Bird hunters

[Jay Kelley]

Although I enjoy this site immensely and dream of one day going to Africa, I'm mostly a small game and bird hunter - especially upland birds.

As I look forward to my annual visit to a friend's ranch in Kansas for a round of Pheasant hunting with friends and their kids, I was wondering how many small game and bird hunters we had among our number and what your favorite hunts were.

My favorite is Pheasant and rabbit. I prefer a 20 gauge, but I've tried to include many first time hunters (especially the children of friends who don't hunt) in the group, so my lightweight 870 usually goes to one of them. I'm often left with an old Baikal 12 side x side that weighs around a 100 pounds by the end of the day and still manages to kick like a mule.

Even with that - a day in the field with a good dog is hard to beat. Getting a couple of birds is great, but watching that youngster get his or her first bird - priceless.

 

[peras]

Bird hunting is one of my passions, we have some good groundbird and waterbird hunting in South Africa. Always enjoyable to watch the dogs work the francolin and partridges.

 

[spike.t]

used to have a few days (approx 8 i think) each year in a driven pheasant shoot in england, and they also had a couple of duck ponds so we used to shoot those later in the day, and if we were lucky on the odd occassion we got the odd goose coming in. i liked it with the variety we had. i like dove/pigeon shooting as well and have been thinking of a trip sometime to argentina for doves ,but never get beyond the thinking part.................i used to have a couple of rizzini o/u 20 bores i used for the pheasant and duck, but sold them when i stopped taking part in that shoot. much prefer a nice 20 bore for birds. i saw a nice one at pauls which fit perfectly, the only technical was it was £10,000.00

 

[Royal27]

I don't bird hunt much anymore, but grew up on a rice farm in east Texas.

The duck and goose hunting was unreal....

 

[kathy]

I guided for 20 some years ,duck, goose, quail, pheasant, deer, bear, antelope. Got married 24 years ago and that was the end of that. I like to hunt anything that walks ,runs, or flys. Forrest

 

[Velo Dog]

Good post.

Began hunting at age 16.

My father was not a hunter but he loved golf, tennis and sailing (I would rather pour salt in my eyes than to waste my time and energy chasing some toy/ball around, especially since you cannot cook and eat them after the chase is over).

To the old Dutchman's credit however, when I took a great notion that I wished to try hunting, he saw to it that I got to do so, if I did my chores as assigned.

He equipped me with a "Hercules" brand (Iver-Johnson/Mongomery Ward ?), very thick chambered 20 gauge single shot, manufactured on what appeared to be a cast iron 12 gauge frame.

We were living in the Sacramento California area by then and there were a few pheasants, quail, rabbit, squirrel, dove, and waterfowl, out on many of the farms there.

In those days (1960's) many Farmers would let me hunt if I offered to work for them in trade, some even let me hunt without requiring anything in return.

My parents had a wiener dog that I strongly disliked and visa versa but, he was so mean that he did not mind gunfire right from the beginning.

Turns out he was excellent at ferreting out cotton tail rabbit from under the huge thickets of blackberry bushes and wild grape vines that, grow like jungle along the rivers and creeks of Central and Northern California.

Often a covey of quail or sometimes a pheasant or two would launch out of those as well, when that evil hond would go snorting around under the bushes.

Fast forward to now, I am an old man living in Alaska but have given up larger game hunting here due to several reasons but, I still very much enjoy hunting grouse and snow shoe hare, around my recreational cabin.

Nowadays I have owned some very fine wire haired fox terriers and one Irish wire hair terrier named Theodore Roosevelt*.

He's shown in my photo section, only a few months old and retrieving a pine squirrel - his very first retrieve but, all of the above dogs were / are excellent grouse and rabbit dogs.

They were easy to train in retrieving and general good hunting manners but, not much for pointing as we normally think of it.

But fantastic at treeing grouse and telling me where they have lit on some lofty branch, in the event one or more escapes being shot during the initial flush (wish we had capercaillie here in AK because I have the perfect dog* and rifle** for hunting them).

I still dislike weenie dogs by the way.

These days for bird and bunny, I have a cheap Rossi brand .410 double with outside hammers plus, a Spanish Churchill (not much better) in 28 gauge, that I use for this, also I have jump-shot a few blue wing teal and mallard off my beaver ponds with the 28 gauge and Bismuth #4 shot.

Likewise, I enjoy hunting grouse and hare with my Brno .22 Hornet**, loaded down a bit, as well as with a .22 handgun.

