Your Favorite Gamebird

[Rich Anderson]

As the winter dolldrums decend upon us and we are left only with the recollections of the past season and the ocasional story by Hill, Ford, Babcock etc I pose the question of What is your favorite game bird? Mine is Mr. Bobwhite, I like the heart stopping covey explosion, the staunch dog and a slim and quick small bore Parker. I have had the priveldge of hunting truly wild Quail as a kid when there was a season here in Michigan. I have hunted them in the heart of Dixie from a Mule drawn wagon also. Only preseve birds here now but with a 28 or 410 they are still sporty advasaries.

[scott kittredge]

duck as a game bird, but crow is the best!! :)

[Jeff Kuss]

Pheasant is number one, with jump shooting mallards on ditches a close second.

[Dean Romig]

I'll let you guess.....

Maybe look to the left at my avatar photo....?

[Eric Grims]

65 miles per hour should put this puppy in the running

[chris dawe]

Even though I'm from a place where Ptarmigan is king,the ruff has my heart.....and to think ,to my knowledge I'm the only one up here who hunt's them over a dog...and with a Parker:cool:

[Russ Jackson]

I have to side with Dean on this one ! How can you beat a day out walking the soft loamy earth of the low lands and crabapple thickets where this little fella resides ! When the flights are in thirty , forty maybe more points on a good morning and always fast shooting at a wild game bird with a small bore Parker ,Wonderful !!

[King Brown]

Ruffed Grouse. A double, flying left and right, enough to last me rest of my life. Common among blacks and whistlers, in second and third place.

[Bill Bates]

Above all else I think of myself a ruffed grouse hunter. Someday I would love to stumble into a Parker really suitable for the task, one I can afford. Here in Utah we have another month to chase chukars but that is a sport for young billy goats. The dog wants to go for a run so I may give them a go before the season ends.

http://www.pbase.com/slowpokebill/image/130138878.jpg

[John R. Richards]

Whatever is in season!!!!Down in the Southeast...Dove in September, then Quail, Grouse, Woodcock, and Pheasants in October. But don't forget, Ducks in November and Turkeys in the Spring. A bird dog and the will to get out and after all of these gamebirds keeps me going. They are all my favorites and as I have gotten older, they are all great sport and create memories that I only wish could be passed on to the grandsons. No, we don't have Pheasants in the Southeast, but South Dakota has plenty...

[Jack Cronkhite]

That has changed over the years. As a kid it was anything that presented an opportunity. As I grew older and taste buds refined and a young wife and then young kids added their taste buds to the mix, I found myself in a minority position. I ate it all and they wanted nothing to do with it. I started finding myself with far more birds (and big game) to eat than I could handle. I have not been one to give away game, always lived by if I shoot it I (or the family) eat it. These are the birds I have taken over the years: Ruffies, spruce grouse, blue grouse, sharptail grouse, sage grouse, huns, ptarmigan (rock and willow), ducks and geese. For the most part, upland birds were a by-product of hunting big game. As a kid, I always enjoyed working with Dad as a blocker or pusher when he would go for pheasant. The rooster became my favorite game bird. I have not had the opportunity to take dove, woodcock, chukar, quail or turkey - haven't even seen quail or woodcock.

Over the years, I gravitated more and more to the wily rooster, as these birds were palatable for others in the family and always made for a fun day afield (although they all make for that). So for me, wild pheasant are the favorite, especially an unexpected under your feet flush of a big old long tailed rooster.

No matter the bird, it's the time with friends and bird dogs that keep us looking forward to another season, even as the current one has or is soon to end.

Cheers,
Jack

My first rooster taken on the wing with Dad's Savage 755A (1965). Taxidermy by Dad.
http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/cpg1410/albums/userpics/normal_HPIM6702isolated.JPG

[Fred Preston]

Different birds, different techniques, most with dogs, all with Parkers.

[Mike Shepherd]

Bobwhite, hunted with my VH 16 gauge OFrame, my Frenchy Brittanys, and my shooting student / birdboy Joe Wood.



