing of a plane in the wood barn/hanger that once stood at the end of the airstrip. There are even larger tales of planes being used for nefarious activities that became stuck and had to be pulled out with the use of local dozers from neighboring farms.

Despite its colorful past the farm has actually been used to primarily grow corn for the past 25 years.

We continued leasing the farming out until this year. With the near completion of fencing our entire perimeter, we have decided to embark on a small cattle operation. The beauty of living in the south where rain is plentiful during the warm months means we will probably be able to run about 50 head on a 110 acres of grass. We will use our two Highland bulls, Bing Bong and Baron to grow the herd that will be crossed with Angus or Hereford cows.

The plan is to raise beef on 100% organic pasture grass and finished with non-gmo organic grain. Beef is demanding a premium these days and we hope that our crossed beef will produce a premium product . I have done a little research on Highland cattle and its high protein to quality fat ratios make for optimal flavor. The late Queen herself only ate Highland beef from her own herd. I have a book called “Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef “ by Mark Shatzker. In it he concludes that Queen Elizabeth was on to something.

The farm also features several key buildings. The first being The Old Swede.

It will serve as the hub for our GunPlow workshops and it includes a dining room, bar, library and mudroom. We are also planning to have an outdoor kitchen featuring a wood fired pizza oven and Argentine style wood fired grill from Grill Works USA. Workshops will incorporate skills that compliment the art of the fine sporting lifestyle along with artisanal butcher smith classes and sharing amazing meals together. The second new building that is almost complete is Melinda’s pottery barn studio. Her current pottery workshop in my barn will find a new home in it’s own hand built post and beam barn.

The post and beam structure is a work of art in itself. It features North Atlantic white pine and black walnut pegs sourced from our mountain nearby. It will be warm and cozy inside due to it’s wood stove and natural shredded denim insulation. Maybe I can convince her to give a pottery class at some point. She’s gotten pretty dang good but doesn’t like to admit it. Her work speaks for itself.

Keeping the farm secure at night are our the three Great Pyrenees, Asca, Esmé and Genevieve.

They love hanging out with our other farm animals and definitely keep the coyotes and foxes at bay.

I will be bringing more updates as time goes on around the farm including some dates for our next events. Learn more about the farm - click link below.

Learn More About the Farm

See you in the field.

Randy

I did not grow up in a shooting and hunting family. We didn’t even have a gun in the house except for a BB gun and later a .177 cal Benjamin pellet gun, all just for fun shooting at targets.(I did shoot a jack rabbit with my pellet gun once with it though.)

Listen to our most recent podcast to hear this story, linked below.

Why GunPlow, Why Now?

My single shot Sears and Roebuck 12 gauge shotgun I received on Christmas, was the first real gun in the house. It was a short lived existence. I was 11 years old, and when we drove back home after Christmas to our property just outside of Paso Robles from my grandparents house in Studio City near Burbank, it was late. I was dying to shoot my new gun though. So after we unpacked the car, I talked my dad into letting me shoot it. The potential kick scared me a little and I asked my dad to shoot it first, just so I could get a little more comfortable. He dropped a red shell in and cocked the gun. I stood in nervous excitement with my ears covered watching him as he pointed it up into the cold dark sky. What came next was completely unexpected. I knew it would be loud, and it sounded like a cannon going off in the silence. What I didn’t expect though was what seemed to be a six foot flame coming out of the end of the barrel as well. I wanted no part of that thing. I immediately decided a 20 gauge was the proper gun for a kid like me and returned it to our local Sears store a few days later in hope of an exchange. No 20 gauges were available so I took the money and for some reason just stuck with my pellet gun for the next five years.

Fast forward a few years and I have now hunted deer, shot dove and pheasants and lots of clay targets, but it wasn’t until I purchased my Filson strap vest almost 40 years ago that I realized there was another world within a hunting world that I had never known about. It was a world of high quality and hand craftsmanship. Names like James Purdey and Holland & Holland. Side by side and over and under shotguns that were carried by owners with ties in dress shirts and tweeds. This new world opened my eyes to a different lifestyle than the one I had experienced from our small town in California. Where canvas vests with blaze orange and camouflage t-shirts were the primary dress protocol. I fully understand the safety aspects for certain hunting situations that call for “being seen”. I just think it gets a bit over done.

