Nebraska sharptails.

Roy B

Roy B

Member
I am heading out to hunt sharptail for the 1st time and just looking for a few tips and also wondering if I should plan on light loads or heavier? I will be using a 20 auto but will have my 1187 12 for backup.
I am going to be roughing it in a tent and plan on being out there until at least next Friday weather permitting.
I forgot to add that im taking my 1 year old who has hunted pheasant and quail but never been out west. She is a work in progress but points and no birds get past her nose.She is a lab/wirehair mix.
 
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6 shot is my choice…used to use 7.5’s…20 or 12 is fine…I use 28 gauge a lot…IC mostly, will go a bit tighter in my 28 gauges…usually I shoot S x S’s, IC/M….I usually shoot 7/8 oz in my 20’s or my 28 gauges…1 oz in my 16’s…1 1/8 oz in my 12’s, though I don’t use 12’s sharpie hunting.
 
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Grouse are fairly easy to bring down so light loads will work just fine...I still prefer 6 shot in case some shots happen to be a little further. If it is windy the birds will be on the leeward side of hills to get out of the wind. Otherwise it comes down to a lot of miles on the boots, especially in the sandhills. You will have great weather for this time of year, we are way cooler than normal right now.
 
I second the suggestions above. Sharptails aren't real tough, but they do tend to flush at long ranges sometimes. I have used 7&1/2's before, but I mostly stick with 6's now.
7/8 oz in 28ga, 1 oz for 16ga. When non-tox is required I use bismuth 6's. Not quite as effective as lead 6's, but not far off.
 
Roy B said:
Guf54 said Grouse are fairly easy to bring down so light loads will work just fine..
Im a little confused guys......
Click to expand...
He's talking about sharptail grouse, and he's right that they're fairly easy to bring down.

BB mentioned Hungarian Partridge being tough and he's right, they're tougher than sharpies even though they're about half the size.
 
roadscholar said:
He's talking about sharptail grouse, and he's right that they're fairly easy to bring down.

BB mentioned Hungarian Partridge being tough and he's right, they're tougher than sharpies even though they're about half the size.
Click to expand...
I contact huns regularly, and they’re the reason I have changed to #6 lead…not a terrible idea to use 6’s for sharpies, but huns shock me regularly as to their toughness, so I just shoot #6 lead for both…
 
They're too fast for me to do much reminding. :)

A couple of years ago I got two in one shot, thot I was really something. A half hour later one of them started flapping crazily in my vest. Turned out its only injury was a pellet that had grazed its skull and knocked it out.
 
I just went on my first sharptail hunt in Montana. I hunted block management and state land. I saw some great looking places but they were posted and I didn’t want to waste time trying to find owners, probably leased out. I learned a lot and had fun. Here is my tips. It wasn’t a true grass prairie but agriculture. In huge wheat fields I found birds in the low spots and edges that didn’t have grain stubble. If you are walking a field and it is thick grass tough to walk , probably not the best. My girl was pointing pheasants and I knew too thick. If it is hot walk wind rows. I walked wind rows with thick vegetation under the bushes and saw nothing. Walked one that was bare under the bushes, tons of sharpies. Problem for me, one guy they shoot out the other side and bushes are thick with leaves. 6s out of my 12 gauge 1 1/8 worked great. Keep your head down and don’t over lead them, they are slower than a pheasant. My first two I missed and might have shot in front of them, but they were out there. Killable but out there.
 
I’ll be on the prairie for 2 weeks, heading out in the am…bringing a few 28 gauges and a few 20 gauges. Matt D tipped me off a year or 2 ago to some nice B & P 28 gauge loads…15/16 oz of #6 lead…1250 fps…$15/box? I suspect I’ll shoot a few boxes of those, maybe not. I’ll shoot 20 gauge lead #6’s, 1 oz of shot, roughly 1250 fps…maybe $4/box less? I enjoy my 28’s, I’ll take my Parker Repro and an Uggie grade 1 S x S…those guns carry nice, about 5.5 or 5.75 lbs…I can stuff 8 or 10 shells in a breast pocket if I’m in need….I’ve got some 28 gauge bismuth for WPA’s…those are a buck a shell or a bit more. I’ll default to 20 gauge steel as well, I’ll shoot out of my beretta AL 391 when my bismuth runs out. Anyway, the shells are about the least expensive cost…love the 28’s! I knocked down 5 roosters in SD with my Parker Repro last fall with lead #5’s…1 oz…recovered them all, only one lively cripple. I’ve shot sharpies, chickens, and huns with the 28’s over the past decade, no issue with range…loads aren’t to different vs 20’s or 16’s…my repro is tight mod/full…Uggie is IC/M…red label has tubes…lots of 35-40 yard shots, some a bit longer…works well for me..I get those guns up very quickly.
 
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I'm in South Dakota. We've only had one day since the season opened that it hasn't gotten over 80F, pretty much by noon or earlier. Dog and I have an agreement: at 70F we start back for the pickup. Quit for the day. So far we haven't run into a snake, but it is possible, for sure. There has been so much moisture up here that all the ponds and tanks are full, the alfalfa and clover is bright green. Nothing to really concentrate sharptails, so a lot of walking, often in heavy grass that neither I or the birds like. Hopefully we get a cool down soon! Otherwise I'll go up in the Hills and try to find a ruffed grouse. At least it is cooler up there!
 
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