Mike

[Dave Suponski]

That would have to be Mr. Pa,tridge although I must admit I feel blessed when the good Lord allows me a woodcock or two.

[Mike McKinney]

I love the grouse, the old timers refer to them as "mountain pheasants", with a good dog, my preference is a brittany. I only get a chance to hunt woodcock on my treks to the UP, but that's hard to beat as well.

[Joe Kuhn]

Pheasants followed by Mr Ruff Grouse

[Chuck Heald]

Without a doubt, quail for me. I've hunted 4 wild varieties and one other pen raised. The wild quail are da kin'. They seem to be the most challenging bird to shoot on the wing. At least the wild valley quail around here.

[Dean Romig]

A few more thoughts on woodcock.


.

[Dave Suponski]

Nice Dean, I know what Danny would vote for!

[Armond Fish]

I have not hunted for years but my favorite was always Ruffed Grouse.

[Paul Ehlers]

Although I spend more days afield every year chasing the gaudy import from China. My favorite game bird by far is the Hungarian Partridge.

There's nothing like following my French brit's on the steppes of the North American west. Then having the boy's lock down a covey of hun's and having them explode in that pissed off covey rise as only Hun's can do.

Having a Parker repro. 28ga in your hands is simply icing on the cake.

[Fred Lowe]

The answer for me is similar to visit to Baskin Robbins with the kids... all great choices, none bad.

The last few seasons though, I would say the Mearns quail. With a covey of 8-12 birds that hold like no other, and literally explode unseen at your feet as you walk in, like bees from a nest, dodging and darting for the typically tight cover. Living in a land of knee high golden grasses and rolling hills of oaks. Beautiful, and unexpected, on the northern border of Old Mexico. It's close and fast....and heartstopping!

January and Februarys at 60 degrees are a treat after the cold northern snows for both the hunter and the dogs!

[Trigg Davis]

Ruffed Grouse with hopefully occasional woodcock. Huns are also greatly appreciated.

[Tim Earney]

Grouse with a 16 Parker over a classy English Setter! it doesn't get any better.

[charlie cleveland]

a eastern turkey in full strut with the old 8 ga parker in hand at 35 yards.... charlie

[calvin humburg]

I would have to agree with Richard ol' gentleman bob the flush of a cubby and then chasing singles. And yes there an't no bad icecream. shurbert isn't icecream right ch

[Francis Morin]

Guess I am the only die-hard Canada goose hunter to post here (so far)--To me, and the way I prefer to hunt, waiting for a shot (or two) at a big ol' Canada is- deer hunting, steelhead fishing, all the senses keen for the sound of approaching big birds- mallards and some divers of course, but Canada is king for me--

Surprised that no one (again, so far) has mentioned The Dove- the last bird hunt my gunning hero- the late T. Nash Buckingham, had afield was for the dove- no open season here in The Great Lake State (sadly)--I have shot doves in some of the Southern States in past years, not much on quails however-

All are good- best on the table, IMO- roasted wild pheasant with bacon and bread crumble stuffing, and a heavy sauce of crushed cranberries and diced onions covering the bird(s) for the last 15 minutes under the Reynolds Wrap tent (to seal in the moisture)-- wild rice with mushrooms, buttered asparagus spears, tossed Caesar salad sans anchoives, a fine Chardonnay or Piesporter or Pinot Gringo- the choice is yours, and of course, Parker House Rolls- Bon Apetit!!:bigbye:

[Mark Landskov]

My passion is hunting the Ruffed Grouse. I have seen a scant handful of Woodcocks, also. Aside from the 3 or 4 Spruce Grouse I have taken over the past 35 years, the Ruffies are all we have for gamebirds in my neck o' the woods. No complaints, though.

[Steve Selvig]

I'm suprised no one has nominated the wonderful prairie grouse, Sharptails and Chickens. The hunter gets to walk his legs off, watching some beautiful dog work amid the best country a man could find. The flushes are either off the Setter's nose at ten yards or extra full ranges (or more). Should you carry the 30" full and fuller or the 26" cut-barrel cyl/cyl? Twelve or twenty? 7's or 5's? Trust me, whatever your choice, you shoulda' brought the other one. You are more likely to bump a new covey than find singles after the flush. The good news, seasons are early and the weather is usually delightful, crisp with a little frost to hold scent for the dogs in the morning. By afternoon you hunt from windmill to windmill, not because of where the birds might be but to cool off the dogs.

