When and where?????

First bird i had a chance to shoot was a quail in Indiana, i had a red ryder BB gun and a quail landed in a tree. My dad said shoot it, i said why dont you shoot, he responded it wasnt sporting. I said well if you wont shoot either will i. So i threw a rock to flush it, my dad missed. This was 1976, i was 8.

First wild bird i shoot was 1984 in Iowa, our first trip out west with the first britt we had since i 1978. We saw a farmer working on his corn cob elevator, we stopped and helped him fix it, well my dad help i fetched tools. After that we hunted their farm for nearly 15 years and always took them out to dinner during our trip. Alot of my buddies first bird experience was at that farm.......
 
First, awesome thread. Shot my first bob white with my dad up west of chanute Kansas with my first shotgun dad gave me (still have it) my oldest daughter is almost to get it and it kicks like a ninja. I was 9
 
It was 1990, I was in 5th grade. At Christmas my Uncle sold me a Stevens single shot 4-10 and case for $75. We were farmers and my dad didn’t hunt, so I went out alone. No one told me how to handle the gun, the hammer was to hard to cock so I just walked around with it pulled back. Our neighbors east of our house had some CRP, I walked the south side of a tree line when the rooster flushed, nailed him! I remember being so small I couldn’t reach back to put the bird in my vest so I had to take it off to get it in. I went straight home after shooting it. I remember that bird feeling so heavy! I’d like to see myself shoot a rooster with a single shot 4-10 today!!!😳
 
Not proud of this. In 1974 my dad got me out of the barn when I was 12, he said there is a rooster up our lane. So he told me to hop in our white 65 Chevy pickup with 410 volt action. It was still there so I shot it out the window. My dad never hunted but he did get me into hunting. After that I walked miles trying to hit one with the 410. I finally did after a year. My dad then bought me a 870.
My first bird(s) met a similar fate, probably '83 or '84, Northeast NE. That's how Dad grew up hunting, and that was my introduction to it. Other than a big group hunt on opening weekend, that was how my first few years of hunting went. Both of my Grandfathers put farms into the CRP program when it started, so we did do more walking then, but we never had a dog. After being pulled back into bird hunting these last three years, I often wonder what it would have been like in those early years of the CRP era, with a good dog or two.
 
You ground swatted it?! I think I'd personally prefer to forget that one especially if it was my first upland bird.

I don't remember the first upland bird I shot. It was a rooster pheasant somewhere in central MN I'm sure.
Well when you're 11 years old those sorts of things don't matter 😂 it was my first hunt walking with my dad, and first time hunting with my first shotgun. He pointed it out and said to shoot it. If I was in that position with an 11 year old, I would have them do the same thing. 20+ years later and I'm still hooked on bird hunting so he did something right 😂
 
Don't remember the exact year, but 1982ish and 10 or 11 years old. Had missed a few birds, and was a little frustrated. On a farm southwest of Wellington, IL. We were hunting a willow thicket that came to a point, and there was a small field of foxtail grass. I remember it so vividly. Big rooster got up just outside of the willow trees in the foxtail, and went straight up in the air. Shot it with my great grandpas 16 gauge model 12. Looked over at my dad to see if he shot to, and his smile was bigger than mine. Every time I drive by that spot, I look out to make sure those willow trees are still there. Shot many birds in that spot over the years. You wouldn't even know it's there, because there's nothing around it. My dad had a ton of spots like that. Sure do miss hunting with him. Thanks for the post, and taking me down memor lane.
 
My cousin slussed a hen for his first pheasant. A method that has not changed. We never shoot from inside a vehicle, or on a road.Thats not good.
 
I was 12 roadhunting as my dad really wasn't a hunter. Shot a rooster coming out of the ditch with my single shot .410. He was about 20 yards away and going up. I barely hit him , he flew about a 1/4 mile and killed himself hitting a powerline. No kidding.

Very interesting. When I was in high school, we were walking some corn and my dad was blocking. A rooster flushed and flew toward him. I watched as he raised his gun and then the bird dropped. Never heard the shot. Turns out the bird hit the powerline.
 
Very interesting. When I was in high school, we were walking some corn and my dad was blocking. A rooster flushed and flew toward him. I watched as he raised his gun and then the bird dropped. Never heard the shot. Turns out the bird hit the powerline.
Years ago I saw a hen hit a power line.
 
First bird I shot was near Basin City, WA. It was my first time out pheasant hunting my Dad didn't get me into it because the fall was for farming and we didn't have time. So at 25 a fellow teacher (like a second father to me) got me hooked. Unfortunately we never found that bird which was amazing because that guys dog probably only allowed less than 5 cripples to get away in its entire life. My first bird I harvested was near Othello, WA. The weather was crazy nasty with rain then snow and wind. WA bird numbers were really crappy, but man I had so much fun just being out and walking the open country.
 
First bird I shot was near Basin City, WA. It was my first time out pheasant hunting my Dad didn't get me into it because the fall was for farming and we didn't have time. So at 25 a fellow teacher (like a second father to me) got me hooked. Unfortunately we never found that bird which was amazing because that guys dog probably only allowed less than 5 cripples to get away in its entire life. My first bird I harvested was near Othello, WA. The weather was crazy nasty with rain then snow and wind. WA bird numbers were really crappy, but man I had so much fun just being out and walking the open country.
I hunted over by eurphrada one time
It wasn't good.
 
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