Tradition

this is a question with no wrong answer it depends on a multitude of things and on how you grew up hunting if you grew up with pheasant than that clearly has more tradition its like deer camp in a sense
 
If you are going to go by which one has been around longer?

Waterfowling is a far older tradition. Myself, I was a duck hunter long before I was a pheasant hunter. Duck hunting will be the last thing I will give up when it comes to hunting.
 
Back in the day when my great grandfather was homesteading out here his son would ride his horse into a big slough with a bull whip when the ducks were not quite ready to fly and kill the ducks that way. I suppose which was done first depended on where you lived.
 
Can safely assume that both were started after there was at least Flintlocks to hunt with. Before that, we shot ducks on the water with arrows, flue flue arrows with uplands, nets, clubs etc. Setters were designed to "set" to allow the use of a net, pointers to locate game for falconry. I assume the nature of man they shot everything they could hit successfully. After they shot it, they had to eat it, after that the upland birds became more desirable. I do some waterfowling, I am old and slow, but I intended to "go west" or try, in the uplands. There is a fine tradition of waterfowling, but despite indian hunting grounds, waterfowling was a business, from the 1860's on, became a sport to some later, and legally in I think it was 1932. Before that it was catch as catch can. For instance we had no retrievers for ducks, we had fishermens dog which became retrievers at that time. Before all that, like 300 years, we have setters, spaniels, and gamekeepers, breeding upland birds, and preserving their habitats. AKC Madison Square Kennel Club has a Pointer on it's logo, I believe Cruft's has an English Setter. I believe the English Pointers, and English Setters developed breed wise and putting birds on the table for landed gentry and well heeled hunters when the formations of modern waterfowling was being born. This is born out again by the fact that 90 years ago, you would find 1 low gauge full choked guns or fowlers, beside at least 9 open choked light weight doubles shooting around an ounce of shot. Hats off to the waterfowler, but I believe history as I can find it, besides a mud-made decoys used by spear chucking natives, the upland hunter has the nod.
 
well told I think alot of duck hunters these days are guys with money, and bird hunters are the love of the hunting guys. Just my opition so no one get mad.
 
As I (vaugely) recall, James Michener in CHESAPEAKE, detailed early duck hunting techniques, all the way to use of punt guns by market hunters. Can't be more specific than that, cuz it was so long ago that I read it. His books were great for the first two-thirds, then when he got into more contemporary times, got boring for me.

So, for subsistence, opportunistic hunters, waterfowl were probably among the first, because there were specific sites where the birds would sittting. Upland was more catch-as catch-can.


but, dunno for sure. :)
 
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Heath hens are at least one of upland birds that were hunted at the countries beginning. Nobody on here would consider it a traditional upland hunt though.
 
wisturkeyhunter said:
Heath hens are at least one of upland birds that were hunted at the countries beginning. Nobody on here would consider it a traditional upland hunt though.
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And passenger pigeons.:eek:
 
I would believe hunting in general and the tradition associated with it is all geographically based.. Not everywhere in the country has upland birds and not everywhere in the country has a huntable waterfowl population. people started hunting of necessity and they found a way to hunt whatever was available. This is an impossible question to answer. Additionally, someone made a comment that duck hunters are people with more money.. I think both are pretty damn expensive...good thing my wife doesnt know about my "other" credit card...
 
LoneRooster said:
I would believe hunting in general and the tradition associated with it is all geographically based.. Not everywhere in the country has upland birds and not everywhere in the country has a huntable waterfowl population. people started hunting of necessity and they found a way to hunt whatever was available. This is an impossible question to answer. Additionally, someone made a comment that duck hunters are people with more money.. I think both are pretty damn expensive...good thing my wife doesnt know about my "other" credit card...
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Lol good point
 
Since most early hunting on this continent has been subsistence based and sport hunting a relatively new development, I'm not sure this question has an easy answer.

Early on, anything that could go in the pot whether game as we know it today or non-game, waterfowl or upland was a fair target for the bow, the net or the gun, and I believe that is true worldwide.
 
antique hunting

besides the use of hawks etc. that seems to go back forever, i believe that early man actually trapped the quarry, i guess that is a means of hunting, on water fowl, large nets, tube type, and feed were used to ensnare waterfowl. this system goes back thousands of years. many primitive cultures show use of bird feathers and am guessing that most of them were acquired by hunting rather than just pickups. a really interesting example of methods and dates are the decoys of lovelock cave, these date to about 2160 years ago and were obviously used to lure at least canvasback and canada geese close enough so the could have been shot, trapped, clubbed or whatever. they were really an advanced decoy that would still work today and is a serious example of true hunting by people needing to eat

cheers
 
Gove County Britts said:
this is a question with no wrong answer it depends on a multitude of things and on how you grew up hunting if you grew up with pheasant than that clearly has more tradition its like deer camp in a sense
Click to expand...

"My" tradition is engulfed in upland hunting. It was the first type of hunting I did with my uncle and his shorthairs. Tried waterfowling for a few years, got a few wood ducks on the wall to satisfy my curiosity but just didn't provide the thrill of following a dog locking on point, and a rooster flushing! To me, chasing that elusive ringneck on Thanksgiving morning is the ultimate tradition!:thumbsup:
 
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