December is made for nostalgia
By Casey Sill
The run up to Christmas is full of retrospection. We watch old movies, make old recipes and see old family.
Whether you're 19 or 90, It's impossible not to look at each Christmas through the lens of time — comparing it to years past, remembering the good old days.
It's also the month my hunting season winds down. A Christmas Eve walk for grouse or pheasant is almost always my last bird hunt of the year. For 2025, I've decided to inject a little of that Christmas nostalgia into the season's end.
I have always been fascinated with paper shotgun shells, and was lucky enough to shoot a box of original Federal Hi-Power shells manufactured in 1945 for a Pheasants Forever Journal story last year.
Since then I have been on the hunt for a more accessible paper option, and there's really only one game in town (and it's a good one) for upland hunting.
Federal Premium Upland Paper was introduced earlier this year, combining the classic aspects of paper hulls with the performance of a modern shell. Available in both 12 and 20 gauge, they were exactly what I was looking for in my quest to connect with seasons past.
My obsession with paper shells is as sensory as it is anything else. I love the way they look, and even more so the way they feel. The smooth, waxed paper is set in such high contrast to the corrugated, industrial feel of a standard plastic hull. Paper is elegant and blue collar at the same time.
But their best feature, the true reason why we all love paper hulls so much, is the smell. They say smell invokes our strongest sense of memory. And what better time of year to tap into that, than a season filled with nostalgic aromas.
A real tree in the living room. Cookies in the oven. Old Aunt Gammy, who's come to visit from Bemidji with a four-pound fruit cake.
The holidays are full of smells. I figure why not add a dash of spent gunpowder and waxed paper to the mix?
In testing out Upland Paper for the first time, I was worried how the shells would hold up in rough weather. But I was pleasantly surprised by their durability. I wouldn't go dunking them in your eggnog just for fun. But with some care, they will hold up to most hunting conditions.
I could go through all the specs until our eyes crossed. Muzzle velocity, ounces of shot, ideal shot size. But the bottom line is, Upland Paper shoots just as reliably and consistently as every shell Federal makes, and that's as complicated as it needs to be.
We're not here for science, or for analytics. We're not here for the minutia of shotgunning.
Paper shells are all about the vibe. They're about connecting with a bygone era of upland hunting. So throw a box in your stocking this year. Test them out in a snowy cattail slough as the season comes to an end — and smell the Christmas spirit.
Casey Sill is the senior public relations specialist at Pheasants Forever.
He can be reached at csill@pheasantsforever.org.