Our family trips several years later to other countries with stops in London, allowed for the discovery of not only the actual stores of James Purdey and Holland & Holland, but also the hands on shooting experience at places like West London Shooting School and the Holland & Holland Shooting Grounds. It also led to the discovery of British shooting magazines like The Field and Fieldsports Journal. Within those magazine pages this other world really became known.

My curiosity and interest was fully engaged. I was determined to shoot driven birds in England or Scotland. The opportunity came after I had met Willie Cole at West London Shooting School. Through their newly formed sporting agency, WL Sporting, they connected me with Frank Boddy in North Yorkshire, who ran multiple driven shoots during the season. My November driven pheasant trip was on the books. I had one small problem though. I had never been on a driven shoot. I knew enough to know that I was entering a completely different world than the one I knew in California. Thankfully, Louis Gränne of WL Sporting suggested reading the book, How to Be Asked Again, by Rosie Nickerson. It was exactly what I needed and with that information in hand, I experienced my first days of driven shooting. Not only did I feel completely at ease with the shooting day and my loader, I was even asked by another shooting guest from England a question about the local area. To his surprise I explained that I was from California and wouldn’t be much help. He took a ribbing from his friends but I was just glad that I didn’t stick out.

That shooting experience cemented in my mind two things. First, I very much wanted to find more opportunities to experience shooting at this level and second, I loved the lifestyle that was embraced throughout the day. It was a combination of respect for the host, the other guns(hunters), birds and land, like I had never experienced.

Some people, especially in the USA, look at the tie, dress shirt and tweeds as being over the top and perhaps even pompous or ostentatious. I quickly realized it was none of those. It was all about the respect each individual had for the opportunity to shoot and experience a day that was considered to be a privilege. Everyone on the shoot was wearing a tie, with the exception of the beaters. The birds were meticulously searched for and picked up by a team of individuals with dogs and placed in the game cart. No shells were left strewn across the ground to be left behind as trash. The collected game was placed in the larder and purchased by local butchers to be consumed by the general public either at home or in local restaurants. The individuals who had been shooting personally thanked those who were helping make the day a success, from the Head Gamekeeper to the youngest beaters and helpers.

On my return back to London, I now distinctly noticed butcher shops with chalk boards spelling out game that was available from Northern areas that I recognized. North Yorkshire grouse, pheasant and partridge were not birds raised on a farm somewhere in large chicken like pens, but actually shot on shoots like the one I was at and brought down to the city. Nice restaurants even featured game, shot from driven shoots, on their menus.

This was a lifestyle that I wanted to share and introduce to others. It took a few years of working through ideas with Scoutlands and finding our way through new hunts and hands on experiences with people who earn their living through their craft. You can also listen to our story on our most recent podcast, linked below.

Listen to Podcast

Why Now?

Come full circle to our farm on Lookout Mountain in Georgia.

GunPlow is our beginning, marked by our intention to discover and share the hidden corners of sporting life, to find the guides, the dogs, the places, and the traditions that make the upland and the safari so full of soul. We want to shape something lasting, we want to build more than a journal of places discovered. We are building a home for the stories, the people, the guns, and the lifestyle that define a sporting life well lived.

GunPlow represents all of that. It reflects both the gun and the ground, heritage and husbandry, the sportsman and the steward. It captures the dual devotion we feel, to the fine art of shooting, and to the careful tending of the land that makes such art possible. A plow, humbly contributes to its land of legacy. A gun, when held with respect and knowledge, becomes a bridge across generations. Read more on our story below.

Our Story

The Old Swede: Our Heart and Hearth

Every movement needs a home. Ours sits atop Lookout Mountain in North Georgia, a farm built from sweat, memory, and a belief in hospitality as an art. At the center of it all stands an old cabin, once left to ruin, now carefully restored by our hands and heart. We call it The Old Swede.

The Old Swede is more than our headquarters, it’s our philosophy in timber and stone. A place where Southern hospitality meets English sporting tradition. Where the whisky flows after the guns are cleaned, where books line the shelves, Dickson beside Rigby, Brister beside Hemingway, and the dogs find warm rugs by the fire. The smell of black coffee in the morning, the pot of soup on the stove, the echo of stories told too many times and not enough.

It is eclectic, humble, and full of heart.

