Hardest bird to hit (poll)

Hardest Bird to Hit?

  • Total voters
    43
I'd have to say for me it's Ruffed Grouse. Shooting at something lightening fast through thick trees and brush is one heck of a challenge:eek:.
 
ruffed grouse for sure has my vote. although here in MI we cannot shoot doves so i don't have much to go by. I would have to say IF there was any chance you could shoot at 100 grouse in a day like you can at doves you would miss more ruffed grouse I would think
 
tough birds to hit

so the poll was pretty small, perhaps others have opinions on a wider swath of answers

Hardest- to getting easy

Turkey vultures , although slow flying , the thermals carry them high, perhaps 2 shot, full choke

Golden eagles, big boned birds, and high flying, classic Ithaca mag 10

Red tail hawk, a medium sized bird, might be Imp mod. 4 shot

Marsh hawk, low and slow, reminds me of sea gulls, Spanish 28 gauge , side by side work.

I am kidding, thought this might get a laugh late at night!
HOWEVER I do have a serious question, why in America we take any and all land predators , coyotes, fox, skunk, raccoon, virtually no closed season, and ALL bird predators are always off limits... seems inconsistent in the greater scheme of things.... I know it has been that way since the 1950's or so, but that DOES not explain the logic, or frankly lack of logic...
 
There are millions of bird watchers in the USA, and only 3 maybe 4 skunk watchers. :cheers: :confused:
 
I'll concede that doves are the hardest to hit with the second shot, but I'll stick with huns & quail on the first and every shot thereafter (and usually that opportunity is limited to 2). I've always viewed grouse as pheasants with trees in the way . . .
 
Quail first, then doves. I've only recently started hunting quail and the covey rise just freaks me out.
 
Ruffies by far is the most challenging on this list for me, and have shot all the birds on the list. They are super fast, and yes in the woods, thick woods. By far, hands down the most difficult hunt I will ever go on. Your lucky to hear them, let alone harvest a couple. Fun none the less.
 
Hobie1026 said:
Quail first, then doves. I've only recently started hunting quail and the covey rise just freaks me out.
Click to expand...

It takes a lot of concentration to pick one bird to swing on during a big covey rise and not peel off to another bird if your first shot doesn't connect. Once you're focusing on just one bird until he's down on a covey rise your success will go way up and you might even start taking a few doubles here and there.:cheers: I remember one covey last year that got up in two bursts of around 30 birds each. I dropped a double, opened my gun, reloaded and dropped another double. I asked my brother (on the other side of a huge berry patch) if he hit any and he had also hit a double double.:eek: 8 birds down on 8 shots from a covey rise and the dogs found every one of them.:cheers: A high light of the season.
 
I would also say Ruffed Grouse. You rarely get a clean shot at a ruffed grouse and you rarely get a second shot at a ruffed grouse. You swing and pray that just some of the shot gets through the brush and trees.
Man that sounds fun, I think I need to plan a trip here soon.
 
Thanks for sharing DTbang! Sure, given the right conditions, anything can be hard to hit. On average, my best shot/connect ratio is when I'm hunting the big, purdy birds.

I saw duckn66 mentioned pass-shooting prairie chickens. That would've got my vote if it were an option. It took me years to believe how far I needed to lead 'em when they were flying over:eek:
 
That forum & their demeanor certainly explains why I wear Carhartts & chew versus wearing tweed & smoke a pipe, lol.
 
We'll keep you Hobie. Your head's in the right place.
 
Wow, those guys are really nice.:rolleyes:

One of them even suggested that maybe we had never shot a "truly wild" pheasant... WTF???

Possibly it is not tobacco in the pipe... :laugh:

My .02 would be that anybody who honestly, consistently struggles to hit a TRULY WILD pheasant would be even worse at almost everything else on the list. Except for the goose, they're all smaller, faster, and change direction quicker.
 
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That other forum is merely a "practice squad" for UPH. :)
Or "farm team"
They learn when they sneak into UPH. :cheers:
 
mnmthunting said:
That other forum is merely a "practice squad" for UPH. :)
Or "farm team"
They learn when they sneak into UPH. :cheers:
Click to expand...

That's hilarious! I would agree, pheasants aren't that hard to hit normally. Killing them clean is what takes a little more skill.:D
 
Problem with a lot of grouse hunters on that sight is they are more into tradition and the look than actually hunting.

If you look around there is some good info and pretty successful bird hunters on there though.
 
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