Rising straight away shot

On the grouse woods vs. pheasant fields discussion I would echo the comment that hunting both has helped me. Plus here in MN we get an extra month for grouse (opens sept vs. oct). I tend to hunt grouse Sept through early Nov and transition to pheasants once Deer season starts Nov - Dec. What is interesting is my aim/reaction speed has greatly improved by mid-season when I transition to pheasants. I do need to coach myself to slow down on pheasants, I find myself rushing the first barrel and then slow down and get them with the second when I'm transitioning from the woods. You rarely get two shots at a grouse. Also in the grouse woods I count flushes not birds harvested and don't beat myself up on misses, anytime i get one I'm usually pretty shocked that it all came together. Whereas I get pretty frustrated watching a pheasant fly away.
 
wapete said:
On the grouse woods vs. pheasant fields discussion I would echo the comment that hunting both has helped me. Plus here in MN we get an extra month for grouse (opens sept vs. oct). I tend to hunt grouse Sept through early Nov and transition to pheasants once Deer season starts Nov - Dec. What is interesting is my aim/reaction speed has greatly improved by mid-season when I transition to pheasants. I do need to coach myself to slow down on pheasants, I find myself rushing the first barrel and then slow down and get them with the second when I'm transitioning from the woods. You rarely get two shots at a grouse. Also in the grouse woods I count flushes not birds harvested and don't beat myself up on misses, anytime i get one I'm usually pretty shocked that it all came together. Whereas I get pretty frustrated watching a pheasant fly away.
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Similar here. I use the first month of grouse season to get in shape for pheasant season. Shooting at ruffed grouse and woodcock makes me rush my shots on pheasants.
 
wapete said:
On the grouse woods vs. pheasant fields discussion I would echo the comment that hunting both has helped me. Plus here in MN we get an extra month for grouse (opens sept vs. oct). I tend to hunt grouse Sept through early Nov and transition to pheasants once Deer season starts Nov - Dec. What is interesting is my aim/reaction speed has greatly improved by mid-season when I transition to pheasants. I do need to coach myself to slow down on pheasants, I find myself rushing the first barrel and then slow down and get them with the second when I'm transitioning from the woods. You rarely get two shots at a grouse. Also in the grouse woods I count flushes not birds harvested and don't beat myself up on misses, anytime i get one I'm usually pretty shocked that it all came together. Whereas I get pretty frustrated watching a pheasant fly away.
Click to expand...
You must be an exception up there! When I was up there, folks couldn't believe that I actually got out of the truck to shoot them.
 
Don't try this at home folks!! Believe it or not I have bent a few shotguns barrels by whacking them over a rimless tire. Bought a beautiful 37 Ithaca 20 full choke from a kid in a Walmart parking lot at 10:00 at night. Next morning I couldn't wait to shoulder it and stroke my wonderful gun dealing prowess. Pulled her up and noticed a slight kink just above the Magazine nut. Looked like someone had fallen on it and bent it straight up. Shot it and was shocked to see it shot 6 inches high at 20 yards. Sent it to a gunsmith who tried to no avail to straighten it. Bought another barrel for it for close to the price I gave for the gun! Thats when I found out that the early guns and the latter guns barrels would not interchange. So much for my gun dealing prowess. So, I you tubed it and found a real knowledgeable looking redneck with a cig in his mouth beating a barrel over a tire to change point of impact. Rolled out an old tire from the barn and long story short now she's dead on. Looks a little funny but a squirrel killing machine.
 
Sounds like you know the problem which is a huge part of it. You really cant take any advice without watching you shoot. I was a shooting coach and learned alot from some great coaches. If I were you I would go shoot a few rounds of trap with a coach. Shoot alot if you can. When I was shooting a ton I got to where I could see my pellets and answer my own questions when I missed.

Here are my ideas, think of how much smaller your target is on a bird going away than any other presentation. I heard a podcast where a guy said he couldnt hit a teal going away to save his life. Tiny target dude.

The birds are rising more than you think. You are right you need to cover them. I have seen guys who did everything perfect but as they shot they lifted their head to see if they got it. It resulted in a miss, one guy said I dont raise my head, so we video taped him to show him.

What about your choke? A close small target with a tight choke, not much room for error.

Dont buy into these guys saying things like grouse are faster than roosters, or at a certain distance this many feet. Too many variables.

Most data out there says ruff grouse are slower than roosters. But there is many variables.


Size of an object makes a huge difference in how fast it looks like it is going. My buddy use to say teal were twice as fast as mallards. Not true if you see them flying together. Teal looks faster but isnt, just a lot smaller. I hunt swans in a public area and those huge guys look 20 yards away when they are 40 yards away. The look slower than heck when they are actually cruising very fast.

Lastly slow is fast. On a rising going away shot. First I would get my feet right. Good stance. As the gun is coming up it should be pointing at the bird. I see people shoulder the gun then make huge swings to be on the bird. Not good. Small movements is slow but makes you fast. Cover the bird and shoot fairly quickly. Riding the bird too long is also a recipe for a miss. Enough rambling Good Luck
 
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