Explore The Olde Swede

Our newsletter, too, bears its name: The Old Swede. In it, you’ll find weekly dispatches on everything from the craft of the best gunmakers to the field notes of a cold morning sharp tail hunt on the plains of Montana. We’ll write about the African plains and the Scottish hills, about pheasants from the Dakotas to Kansas, and ducks in the marshes of South Carolina to the timber of Arkansas. We’ll discuss cartridge choice, dog training, fine cigars, aged bourbon, and the etiquette of the shoot lunch. Each edition is an invitation back to the cabin, to share in what we love.

The Mission

GunPlow is devoted to:

• Celebrating the fine art of wing-shooting, from driven grouse on Yorkshire moors to wild quail over a pair of pointing dogs in Georgia.

• Honoring the legacy of gunmakers, the craftsmen whose touch gives life to walnut and steel, whose scrollwork speaks of generations, and whose name on the rib means something enduring.

• Stewarding the land, because the sporting life depends on wildness, habitat, and those willing to tend it with respect. We believe that sportsmen are, at their best, caretakers.

• Elevating fieldcraft, the quiet discipline of doing things properly. Of knowing the wind. Of mending a boot. Of breaking a gun in silence and honoring the bird you take.

• Creating exceptional experiences that feel personal, meaningful, and lasting. We are not in the business of mass or scale. We believe in the small circle, the right company, and the perfect setting.

• Living the tradition, while welcoming the new, a place where seasoned sportsmen and curious newcomers can share a bench, a dog run, or a peg in the line.

What’s to Come

The journey has just begun.

In the coming months, you’ll see GunPlow evolve into a digital destination and a physical reality. Our GunPlow Library will continue to grow, curating the great books of the sporting tradition. Our newsletters, podcasts and films will continue to grow and showcase this lifestyle.

We’ll be sharing exclusive content, stories from around the mountain and the globe, interviews with down to earth people who contribute to this lifestyle in so many ways. The life long guides, the gunmakers, behind-the-scenes access to sporting estates, and curated highlights of exceptional shotguns and gear will be part of the conversation.

We’ll also open the doors to GunPlow Experiences—opportunities to join us afield, to learn, shoot, eat, and share. These won’t be tours or packages. They will be gatherings, for those who value beauty, craft, story, and the hard-earned shot.

Learn More

Our Invitation

You don’t have to own a bespoke double gun or have shot birds on four continents to be part of GunPlow. You just have to care. About the tradition, the land, the quarry, and the way of life that ties them all together.

If you’ve ever stood still in a pre-dawn field and felt the hush of anticipation. If you’ve ever admired the balance of a well-made shotgun. If you’ve felt pride when your dog held a point, or gratitude for a guide who taught you something quietly. If you’ve ever paused before a toast to appreciate the company at the table, then you already understand what we’re building.

So whether you have embraced this lifestyle for many years or are just discovering this world now, welcome to GunPlow. We’re glad that you are here.

We hope The Old Swede becomes a place you return to often, in your inbox, in print, and, we hope, someday in person.

See you in the field,

Randy Redberg

The GunPlow Team

From The Old Swede

Lookout Mountain, Georgia

For me there is something magical about the imagery of wild game during the holiday season. As a young boy the thought of going out and hunting for your meal seemed to be the pinnacle of holiday tradition. In today’s world of grocery stores and online shopping, convenience has become the cornerstone of our traditional meals. There is nothing inherently wrong with buying your “bird” from from the store. Our family has purchased many of our meals this way and most people do not have any other option than buying from a grocery store. Farmer’s markets have bridged that gap in some ways, making it easier to purchase a farm raised meat rather than one from the mass production facilities that most grocery stores buy from.

We received this holiday catalogue from Dean and Deluca, a very nice store “grocery store” we had visited in New York, quite a few years ago.

This particular pheasant image has always stuck with me from the first time saw it when the holidays arrive. The below photography inside their catalog conveyed warm and festive meals, offering traditional hams and turkeys to the non-traditional such as venison, quail and yes pheasant.

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I had never heard of the term “killing season” until a few years ago when an older gentleman who worked on our farm mentioned it. He was discussing it in the context of his elementary school years when the school principal came to their house one day to chastise his uncle for having his cousins and himself out of school for the past week. His uncle was quick to tell the principal it was “killing season”. The extra help was necessary and more important than school at that moment. He then ran the principal off the property.

We just attended a workshop with Brandon Sheard of Farmstead Meatsmith at White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia over the weekend. We were definitely in the rural South and the term “killing season” came up again.

