Picking a Fight

[scolopaxmatt]

Here's one for the bird hunters on this site, few though they seem to be, guaranteed to start a fight per Tap Tapply.

 

 

Of these three game birds, which is the hardest to hit and why:

 

 

His royal majesty, the Ruffed Grouse.

 

All dressed up with nowhere to go, the Ringneck Pheasant.

 

Or the freak with the beak, the American Woodcock.

 

 

 

 

[ants]

Grouse.

[scolopaxmatt]

_{Despite a deep love of woodcock, I would have to agree.  The grouse is easily the hardest to take down.} 

 

_{They seem to attain top speed instantaneously which only gives you the shortest of seconds to put a bead on them.  I guess that's why they call it snap shooting.}

[Doewhacker]

Personally I'd say Woodcock, at least Grouse fly in a predictable path. But that's just me

[Pygmy]

Grouse without a doubt... They are at top speed and dodging cover  right from the takeoff..They also are quick to put some cover between you and themselves.

 

Woodcock are slow and easy...The only thing that makes them tough is the fact that they generally flush in very close cover, so you need quick reflexes and an open choke. In anyplace resembling open cover, they are a piece of cake.

 

Pheasants  fly direct but FAST.... Much faster than grouse when they get up to speed... It is easy to underlead them and shoot holes in thier tailfeathers...However thier direct flight makes them easier to hit than grouse, despite the fact that they can fly about 20MPH faster than grouse, at top speed.

[wildcat junkie]

Grouse. But in these parts, they limb shoot 'em.

Edited February 15, 2015 by wildcat junkie

[Pygmy]

Grouse. But in these parts, they limb shoot 'em.

 

You have the terminology wrong, Dan...

 

If you shoot them on the wing, they are called GROUSE.

 

If you shoot them on the ground or off a limb, they are called PARTRIDGE....<<grin>>...

[scolopaxmatt]

It would take a better man than I to turn down a sitting duck.  They taste good and it'll probably be the best look I'm likely to get. 

 

Pygmy, I'm glad you said it so I didn't have to; woodcock can be embarrassingly easy to hit.

 

[Mr VJP]

Grouse

 

[wolc123]

I would say the Ruffed Grouse, but I will admit that my own personal experience is quite limited on the other two.  Wild pheasants pretty much disappeared from our town in Western NY a few years prior to my getting old enough to hunt.   They used to be the top game species in the 50's and 60's, far more popular than deer were then.   I only ever shot at one, when I was 14 with my dad's old Browning sweet 16 and I missed it, never to flush another.  My shots at Woodcock were also just one, but that was a hit and kill as the bird flushed straight up and sort of hovered for an easy shot with my grandpa's old side by side Stevens 16 ga.    

 

I cut my teeth on Grouse, or "partridge" as we always called them.   On my first hunt at 14 years old, with my uncle and cousin, I fired 14 times at 10 birds with my Ithaca 37 16 ga, modified choke and didn't hit one.  It seemed that they were always holed up in the thickest, nastiest cover and that they were just designed to get away from hunters with their erratic flight and explosive flushes.   When I finally did manage to bring one down the next season, I could not believe how good they were to eat.   Grouse is the only "white-meat" bird I ever had that tastes good to me, with that rich, nutty flavor.   Turkey and chicken taste like cardboard in comparison.  For that reason, ever since, I have taken every opportunity to hunt grouse that I could get.  

 

I have yet to get a limit on grouse, but have doubled on several occasions.  My most memorable hunt was another with my dad's old Browning.  On a hunt long ago, he and I were down to our friend's Southern-tier camp for the opening of deer season.  It opened on Mondays back then, Sundays were off-limits, and we got to camp on Saturday.   Myself and two young friends, about my own age, decided to check out our tree stands and do a little grouse hunting on Saturday afternoon.   My buddies headed deep into a ravine where their stands were and I headed for an old overgrown apple orchard at the edge of the woods where I planned on hunting Monday.  When I got there, I flushed a grouse.  Just as it disappeared into the heavy cover, I pulled the trigger on the old Browning and dropped it with a load of 7-1/2's.  When I went to pick it up, it flushed again (or so I thought), and I fired again with the same result.   It turned out to be a second bird, so I ended up with two in the bag with two shots.   There have been less grouse killed at that camp than deer, so all the old guys back at the cabin were quite surprised when they saw that both shots they heard had connected.   One of the old fellas was a little perturbed because he thought the shots would run off the deer.  He settled down a bit after we gave him a taste of that grouse however.  They still talk about those two shots at that camp 30 some years later.   