On the table, the best!

Steve

"A man has to believe in something. I believe I'll go hunting today!"

[Jack Cronkhite]

Steve: If the Member info is correct and this is indeed your first post - well, that's a fine first post. Welcome.

I believe I believe what you believe. I can go hunting every day now, just that 9 months of the year it has to be with a Canon, not a cannon but the other three months the old smooth bores have their season. The dogs are lucky. Their noses follow scents every day.

Richard: Thanks for starting this thread. Great responses so far.

Cheers,
Jack

[charlie cleveland]

this is really a good thread im really enjoying this....thanks to old and reliable ..... charlie

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Canvasback

If you haven't hunted them with the wind howling, the whitecaps rolling, and ice making on the decoys, you've not lived.

[Fred Lowe]

Favorite does in my case pertain to what is locally available currently.

I have very fond memories of looking skyward as a flock of Blacks circle warily to a chuckle then make for the decoys in Mississquoi Bay, or Canadas doing "card tricks" into a farm pond after sailing over fields of decoys, or hearing branches snapping as Wood ducks come through the trees heading back into the marsh during the evening flight, or when I got my first pointing dog, a Drathaar, and getting 10 points in 5 minutes on woodcock in a quaggy section of Vermont woods that I had always previously raced past heading to a bottom that I knew always had wild grapes and held some cagey "patridge".

Favorite is a very tough choice!

[Bruce Day]

Native prairie grouse on the northern plains. Sharptails and prairie chickens. These were the birds before the Chinese ringneck pheasants, Hungarian partridge and Asian chukkar. Hunters would come out from the east on the trains, get picked up at the little country stations by farmers and ranchers on their buckboard wagons. They would stay with the farm family and be driven over the prairies, shooting from the wagons or dismounting when birds were found.

Grouse cannot be pen raised and do not tolerant civilization well, except they will fly into alfalfa fields.

Prairie grouse are engraved on the bottom of the G grade Parkers.

Some folks don't like the plains, too much wind, sky and horizon. I'll take it. There are a couple of us below. I'm 64, Charlie is 70. I think we'll keep doing this for a while.

[scott kittredge]

Canvasback

If you haven't hunted them with the wind howling, the whitecaps rolling, and ice making on the decoys, you've not lived.

that is one duck i have on top of my to kill list with redhead next :corn: scott

[Rich Anderson]

Charllie are you saying i'm old:nono:...and reliable?:shock:

[Les Van Drie]

Ruffed grouse and woodcock with my brittany and Parker. Geese with my 10 bore. Destry, I have a w&c scott bogardus gun club 10 bore that would work good on the canvasbacks!

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Les,

I've got one too, we should get together and shoot them sometime.

Destry

[charlie cleveland]

ive got a fa loomis that would work good on them canvas back a red head and the black duck...the three ducks are scarce in my neck of the woods...... charlie

[Les Van Drie]

Destry, I read on a thread somewhere that you had one.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I've actually got a 10 and a 16 in the same model. I've seen a 20 and a couple 12 gauges too, would be fun to have the whole set. Have had the 10 out for geese and it works fine, the 16 has yet to see action.

Destry

[Steve Kleist]

Destry,
I am with you. A flock of "Cans" heading into your decoys is by far the most exciting moment and memory of the outdoors. Redheads and scaup are close behind.
Steve Kleist Ely, MN

[Peter Clark]

The drake pintail for his beauty, his performance on the dinner table when roasted quickly at high temperature and his excruciatingly slow and wary approach to decoys on a bluebird day when you are alone and there are no distant shots to flare him.

[Garrett Begovich]

During a slow day in elk camp I like to unwind by taking a walk along some paths/trails and bag a few grouse, either ruffed or blue, it doesn't matter to me. Just so long as I have my Parker I'm happy.