The farm butchering phrase “killing season” has older, deeply practical agricultural origins. It is not a modern term as it comes from the times of pre-refrigeration rural life in Europe and North America.

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Some might say that you do not need a gun cleaning kit such that are well organized in a nicely made wooden box with each item tucked into its specific place. I would agree, you do not need to go to that level. The components for cleaning your gun can be very simple, consisting of a few well chosen items. Some quality cleaning agents and rust preventative along with a bore snake and a soft rag will do an adequate job.

I will argue though that there is a nice alternative that can be quite enjoyable even when not cleaning your guns. The first time I saw and well organized cleaning kit in a nicely constructed wooden box was at William Evans on St. James’s St. The small shop already had a bit of magical hunting lore for me when I first noticed the store across a busy street in London.

I had not heard of William Evans, but their window displays were telling of what they were all about. As I walked through the door, the time honored traditions of shooting was alive and well.

It was there on a shelf that I spotted a simple small wooden box. It was what it contained inside that really peaked my interest.

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The mudroom is one of the most important rooms in a country house in my opinion. It sets a very emphatic tone for the what is held in high regard including what the land around the house is used for. The mudroom was first known as the boot room in the grand English country estates of the Victorian Era. Their purpose was straightforward, a stopgap for wet coats and muddy boots to be removed and hung up to dry before entering the main house. It is also a place where guns can be cleaned and stored and even the dogs could find a warm dry place to lie down and rest after a full day of fun.

We have recently completed our own mudroom at the Old Swede House, complete with a wood stove, stone floors, gun cleaning table and plenty of space to hang jackets and store boots.

As I mentioned above, the earliest version of the mudroom emerged on large Victorian sporting estates, in places like Norfolk, Yorkshire, and the Scottish Borders where shooting, stalking, and fishing were central to sporting way of life. Large estate houses such as Sandringham, Balmoral, and Holkham Hall were designed with secondary entrances specifically for outdoor pursuits.

These entrances were used by gamekeepers, ghillies, and shooting guests, providing space to remove muddy boots, hang coats, and unload firearms before entering the main house.

The floor was typically flagstone or quarry tile, easily mopped clean of peat and clay, and walls were lined with tongue-and-groove paneling or painted brick for durability.

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I have quite a few cigar cutters. Some are very basic and utilitarian, the only thought I have about them is when I use it to achieve a clean cut on my cigar.

Some cutters are as simple as this one above, while others are a little more artistic and thoughtful. I appreciate the consideration and craftsmanship that went into making them. A well-crafted cigar cutter can add to the allure and ambience of the room, just like a unique ashtray.

I read that cigars first became fashionable in Europe in the late 18th century, after returning soldiers from the Peninsular Wars (1807–1814) brought the habit back from Spain. Early cigars were often hand-rolled and closed at the head with a natural tobacco leaf “cap.” That “cap” requires the end of the cigar to be cut off. In times of lacking access to even the cheapest cutter, I have resorted to using a knife from the kitchen. I hate to admit it but I have even used my teeth to bite the end off. This is far from elegant but it did achieve a desired outcome.

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The leather cartridge belt is starting to be more commonly seen across driven shoots throughout the UK and it’s counterparts. It seems to be coming back in fashion over the recent years. While the cartridge bag is a staple at many pegs, a full cartridge belt gives that added insurance for the moment you realize you’ve just run out of shells.

Most belts contain 25 loops for full box of shotgun shells to be carried around ones waist. Several companies are still making high quality belts by hand. A few of my favorites are Westley Richards, James Purdey and Sons, Holland and Holland and Els & Co., out of South Africa.

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More often than not when I pack for a weekend trip, I always try to bring along a couple of cigars. I used to throw them in a zip lock bag and find a spot in my shaving kit or a side pocket of my Filson bag where they would be somewhat protected. This did not always work out as planned. I sometimes showed up to my destination with cigars in a less than pristine condition. I finally broke down and purchased a leather cigar holder from Purdey. Did I need a fine leather cigar holder from Purdey, no. Did I need a cigar holder for travel, yes.

If you start looking around you can find many styles of the travel cigar holder in leather, wood, metal, etc… The prices can range substantially from different makers like Alfred Dunhill or other London establishments.

It was the Victorian Era that men of means looked to cigars as a status symbol and wanted to protect them when traveling.