Last but not least, rumor has it that we will be able to take beaver with a firearm, during a very short window of trapping season now, as long as we're in possession of a trapping license here in Alaska.

Not that those huge rodents necessarily are "small" game (can weigh 60 pounds) but my Hornet might be just the thing.

Blah, blah, blah,
Velo Dog.

 

[bluey]

ducks are always high on our hunting days around home .
and rabbits with the 17 HMR , are about the best target practice I can think of .
mixed together in the mincer with lamb fat , mint and cranberrys and a dose of mustard , makes for some bloody good snags.

on some of the produce farms they have control permits for the duck so its duck season every day on them ,
our bronzies and blueys ( bush doves) are protected, and sadly theres no geese or pheasants ,with in cooee of where we live.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Some of my fondest memories are hunting ruffed and blue grouse in my beloved Western Montana as a boy. My lab Ole Mose and me spent every minute that I wasn't at school or chopping dam firewood(think the old man sold firewood behind my back cuz I don't remember winter being long enough to burn all I chopped) in my back yard which was the Lolo National Forest. We shot grouse and squirrels, not the tasty grays but the annoying tell the deer and elk you were hiding, pine squirrels. Mose wasn't much of a bird dog, seemed he didn't care for the taste of feathers and I think he got a kick out of watching me try to teach him to retrieve, but he was a hell of a buddy.
Seems I can't find much time for bird hunting much anymore, maybe I will change that next season.
Good Hunting,
Cody

 

[Velo Dog]

ducks are always high on our hunting days around home .
and rabbits with the 17 HMR , are about the best target practice I can think of .
mixed together in the mincer with lamb fat , mint and cranberrys and a dose of mustard , makes for some bloody good snags.

on some of the produce farms they have control permits for the duck so its duck season every day on them ,
our bronzies and blueys ( bush doves) are protected, and sadly theres no geese or pheasants ,with in cooee of where we live.

Bluey,

That rabbit and lamb fat mince sounds real good.
When I was young and wild, I had an Aussie girlfriend named Helen O'Loughlin.
She had been born and raised on a sheep station, in some place she referred to as; "The Malley".
Her description of it sounded like where the movie "Mad Max" was filmed.
Anyway, your mention of the recipe reminded me of her because she used to talk of mixing young sheep's fat with other things to give flavor and texture to whatever the recipe was.
I have used duck fat for this and it is quite good but, probably not as flavorful as lamb fat would be.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[Diamondhitch]

About 4 years ago I went on my 1st goose field shoot, I was instantly hooked. Both this year and last I spent opening day of deer season hunting geese! This year I experienced another 1st, I had a "vortex" of 5000 snow geese descend upon me and now I am hooked on snow geese. I also had the opportunity to take my 12 yr old nephew out for his first goose hunt and he is hooked as well. I asked my brother what he wanted for Christmas and he said anything for goose or duck hunting. lol

 

[Velo Dog]

About 4 years ago I went on my 1st goose field shoot, I was instantly hooked. Both this year and last I spent opening day of deer season hunting geese! This year I experienced another 1st, I had a "vortex" of 5000 snow geese descend upon me and now I am hooked on snow geese. I also had the opportunity to take my 12 yr old nephew out for his first goose hunt and he is hooked as well. I asked my brother what he wanted for Christmas and he said anything for goose or duck hunting. lol

Diamondhitch,

When I lived in the Upper Sacramento Valley, I used to make jerky from snow goose breastmeat.
Also sometimes I would "butterfly" each breast cutlet, then fry in bacon grease until just medium rare in the center, no other seasoning added.
I never wasted the legs or hearts either.

The hearts I would slice (otherwise too thick to fry easily), season and fry in with local grown onions and/or fresh garlic.
The legs I would simmer in a crock pot, with beef bouillon, etc., until tender.
All of those were favorites of mine for snow geese.

Bone appa tight,
Velo Dog.

 

[Wheels]

I enjoy bird hunting.

Quail around Oklahoma haven't been doing well in recent years (drought and freezes with ice on the ground for days along with way to many predators.) so most of my hunting is duck and dove. Certainly don't do enough but make it out a few times per year.

When you do make it to Africa make sure and go with an outfitter who can get you on some birds. The upland game is great. If you can get into some sand grouse that alone may be worth the trip. If you can get a spurwing goose you will have taken the toughest, hardest animal in Africa to kill IMHO. It seems they can absorb their weight in lead and keep flying.

It doesn't get much better than when your "on" pheasants in Kansas. Have a great hunt.