Bird Hunting~ what were your memories of your first hunt?

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DonGKIT65

New member
I can recall small pockets of wild pheasants, coveys of quail, rabbits and some fair amount of ruffed grouse also dubbed (pine pheasant) in my home state of n.j. I think I got 2 pheasant that whole season back in'78 and that was pretty much the last yr. they were around (wild pheasants) where I lived because of pesticides and farming practices. we would hunt those birds after school until dark and almost every Saturday on the turkey farmers property and local vegetable farms. those brief but great memories are infused in me forever the pheasant and quail are all but gone just a few small isolated pockets where you cannot hunt them. but the passion to hunt the preserves and travel to new destinations still remains...and of all things I finally got my 15 yr. old video game addict son to consider taking a hunter safety course some time this yr. so I should have him ready by spring for turkey hunting:thumbsup: what memories do you have :cheers: Don
 
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The first hunt by myself that set all the following in motion....I was 12 with an H&R 20, the bird was a ruffed grouse and the memory is.....a flush from my right with the feathers appearing to fall forever.
 
I was, like thornton was, 12 with an H&R single shot 20 gauge. I remember seeing my dad shoot down the first rooster i ever saw killed, in a huge milo field. I didn't kill anything that day, but i did get a few shots. It was a good day. Ever since then i haven't been able to get enough of it.
 
UplandLevi said:
I was, like thornton was, 12 with an H&R single shot 20 gauge. I remember seeing my dad shoot down the first rooster i ever saw killed, in a huge milo field. I didn't kill anything that day, but i did get a few shots. It was a good day. Ever since then i haven't been able to get enough of it.
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Me too. The good old H&R single shot 20;).

You've got me thinking back to when the first time I saw my old man knock a wild rooster down. I don't think it was until the 3rd grade.

Prior to that he took a couple years off--after he got shot. Before that I remember him always telling me to "stay here", then walking off to hit some thick cover (too thick for my short kid legs), shooting, and coming back with a bird. Never saw one go down though. He was always too far away. I always hated it when he left me behind and I'd miss all the action. lol
 
Not my first hunt but my first flush ever. A kid moved in up the street from Ohio. I had just moved to Illinois recently from Los Angeles and had never heard of a pheasant.

At sunset, we walked through the tall grass that bordered a cornfield. I will never forget the explosion of feathers and the crowing as a rooster blasted up in front of my face. I remember my friend laughing hysterically as I came unglued. Nothing prepared me for that and the adrenaline dump hooked me forever.

Later in life I had a father-in-law that had springer spaniels and I got to hunt with dogs for the first time. The first time I saw his dog get birdy, bashing into the weeds and truly becoming a possessed dervish I got goosebumps. Every time I see my dogs get birdy and know that a flush is imminent I get goosebumps still to this day some 30 years later.

I feel we are truly blessed to be bird hunters, alive with a purpose and a passion.
 
11 or 12 years old. Single shot 3-inch .410 lent by my uncle. We left Grandpa's farm on foot, crossed the road, and took a line west along a burned out hedgerow. Shot my first bird, an illegal hen, on an overhead shot.
 
Told this story on here before, but I'll tell again. Didn't start hunting till college, in fact it was my Senior year. My grandpa gave me one of his old shotguns right before I left that year for school. Had two friends in college that were always going out and shooting pheasant and then they'd bring them over to the house and we'd fix them. One day it snowed and classes were called off so I grabbed the gun, went and bought some shells and figured I give it a try at the public land around the lake. Parked and started walking through 6 inches of snow and realized this wasn't for me and started cutting back across the field on the way to my car. Walking with my head down and the gun at my side I stepped right on top of a big old rooster! Much to my surprise it came screaming out of the snow and I shot the first time from my hip, managed to somehow shoulder the gun and drop it with my second shot. I walked over to the bird and admired it laying in the snow for a good 5 minutes. I thought this is the coolest thing ever. Been hooked ever since.
 
My 1st pheasant hunt I was 12 yrs old going out with my dad and uncles and cousins at our farm in SD. We walked maybe 10 yards into the field behind the barn a big rooster got up in front of me and with my single shot 410 I dropped him like a rock ran over to pick him up and the rooster got up and flew away. I would have took a second shot but thats kind of hard when you have a single shot and you dont reload it:eek:. Still one of the best hunts of my life
 
long time ago

when and where i grew up, pheasant for the most part did not exist. i have two memory's, l) sitting in a duck blind freezing my butt off hoping the ducks would land so i could shoot one sitting on the water, the guy with me drank coffee from a thermos but i hated the stuff there i sat and shivered. the 2) one was hunting ruffs and hoping to catch one sitting on a stone wall so i could hit it.,,maybe. had a brand new mossberg bolt action with the new sort of poly choke. but, it did get me started and i never looked back

cheers
 
I think I was 8 or 9 and accompanied my father and his friend on a pheasant hunt. I carried a Crossman BB gun "to finish them off" I was told.

