How to Shoot a Bird

BritChaser

Well-known member
Article in the new issue of a magazine describes how to knock down a game bird: get on the bird, get ahead of the bird, pull the trigger. Simple, right? haha
 
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Of course it also depends on the bird.....Duck? Grouse? Quail in a multiflora Rose thicket? Sharptails flushing wild on an unending prairie? Rooster hammering out of the cattails about 3 feet in front of you? Makes a difference....
 
They missed, look at your dog that is pointing and say "Gosh dang that looks good!" be startled that a wild bird get up "Oh, shoot!" Then the following steps.
 
I watched a Grouse hunting episode of Bird Dogs Afield and Mrs. Fuller was mounting the gun and starting behind the birds. Three days she didn't catch up with any. And open field or skeet range you may catch up, but not in the grouse woods.
 
Which mag? I though it was eye on the bird, moving mount, insert the gun ahead of the bird, get the proper lead and shoot?
Gray's
 
I watched a Grouse hunting episode of Bird Dogs Afield and Mrs. Fuller was mounting the gun and starting behind the birds. Three days she didn't catch up with any. And open field or skeet range you may catch up, but not in the grouse woods.
how 'bout a tip on how to connect on grouse in the woods? i hope to hunt ruffeds someday. maybe woodcock too.
 
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how 'bout a tip on how to connect on grouse in the woods? i hope to hunt ruffeds someday. maybe woodcock too.
Not much in the way of tips there haha I've hunted grouse my whole life and the best way to describe it is this: Your best shot is the one you have the moment you see the bird. Which of course, you are never ready unless you walked around the woods with your gun shouldered.

Grouse have an uncanny ability to flush when you're crawling under or over a log. Busting through brush or you're stuck in the thickest shit imaginable with absolutely no way to raise your gun let alone swing it. It's like they watch you and wait for those moments.

There's a reason ruffed grouse hunters count success by the number of flushes instead of birds in the bag haha
 
They where hunting grown up trails and paths. I don't care if you are quick as a cat. you got to get the gun in front of them. National shooting sports foundation shotgun shooting tips Gil Ash.
 
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I have health issues. Whipple surgery Aug.12 2pm. Down for 8 weeks.. If things go as planed I'll be in Wis. the end of Oct 1st of Nov. May hit nothing, but the gun will be in front of them
 
With that title, I thought I knew who's post it would be, glad I was wrong!

My advice on being a successful pheasant hunter: Be ready, finger on the safety, WATCH the dog, the rest will come. It is way easier to shoot pheasants when they are closer (IC choke) than when they get 40 yards away before you pull the trigger. Once you figure that out, I hope you like to eat them!
 
I have health issues. Whipple surgery Aug.12 2pm. Down for 8 weeks.. If things go as planed I'll be in Wis. the end of Oct 1st of Nov. May hit nothing, but the gun will be in front of them
best of luck and success with your treatment
 
The last several years there seems to be a great emphasis on technically correct wing shooting. That's cool & all, but when hunting no two shots are the same so it follows that no technically perfect technique will work for all.

I learned to wing shoot back in the early 60's. Essentially, three techniques were the order of the day, swing through, sustained lead, and snap shooting. What I'm hunting, the conditions, the cover, and clothing dictate the technique. It's not unusual to employ all three during the same day.

Personally, I think shotgun fit is the most important part of the equation, particularly LOP. Early season/light clothing and I shoot 14"-14.25" shotguns but when I start adding layers and/or hunt waterfowl out of a field blind, I go with one of my shotguns that's 13.75"-14".
 
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