In the late 1800’s craftsmen started to make fine leather holders but it wasn’t until the early 1920’s and 30’s that makers such as Dunhill, Asprey, and Swaine Adeney Brigg began producing cigar holders that were both functional and statements of wealth.

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I was not familiar with a gamekeepers horn until I went to England for the first time on a driven pheasant shoot in North Yorkshire some years back. The sound of the horn represents the start and end of a drive although it seems that many drives start on the sight of first birds. The end of the drive, when beaters have flushed everything in front of them and the guns are in close proximity always ends with the sound of the horn. The blown horns sole purpose is for safety, for the team of beaters pushing forward, but it is also signals the end of the drive and the work can begin for those helping pick up, dogs are loosed from their leashes to join in the task at hand. I have shot on grouse moors where the drives do not end with first blow of the horn. The first blow indicates the beaters are too close to shoot grouse out in front and now only taking grouse going away from behind the butts are permissible.

I have had these two in my home office for awhile now. Neither my wife, Melinda, nor the dogs much appreciate the sound they make, especially when blown inside the house.

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From Spaniel Roots to “Cockers”

The English Cocker Spaniel’s story begins with the ancient land spaniels of Britain, described in texts as early as the 14th century. These dogs were divided loosely into “land spaniels” and “water spaniels.” By the 17th and 18th centuries, land spaniels were further divided by size and purpose. The smaller, quick-footed dogs excelled at flushing woodcock from dense cover, and it is from this quarry that the “cocker” derives its name.

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Where others in the Defender aftermarket chase bolt-on accessories, aggressive overhauls, or even digital-era reinventions of the icon, Cool & Vintage works differently. They begin with the bones of a machine steel frames, utilitarian bodies, agricultural underpinnings and restore them with a reverence that borders on spiritual. The result is neither factory new nor overly modernized. It is something else entirely: a Defender that feels like it has always belonged to you, tailored with taste and precision, but unshackled from the ordinary.

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There are men in the uplands whose names echo beyond the tangled aspen and alder thickets, whose devotion to the pursuit of wild birds becomes not just a career but a calling. Steve Grossman, founder of The Grouse Lodge at Little Moran in Minnesota, is one such man. His life’s work—nearly four decades dedicated to the ruffed grouse, woodcock, and the pointing dogs that make them huntable—has become both a personal legacy and a gift to those who follow behind him.

Grossman’s story begins on the soil of his family’s farm near Staples, Minnesota. It was there, in 1984, that he opened the Little Moran Hunt Club, a pheasant preserve and dog-training kennel built on land first homesteaded by his great-grandfather in 1902. Within a year, Grossman was training setters from the Burnt Creek line, discovering in them the very essence of a bird dog made for the “King of Gamebirds.” By the late 1980s, wild bird hunting—rather than released birds—had become the heartbeat of the operation. Thus was born what would eventually grow into The Grouse Lodge at Little Moran, a place synonymous with authenticity, excellence, and tradition.

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Greener’s importance lies in three areas: his insistence on scientific experimentation in ballistics and cartridge design, his ability to merge craftsmanship with rigorous testing, and his willingness to document the history of firearms in a comprehensive way. Each of these contributions made him more than just a gunmaker; he was the bridge between the black-powder past and the smokeless future.

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We are thrilled to share a new chapter with you.

Scoutlands has become GunPlow—and with it, a clearer vision, a deeper heartbeat, and a renewed commitment to the enduring spirit of the fine sporting life. It’s more than a name change. It’s a turning of the page, a sharpening of our focus, and an invitation to walk with us into wild places, along storied hedgerows and dusty tracks, where the wind carries wingsong and the scent of spent powder, and the fire burns long into the evening.

GunPlow is our tribute to the land, the legacy, the dog on the peg, the worn leather game bag, the shotgun passed down from grandfather to grandson, the hand-penned entries in a game book, and the quiet pride in a well-hit bird. It is a celebration of tradition, not for nostalgia’s sake, but for what it still teaches us in a time of hurry, disposability, and distraction.

It is our sincere pleasure to bring you along on this journey.

Why GunPlow?

The name Scoutlands served us well. It was the beginning. It marked our intention to discover and share the hidden corners of sporting life, to find the guides, the dogs, the places, and the traditions that make the upland and the safari so full of soul. But as our work grew, as we met others on this path and began to shape something lasting, we found ourselves called to build more than a journal of places discovered—we were building a home for the stories, the people, the guns, and the lifestyle that define a sporting life well lived.