 

In the years since then, I have killed a lot more deer than grouse. I can clearly remember every grouse, while some of the deer are a little hazy now, the does especially.  For me, shooting deer is like shooting ducks in a barrel compared to shooting grouse.    I would say the same thing about Woodcock.   The jury is still out on the pheasants, but I do know I don't like eating them as much a grouse, so that takes away any incentive I might have to pursue them, the same as with wild turkeys.  I have ate many kinds of North-American wild game, and hands down, ruffed grouse is my favorite.   Lucky for them they are so tough to hunt.        

[scolopaxmatt]

You have the terminology wrong, Dan...

 

If you shoot them on the wing, they are called GROUSE.

 

If you shoot them on the ground or off a limb, they are called PARTRIDGE....<<grin>>...

 

 

YES.

[wildcat junkie]

You have the terminology wrong, Dan...

 

If you shoot them on the wing, they are called GROUSE.

 

If you shoot them on the ground or off a limb, they are called PARTRIDGE....<<grin>>...

Yep!

[Water Rat]

Woodcock

[wildcat junkie]

 

 

Pheasants  fly direct but FAST.... Much faster than grouse when they get up to speed... It is easy to underlead them and shoot holes in thier tailfeathers...However thier direct flight makes them easier to hit than grouse, despite the fact that they can fly about 20MPH faster than grouse, at top speed.

When I was raising Pheasants, I bought "Kansas Ringneck" chicks. They matured @ about 2# & they flushed like Grouse. No climbout to level off, just shit & git.

 

I tried Mongolians one year. 5# chickens! When guys would bring ill behaved dogs they would end up chasing & catching them after a short flight.

[wildcat junkie]

It would take a better man than I to turn down a sitting duck.  They taste good and it'll probably be the best look I'm likely to get. 

 

 

Well up here, when they go Patridge hun'in, they drive down forest roads W/a .22 & shoot 'em from the car window off tree limbs alongside of the road.

 

In my whole life, I've taken a few (2) from a limb myself, but it was just a fluke, not the whole plan all along.

[ncountry]

Grouse.. Dam thing are always in groups of 2-3 too..you take one step and flddddddd! Away it flies .Dam! Didn't even get the gun up.2 steps later flddddddd. Away goes another DAM!! shoulda known there was another.. then you step quietly, on edge ,waiting for the next one...Only 2 in that group...lol... End of the day I have 1-2 birds but shoulda had 6.. lol.. that is how my grouse hunting usually goes..

Best success rates.. When we were kids..ride around the 3 mile block on our bikes just before dark and plink them out of the trees... Probably illegal, but made for an easy meal..

[ants]

Grouse.. Dam thing are always in groups of 2-3 too..you take one step and flddddddd! Away it flies .Dam! Didn't even get the gun up.2 steps later flddddddd. Away goes another DAM!! shoulda known there was another.. then you step quietly, on edge ,waiting for the next one...Only 2 in that group...lol... End of the day I have 1-2 birds but shoulda had 6.. lol.. that is how my grouse hunting usually goes..

Best success rates.. When we were kids..ride around the 3 mile block on our bikes just before dark and plink them out of the trees...

1 or 2 in a day isn't too bad in my book. I have spread shot all over the woods only to come home with nothing,  or gone grouse hunting and come home with rabbits….. They can get under your skin.

[Doewhacker]

Grouse without a doubt... They are at top speed and dodging cover right from the takeoff..They also are quick to put some cover between you and themselves.