We hunted our farm and on the first point and flush I was hooked.
 
I was 16 or 17 at the time. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that my friend took me along with the thought that he would get to shoot a couple more birds than usual that day. (the limit was two in SE MN then) I had my grandfathers well worn Winchester 97 and hadn't shot it more than a handful of times. The season opened at noon that day and we got to the spot early to be the first ones there. Waiting for noon was hard especially since his dog was with us and knew what was happening. We got out of the car a few minutes before twelve and started walking around a small patch of cover. A rooster flushed my way and I swung the old 97 up and dropped it. Surprised all of us! Five minutes later the same thing happened. The next two flushed his way and he bagged them. We were all finished and back at the car in less than thirty minutes.

I didn't have too many more opportunities to bird hunt for the next decade or so, but I always jumped at every chance I got. For the last few years I have managed at least two good hunts per year. Hoping to increase that when I retire.

Jerry
 
One of my memories was my first pheasant. We got out of the truck and could hear one crowing. The guy showing me how to hunt said he wanted to go in the other direction. I told him I was going after that rooster. About 200 yards later it jumped up right in front of me and I shot it.

My second pheasant was later that day. I was working my dog into the wind and she went on point. I moved in and the rooster flushed right in front of me. I shot it with one shell and my dog retrieved it to me.

I have many memories, but those were my first pheasant and my first pheasant with my dog.
 
First pheasant hunt - freshman in college and a trip to Ortonville with my roomate. I"m armed with a 12 ga single shot with no recoil pad. We did manage to fill, thanks to his golden ret. This was 1956...

I think I shot only one bird, but I do remember that first bird! Been hooked ever since!
 
My Dad did not hunt, he was always to busy working or going to the kids ball games.

But I got an Irish Setter pup from friends when we lived in Lexington Ky. I was 10 or so, and would take the pup out on the farm that was behind our house. That pup pointed several coveys of quail there. I did not have a gun, but I put BBs in a wrist rocket and killed one.

The first pheasant I ever shot was in highschool when we moved to KC. A neighbor across the street took me and my setter hunting. He had a big overweight lab that was of no use on upland birds, so I think he really just wanted my dog to go :). But my setter went on point about 50 yards out of the truck, and I walked in, and a big rooster came up right under my feet. Surprised the heck out of me, but I was still able to kill that first bird.

I have always been hooked on pointing dogs, and the hunting is what they live for.
 
I was brought up hunting deer and turkey. I had a chance to go quail hunting with my uncle in Texas over the holidays in my sophomore year of high school. We were down there for the holidays to see my grandfather and my family on my fathers side. I have been hooked since and now we own a German short hair pointer. Still don't hunt enough like i would like too!
I remember the quail just flushing right before me. Its a good feeling when you get too see the dogs work and not even get a shot off! I think i got two that day even though i shot a ton!
 
Earliest memories were going out Thanksgiving morning with my dad and brothers for quail. My dad started me out carrying a bb gun to teach me control and how to handle a gun in the field. Worked up to an old single shot .410 then to my Beretta 12 ga I still hunt with.

First pheasant hunt was 7 years ago during my first year of college. I look at a picture of me with my first bird every day as it sits on a shelf in my office. Have one of the tail feathers from that bird right above it.
 
I was about 13 years old, a family friend took me quail hunting in the deserts of Arizona in the early 80s. I remember seeing the covey of quail flushing everywhere. I dont' think I shot but I enjoyed it.

Then in 1987 I was introduced to another friend of my father that trained Brittany spaniels. He took me several times and it was my responsibility to plant the birds for each brace at the Field trials for the Arizona Hunting Dog Club, which has since renamed. I did that for two years. It was amazing to watch the dogs work. They would let me clear the fields after they finished just before sunset with the judges. I was hooked from then on.

The only problem was my mother wouldn't let me get a dog and I never did until I left for college.

It is amazing when I look back at a few choice interactions have changed my life forever.
 
My Dad missing every pheasant he shot at. He could never hit anything. And he didn't care which pissed me off even more. I was about eight or nine and I swore that when I got older I would not miss like him and I don't. Funny part of that story: when I got into my twenties I was taking my dad goose hunting so I bought him a new Wingmaster. It was made in 96 so it has chokes and a vent rib. He started hitting everything he shot at. All those years shooting an ancient 16ga 870 hitting nothing all he needed was a vent rib.
 
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