GunPlow represents that evolution. It reflects both the gun and the ground—heritage and husbandry, the sportsman and the steward. It captures the dual devotion we feel: to the fine art of shooting, and to the careful tending of the land that makes such art possible. A plow tills not only soil but legacy. A gun, when held with respect and knowledge, becomes a bridge across generations.

The Old Swede: Our Heart and Hearth

Every movement needs a home. Ours sits atop Lookout Mountain in North Georgia—a farm built from sweat, memory, and a belief in hospitality as an art. At the center of it all stands an old cabin, once left to ruin, now carefully restored by our hands and heart. We call it The Old Swede.

The Old Swede is more than our headquarters—it’s our philosophy in timber and stone. A place where Southern hospitality meets English sporting tradition. Where the whisky flows after the guns are cleaned, where books line the shelves—Dickson beside Rigby, Brister beside Hemingway—and the dogs find warm rugs by the fire. The smell of black coffee in the morning, the stew pot on the stove, the echo of stories told too many times and not enough.

It is eclectic, humble, and full of heart.

Our newsletter, too, bears its name: The Old Swede. In it, you'll find weekly dispatches on everything from the craft of the best gunmakers to the field notes of a cold morning sharp tail hunt on the plains of Montana. We'll write about the African plains and the Scottish hills, about pheasants from the Dakotas to Kansas, and ducks in the marshes of South Carolina to the timber of Arkansas. We'll discuss cartridge choice, dog training, fine cigars, aged bourbon, and the etiquette of the shoot lunch. Each edition is an invitation back to the cabin, to share in what we love.

The Mission

GunPlow is devoted to:

• Celebrating the fine art of wing-shooting, from driven grouse on Yorkshire moors to wild quail over a pair of pointing dogs in Georgia.

• Honoring the legacy of gunmakers—the craftsmen whose touch gives life to walnut and steel, whose scrollwork speaks of generations, and whose name on the rib means something enduring.

• Stewarding the land—because the sporting life depends on wildness, habitat, and those willing to tend it with respect. We believe that sportsmen are, at their best, caretakers.

• Elevating fieldcraft—the quiet discipline of doing things properly. Of knowing the wind. Of mending a boot. Of breaking a gun in silence and honoring the bird you take.

• Creating exceptional experiences—that feel personal, meaningful, and lasting. We are not in the business of mass or scale. We believe in the small circle, the right company, and the perfect setting.

• Living the tradition, while welcoming the new—a place where seasoned sportsmen and curious newcomers can share a bench, a dog run, or a peg in the line.

What’s to Come

The journey has just begun.

In the coming months, you’ll see GunPlow evolve into a digital destination and a physical reality. Our GunPlow Library will continue to grow, curating the great books of the sporting tradition. Our newsletters will expand into multiple editions throughout the week, each with its own theme: Guns & Makers, Land & Legacy, Dogs & Fieldcraft, The Gentleman in the Field, and The World Beyond the Gunroom.

We’ll be sharing exclusive content, stories from around the globe, interviews with legendary guides and gunmakers, behind-the-scenes access to sporting estates, and a curated market of exceptional shotguns and gear.

We'll also open the doors to GunPlow Experiences—opportunities to join us afield, to learn, shoot, eat, and share. These won’t be tours or packages. They will be gatherings, for those who value beauty, craft, story, and the hard-earned shot.

Our Invitation

You don’t have to own a bespoke double gun or have shot birds on four continents to be part of GunPlow. You just have to care. About the tradition, the land, the animals, and the way of life that ties them all together.

If you've ever stood still in a pre-dawn field and felt the hush of anticipation. If you've ever admired the balance of a well-made shotgun. If you've felt pride when your dog held a point, or gratitude for a guide who taught you something quietly. If you’ve ever paused before a toast to appreciate the company at the table, then you already understand what we’re building.

So whether you followed us as Scoutlands or are just discovering us now, welcome to GunPlow. We’re glad to have you along.

We hope The Old Swede becomes a place you return to often—in your inbox, in print, and, we hope, someday in person.

With gratitude and sporting spirit,

Randy Redberg

The GunPlow Team

From The Old Swede

Lookout Mountain, Georgia

“The finest shot is not the one most skillful with the gun, but the one who knows the ground, the dogs, and his companions—and treats each with reverence.”

— From the GunPlow Library

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