Woodcock are slow and easy...The only thing that makes them tough is the fact that they generally flush in very close cover, so you need quick reflexes and an open choke. In anyplace resembling open cover, they are a piece of cake.

All I'm missing is the open cover. Lol

Now let's add in hunting over a pointer (pick your breed), Woodcock hold so tight you can step on them, Pheseant hold ok but like to run rather than fly which gets annoying when you want them to fly. Grouse on the other hand bust and are the toughest to get to hold.

Woodcock are my personal favorite because of all the action followed closely by Grouse. I had a good fall for points and flushes on both but the absolute worst for hitting. I need to step up my practice, all those training days with Chukkar tricked me into thinking I was good. Haha

I should be heading to an area outside of Fredericton NB next fall to chase both with some good friends and good dogs, can't wait.

[Pygmy]

Doe..Sounds like fun in NB..Wish I was going along..

 

I might add that  nearly all of my woodcock shooting has been done with light, open choke, relatively short barreled guns, two different 20 gauge sxs and a 28 gauge sxs.

 

Anything heavier or longer ( like Joe Average 12 gauge pump or auto)  is at a disadvantage here...

 

I have also always done better at fast, instinctive wingshooting than I have at longer range, deliberate shooting.. I always scored much better at skeet than at trap...

[hunter49]

  Grouse for sure, after they scare the hell out of you & you finally get your act back together they are gone out of sight & I for one am shooting at empty air!   I think my best day ever was 3 of those SOB'S !

[mike rossi]

I usually don't hit the uplands until after a month of mourning dove and several wood duck and teal hunts. By the time I pursue grouse, woodcock, and pheasant, my swing is fast, so I actually do better on the grouse and miss more woodcock and pheasant, until I shift gears. I don't want to change the subject, but I also hunt September Canada's, and those birds are big and give the illusion of slow flight, but they also are moving at a good clip, even when decoying, so I would say hunting geese also contributes too me over swinging on pheasant and woodcock. Off course, both pheasant and woodcock sometimes give you a brief window of opportunity when they momentarily hover, even that doesn't help if your muscle memory needs to be re-calibrated... 

[Doewhacker]

I have a terrible habit of squeezing the trigger the second the bird hits my sight window thus shooting behind many close birds.

[Curmudgeon]

Having done most of my bird hunting over springers, I found woodcock to be almost unsporting. Except for Mike's explanation about having accustomed himself to faster birds, I'm having trouble understanding why woodcock would be someone's first choice.

[mike rossi]

Having done most of my bird hunting over springers, I found woodcock to be almost unsporting. Except for Mike's explanation about having accustomed himself to faster birds, I'm having trouble understanding why woodcock would be someone's first choice.

 

Springers don't point, and woodcock are favored by owners of pointing breeds because  hold good for a pointing dog and they are excellent table fare, better than pheasant, and much better than chicken. And they actually can rocket along, you don't always get the lay up shots at them. (As an after thought, I also want to say that pheasant are actually one of the faster birds once they do get going). Also, I suspect birds which are migratory give hunters a sense of urgency too, because they don't stay around the entire season, I think that subliminally motivates some hunters.

[wildcat junkie]

Here are some PIX of the 2# Kansas Ringnecks I used to raise & release. they were FAST, & flushed explosivly. I bought the chicks from Peaceable Hill Preserv ein Vermont. Shpped via USPS.

 

 

 

I keep them in a 25' X 150' flight pen located far away from the house.

 

I had a solar powered fence charger & ran hot wires @ the chicken wire/nylon net transition 3' above ground level to keep predtors @ bay. The ground was run directly to the chicken wire which was buried 12" deep. They were quite wild for pen raised birds.

 

My Brittany Max became quite adept @ pinning the birds down if we kept up with him & cut off their escape route. I ran a small scale NY licensed commercial hunting preserve for several years.

 

Here are some satisfied customers.

 

 

 

Max is semi "retired"  now.