Upland Hunting - General
- Thread starter Highlander
- Start date
Highlander
The Good Shepherd
The seasons are opening in many states.
What are you guys up to? are you ready?
What are you guys up to? are you ready?
Got into a few blue grouse and sharptail. One blue in the bag and I've missed a couple sharptail. Got a week of vacation this week and I'm going to spend a few days hunting sage grouse. Then maybe move onto huns and chukar.
One of my dogs fought a barbed wire fence and lost. She'll get the staples removed this week
One of my dogs fought a barbed wire fence and lost. She'll get the staples removed this week
Got out yesterday in the sea of sage and had an amazing day. Found 20-30 sage grouse and limited off of points from my older brittanys. The pup found, flushed, and chased about 6-7 birds but hes only 5 months old so I'm just letting him have at.
Turns out a 28ga is plenty of gun for the 747 of the upland world..
Turns out a 28ga is plenty of gun for the 747 of the upland world..
plh
Explorer
Sparse Gray Hackle
Adventurer
Depending on what you hunt, where you hunt, consider a smaller gauge, lighter shotgun. Caveat... you can go too light and find that you have a bruised shoulder.
My personal favorites are 20 gauge double barrel shotguns (O/U & SxS) that weigh around 6 pounds. I can miss birds with two shots just as easily as with three. For pheasants, on easier terrain, I will carry a 12 gauge O/U that weighs about 7.5 pounds. With both gauges, I am almost always choked improved cylinder on the first barrel, and modified on the second. Late season hunting might see me use a tighter choke. For a pump or semi automatic, consider using modified choke.
Local chapters of Pheasants/Quail/Grouse Forever are good places to meet like minded hunters, and some states divisions of wildlife offer special hunts for new hunters. A Group like NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Assoc) is an excellent place to learn about training dogs for upland hunting, as well as meet people who enjoy bird hunting. Caveat, versatile dogs are addictive.
Give your local fish and wildlife department a call and ask them for nearby areas to hunt.
I hope that helps.
SGH
Tex68w
Beach Bum
I saw one of those Aspire's at the LGS today, it's a nice gun for sure. F.A.I.R. makes a nice entry level double trigger SxS as well called the Iside, it's very similar to the CZ offerings but a with a little nicer finish out. I believe the name stands for Fabrica Arms Isodoro Rizzini, obviously another Rizzini family member. It appears they make some very nicely outfitted guns as well. Have you taken anything with yours yet?
This is great advice and very similar to what I would have responded with. If I could only have one gauge shotgun it would most certainly be the 20ga, it's just so versatile. That said, if you have a 12ga already then by all means get out there and use it. I too like to keep my doubles around the six pound mark. Light enough to carry all day in the field but still with enough weight and balance to keep the swing fluid and in line. The 12 gauges only come out these days for clays, early season/opener on dove, waterfowl and wild pheasants and I am looking into picking up a 20ga waterfowl gun for next year too. You can never go wrong with IC/Mod for your chokes on a double and like @Sparse Gray Hackle said, Modified in an auto can get just about anything done.
Look into local dog clubs as well as those "XXXX Forever" chapters in your area and get out and get involved, they are always welcoming to new comers. Sadly this is a dying sect of bird hunting and we need anyone we can to get on board and start helping with conservation work so that this Sport of Kings can continue on for many generations to come. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns or if you should find yourself in south Texas and looking to hunt.
Sparse Gray Hackle
Adventurer
The new Fabarm Autumn 20 looks like a nice SxS, but pricier than I want to go. I’m shooting a Classic Doubles 201, which I believe may be an exact replica of the Winchester Model 23, and also made in Japan. One in very nice condition about $2500, so a bit more than half the price of the Fabarm. My only complaint if there is one, is it’s fixed choke (IC/Mod). Lovely wood, and a great English stock.