Here’s a short list of things I love: wild brook trout, snowstorms, wood-canvas canoes, pointers, and—of course—shotguns. For the past 30 years, I’ve been obsessed with shotguns. I’ve worked lousy jobs to buy them, flown across oceans to admire them, and walked away from promising careers to immerse myself in them. I’ve contributed countless hours and thousands of dollars to this passion, and I don’t believe a single one has been misspent. Collecting fine, old shotguns has been one of the most rewarding activities of my life—and, in many ways, one of the most revealing.