Birdhunters!

[Stubb]

I just went on my first birdhunt over the last weekend. Myself and my father and my dad's two friends (one of whom is my boss) went to Lake Superior State Forest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula from Thursday until Sunday. Had a ball.

Of course, we saw about 3 partidge the whole weekend, and had a shot on none of them.

My questions are:

Where do you bird hunt?
What gun(s) do you bring?
What load do you shoot?
Any general tips?

Like I say, we went to the thick underbrush of the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Loggers went through in the past twenty years or so, and it's so thick you couldn't walk through most of it. I didn't have a gun with me, but my dad used his old Stevens 311 20 gauge side-by-side, and the other guys both used mid 60s Remington 870 12s. No one shot anything, so the load didn't matter.

Any tips?

 

[Diggler]

I bought a chocolate lab years ago hoping to be able to go hunting with him. Unfortunately, he's gunshy and has been since a pup. We tried and tried to break him of it, but no good. He's a house dog now.

Almost impossible to hunt pheasant effectively without a dog.

 

[bob r]

Dove season opened here in Arkyland on the 2nd of Sept. Had a great hunt and a great feed that evening, Dove are very tasty little birds. Great being afield with all my hunting buddies the ribbing and such that goes on during a Dove hunt.

The gun I used was a 12 gauge Remington 870, modified choke and the hottest 7 1/2 shot money can buy. I burned up 3 boxes of shells and killed only 5 Dove. Yes, they are very hard to bring down and yes, my shooting skills leave alot to be desired. But all in all it was a wonderful day.

 

[DigMe]

I occasionally dove hunt out on our land but I don't enjoy it as much as other types of hunting. I DO turkey hunt every year though and that is very fun and exciting.

bc

 

[Spector_Ray]

My questions are:

Where do you bird hunt?
What gun(s) do you bring?
What load do you shoot?
Any general tips?

Any tips?

Texas
Remington 11-87 and Mossberg 500 pump action for backup.
It depends. For small birds like dove or quail, I like a 7 1/2 shot and 2 3/4" shells. For bigger birds like pheasant, I'll go with 6 shot and 2 3/4" or 3" shells.
Any tips? hmmm...safety first. Always know where everyone is and make sure you're sure of not only your target, but what's beyond. We have a rule that you can't shoot anything below your 10 o'clock position. This will usually point your muzzle over any potential heads in the area.
As far as actual shooting, I'm an instinct shooter. I don't swing through the target, I just point and shoot. I've been doing it so long, there's no reason to change my way of doing things at this point.