When the snowbirds of Maine head south for the winter, they tote their favorite toys along – fishing rods, golf clubs and tennis racquets.

When Harold (Hal) Gerow and his wife of Bangor depart for the Florida sunshine, however, their luggage doesn’t include the usual angling equipment, golfing paraphenalia or tennis tools. The single most important play thing in Hal Gerow’s mind is a shotgun for target shooting.

Gerow has been attempting, and quite successfully, to master the elements of shotgunning for the last 40 years on the planet. He’s been practicing to perfect proper time and gunswing, to follow through accordingly, and to keep the face down on the gunstock, knowing full well that buck fever works in target shooting too.

The Bangor man had a special reason to include a firearm in this winter’s hiatus in the Tampa region. Since the 1967 origin of the Hermon Skeet and Trap Club, Gerow has had a fondness for competitive shooting.

His interest in a Florida vacation was heightened by the knowledge that the Tampa region has a gun club that features five stands for shooting sporting clays. The Hermon club has also been looking into adding five clay-shooting stations to its skeet and trap field to further test its members shotgun skills.

Gerow showed up at the Sporting Clays of Tampa Bay, Inc., a total stranger on the premises, and began assembling his gear, shooting glasses, ear plugs, shooting vest, gloves and all those other gadgets all sportsmen carry but never get to use.

While Gerow was fidgeting with his equipment, a gentleman of considerable proportions and wearing walking shorts, walked past. Gerow looked up briefly and said, ” Mornin’. ” The man smiled and returned the greeting.

Then Hal Gerow heard others greeting the gentleman in the walking shorts -“Good mornin’, General.”

“Good lord,” Hal recalls saying to himself, “that’s General Schwarzkopf!”

Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkoph, the Gulf War commander and Vietnam veteran, introduced himself to Gerow and the two exchanged pleasantries. Gerow told him about the Hermon club, and that it was considering a five stand addition to skeet and trap. The two got along like ketchup and beanhole beans. The general invited Gerow and a Florida couple, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Whitehurst of Williston, Fla., to join him for a five stand shoot.

“During our shoot,” Gerow says, “General Schwarzkopf helped me when I asked and he proceeded to rack up a marvelous score shooting a side-by-side 28-gauge shotgun while I had all I could do to stay with him firing a 12-gauge.”

The General made a huge hit with Gerow, who described him as an ardent shooter, angler and “all ’round good guy!”

“He made me feel like I was being welcomed as a new shooter in the club. In the clubhouse after our round, he emphasized his feeling that all visitors and new shooters should be made welcome so they will return.

“After our round, the general walked us over to his vehicle for a look at the remodeling he’d done inside. There are drawers built for carrying his firearms and fishing rods. It was constructed so that his equipment is under lock and key and kept from sight. He lends his name to charity shooting events at home and around the country. His enthusiasm, charm and smile, absolutely disarm a man, put him at ease from the very first handshake.

“In spite of all the negative publicity put out by the media, there are many fine, honest, civic-minded shooters like the General, all over America.”

The Hermon members, the regulars who shoot each Sunday at 9 a.m. and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. until sunset, hopefully will install a five stand facility using a number of the suggestions passed along to Hal Gerow by General H. Norman Schwarzkoph. Hunters and shooters, experienced or inexperienced, are welcomed to participate in the Sunday and Wednesday shoots at the Hermon club.

One of the oldest myths in the shooting game is that real shotgunning skill can be attained only with winged game, and that any knack with clay targets can’t be transferred to the game fields. Often, you’ll hear an old hunter say: “Maybe I can’t hit trap and skeet, but put feathers on a target and look out!”

Well, maybe.

That always reminds me of the remark made one day by Bill Ricker of Blue Hill, one of Maine’s all-time shooting greats: “A lot of guys can shoot better at birds than at trap and skeet because you have to keep score when you shoot trap and skeet.”

If the Hermon Skeet and Trap Club does complete the project of installing stands for sporting clays, the field dedication will be held this coming fall.

Will Hal Gerow be inviting General Schwarzkopf to participate in the inagural ceremonies?

Well, maybe. The general has never seen the pageantry of Maine in October, and besides, one would like to see how he’d score on wild grouse and woodcock.