Birds !

[Europe]

I don't see a small game and bird section so will ask here.

We were avid bird hunters, loved it. It is that time of year again when some of you must be bird hunting and was curious as to what your favorite bird hunt is. My favorites in no particular order where Dove hunting Argentina, Goose hunting in the Northwest Territories of Canada, Ducks on the Alaska peninsula, and Pheasant in the Dakotas. however I loved them all even Quail hunting in Texas and Kansas.

Does anyone here enjoy bird hunting and if so what type is your favorite ?

 

[DrMike]

April, we do a lot of grouse hunting. I was out yesterday with my grandson. While it was incidental to the big game we were pursuing, he makes certain that I always bring "his" 28 gauge. He managed to tag three grouse to bring home. He commented, "Pa, I think I enjoy shooting grouse as much as deer." I believe he is correct.

 

[Guy Miner]

Oh yes!!!

Pheasants are my favorite, always have been, but I do enjoy getting out for chukar & hungarian partridge, quail, and grouse. Waterfowl? Hmmm... Now and again... I haven't gotten going on it yet this year, but intend to by mid/late November. Clark the dog and I had a good year last year, my youngest son is a fan as well. Some photos:

After a wet hunt:




Pair of chukar, they can make a hunter WORK:


Chukar country:






Chukar & grouse hunting:


Not my best looking shotgun, but the one I shoot best. 12 ga Beretta 390:




Love the bird hunting! Must run in the family, Dad is still hunting pheasant at 89... He doesn't walk real well, but he's good with that shotgun!

Guy

 

[salmonchaser]

April
My retirement job is hunting pheasant, chukar and quail.
Molly and miss Sugar do the lions share of the work. We hunt 3 or 4 days a week.
We hunted yesterday. Four hunters. I have a lot of fun with it.
Ducks and geese are a family tradition. We have family hunts on thanksgiving morning, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The only acceptable excuses to missing were to be on duty, vacation denied, or stationed over seas.
For me it's all about the dog work. Yesterday one of the guys told me he had hunted all over the world. Sugar, he said, is good but she still needs finishing.
He continued, Molly is a once in a life time dog. Best damn shorthair I've ever seen.
Yep, I love bird hunting. Fills my time between elk and deer.


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[truck driver]

When I was younger back in the 1960's and early 70's we had plenty of Pheasant ,Quail and Grouse to hunt but the bird flu and no till farming killed off the flocks of birds and the doves have been hard to find any more so my bird hunting has been put on the back burner.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

Oh yea I like Pheasant hunting as well as Duck Hunting.

 

[Anonymous]

I love chasing birds...it's kind of a "middle youth" pursuit but I enjoy it more than I ever thought possible.

Waterfowl, grouse- all of them!....but my absolute favorite are ptarmigan in winter on skis after they've turned white. Nothing better than cross country skis and big piles of little white birds!

I'm a ruffed grouse junky as well....I'll chase them with anything. So far I've taken them with air guns, .22s, shotguns, a high powered rifle and archery tackle!

 

[gerry]

I love chasing grouse, ducks and geese but have very few pictures of them. That will have to change. I like them all but have to say blue grouse in September when they have been feeding on blueberries are my favourite. Just tonight we had a nice stir fry using 2 ruffed grouse which tasted great, will have the rest for my lunch tomorrow.

I use my old Baikal IJ 18 single shot 12 gauge 2 3/4" my dad bought me when I was 15, that gun has taken the above mentioned birds and even a deer for me over the years. At 5 1/4 lbs it is a joy to carry. Had a choke tube put in years ago and it is now choked Improved Cylinder and handles steel shot fine. Used it on grouse on Saturday and it worked just as good as always.

Don't have any pictures of it but I have been using a CIL 402 single shot 28 gauge the last few years and really enjoy it. It seems to kill just as well as the 12 gauge so far.

 

[salmonchaser]

I do think the ptarmigan we get in August are the finest eating of all game birds.


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[IdahoCTD]

I do a fair amount of bird hunting between big game hunts. Pheasants are my favorite but I hunt ducks the most. I also hunt some quail and chuckars.

 

[Polaris]

Tight cover duck hunting in Western MN is my all time favorite, but need just the right conditions. Some of my extended family have farmland with a creek running through it. When we get heavy fall rain or a well placed beaver dam, it is Nirvana for wood ducks, teal and some mallards. No muss, no fuss. Very few decoys, no boats, paddles or ice-water baths (unless you are not so sure footed). Just knee boots, a handful of mallard dekes, a good retriever (good place to work a new one as you can walk to most of the shot birds and get him working on them), and a fast handling shotgun. I like my old Ithaca 37 FWT with 2 3/4" 4 steel. Usually fast action and challenging wingshooting.

I used to love pheasant hunting, but with the downfall of CRP locally, it's been very poor. Too busy with work in the fall to travel much.

Now that I have 40 acres of northern forest land and a cabin to stay at, I'm getting back into the swing of ruffed grouse hunting. Grouse weather is sure a nice time to be in the woods, and the explosive flushes really get your blood going. Plenty of exercise in that pursuit also.

 

[Guy Miner]

I see a day coming when I back off from "big game" hunting, maybe going for deer for just a few days annually, and devote most of my time & energy to hunting upland game; pheasant, chukar, grouse and the like.

Frankly there's more action, it's an awful lot of fun, quite a social event, and I love working with the dogs...

Guy

 

[Europe]

Guy, that is exactly the way it worked out for us.

Dr Mike, I always enjoy reading about your outings with Noah. You have done well with him

Salmonchaser and Gerry I like ptarmigan in early fall and crane in the spring ( if they can still be hunted in the spring ) but then again I also love pheasant. all three make excellent table fare

Hodgeman, you need to book a cross country ski capercaillie hunt in Sweden, I bet you would enjoy it. Did you find an over and under that you like ?