Etiquette question

Toad

Active member
I tried to field a question from the novice hunter in our group. He's been hunting with us for a few years now, but pretty much only goes out once a year with our group... He only got one quail for the weekend, and didn't shoot much, in spite of being sent in to flush on many of the points.

We asked him why he wasn't shooting, and in addition to being pretty slow on the trigger for quail, he said that he also was passing up shots because he was told it was proper etiquette in hunters ed class. He said they told him that if the bird flies left, it should be shot by the guy to his left, and vice versa for birds that fly towards the right. He was just trying to be polite and courteous.

I said, when I send you in to flush my dog's point, it's because I want you to shoot the bird. Anything that flushes in front of you is "your" bird in my book. If it flies to the left or right and presents a good shot to a companion, then they should feel free to take the shot, but technically it is still "your" bird and you should not defer to anyone else as long as you have a safe shot. If I'm on your right and it flies to the right, then it is fine for me to shoot also.

To me, the only shots that are bad etiquette would be an unsafe shot, or trying to beat someone to a bird if you are farther away but quicker on the trigger.

What sort of rules of etiquette do you have when hunting with others?
 
Pretty much what you said. I hunt with a guy that is pretty slow to shoot as well and try to have him on the birds, if possible. When sent into a point, that person gets first crack, I will often take a shot after the first miss.
 
Toad, your generous spirit shows in your post. And the novice gets credit for being restrained rather than trigger happy, the better way for a hunter to trend. I agree that a bird that flushes from your zone is your shot but can be politely shot by the hunter whose zone the bird enters if it breaks right or left rather than straight away. If the hunters are closer together, the situation arises where the first shot may cross directly in front of the hunter next to you on a side breaking bird, and that hunter can feel trespassed upon.
 
I like to stick to zone of fire for most hunting. When it is a pheasant and 1 guy goes in to flush, I expect it is his bird. I don't want anyone "helping" me with a bird. This is mano on mano and if the bird wins, then so be it, we'll find another. I think most of us shoot better when we don't have to worry about things around us. Why does every legal bird that flies have to die? Give them a chance and make sure everyone knows it's their bird when it falls. Usually this will result in fewer ruined birds and less conflict with folks that get caught up in a competition created in their own mind. When you have just 2 guys, it's easy enough some days to end early when hunting pheasants. Keep the dogs at work and let yourself screw up once in awhile!
 
I like to stick to zone of fire for most hunting. When it is a pheasant and 1 guy goes in to flush, I expect it is his bird. I don't want anyone "helping" me with a bird. This is mano on mano and if the bird wins, then so be it, we'll find another. I think most of us shoot better when we don't have to worry about things around us. Why does every legal bird that flies have to die? Give them a chance and make sure everyone knows it's their bird when it falls. Usually this will result in fewer ruined birds and less conflict with folks that get caught up in a competition created in their own mind. When you have just 2 guys, it's easy enough some days to end early when hunting pheasants. Keep the dogs at work and let yourself screw up once in awhile!


I like your style Troy!
 
I'd rather have a newbie with that attitude than thinking every bird is his.

If the bird flushes from your area, it's your shot. If it flies into your zone, feel free to shoot. If it flushes two or more zones away and doesn't fly into your zone, it's NOT your shot.

All rules are null and void if the shot is unsafe, and if someone feels the shot is unsafe, they never get crap for letting it go because the number one rule is we don't shoot hunters, two legged or four legged.

These are the rules I go by and the ones I go over when "hosting" a hunt.
 
I go with the zones for any birds that the lab puts up or flushed wild in front of the dogs. On points it is the flushers bird and I always ask if they want back up, if so then backup is there only if a safe shot presents itself. Very important when we are either woodcock or grouse hunting as the cover is very dense and the birds don't play fair by flushing in the right directions.
 
I appreciate all the responses, and I thought most groups probably had the same general guidelines.

Troy, I appreciated your perspective. In the case of my group, the three of us each walked 10 miles Friday, 10 miles Saturday, and 6 miles Sunday morning according to my friend's garmin watch. I never remember to reset my Astro, but I'm sure it was double that for the dogs... None of us got a limit of anything or even came close to a limit, so the dogs were never in danger of losing their jobs. :laugh: In our case I think helping each other was a good thing, because the dogs deserved all the retrieves they got and then some.
:cheers:
 
Toad, I agree with you and come to find out my son was told the same in hunters safety just recently also. If you flush it you have the first shot on it. Now with my son, slow on the trigger, we were ready to fire when he did not if the bird presented itself to others for a shot.

Would be interesting to know if the instructors were talking about upland hunting and even more so about hunting behind pointing dogs. I could this etiquette of bird goes left guy on left shoots when line hunting or behind flushing dogs maybe.
 
I'd rather have a newbie with that attitude than thinking every bird is his.

If the bird flushes from your area, it's your shot. If it flies into your zone, feel free to shoot. If it flushes two or more zones away and doesn't fly into your zone, it's NOT your shot.

All rules are null and void if the shot is unsafe, and if someone feels the shot is unsafe, they never get crap for letting it go because the number one rule is we don't shoot hunters, two legged or four legged.

These are the rules I go by and the ones I go over when "hosting" a hunt.

Clearly stated, easy to understand, and excellent in every regard.
 
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