Hunting comandment
 

Hunting season is soon approaching and that brings to mind one of my fathers hunting commandments : THOU SHALL NOT GROUND SLUICE ROOSTER BIRDS...

...or any bird for that matter, except turkeys of course.

What does he means by that?

Wondered the same thing. Are hens fair game. How about geese?

Wait, you mean you aren't supposed to shoot them on the ground?

He probably means shoot them on the water so you can see your pattern

Anyone have a guess as to how the term "ground sluice" came about?

Isn't "sluice" a golfing term?

I would never sluice a bird on the ground.... I might break my stock:whistle:

Googling about for definitions of sluicing game birds produced this nice article on Montana grouse hunting:

http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/ar...m#.VcKNLzgpDZs

I was not going to weigh in on this but the more I thought about it I must. I have posted similar posts on the ground or tree swatting of grouse in the north country. The reason for my posts was to discourage such hunting tactics. But the more I think about this the more I am convinced that we should really think each to there own, and that the folks that want to hunt logging roads, here in northern New England which is my only base of judgment, should be allowed to hunt as they wish, as long as they are within the law. I know that in northern Maine, such practices are deeply rooted in the culture there, and that driving the hundreds of miles of logging roads in pursuit of a days limit of Grouse is perfectly acceptable. We should not be hunting snobs and dismiss these local acceptable tactics just because we do not think that is a “proper” way to shoot grouse. Who is to judge which is right????

Agreed Steve, and your interjection, "as long as they are within the law" is the crux of my argument against the very common practice of ground or tree swatting ruffed grouse. You know very well, as I do, that doing so from vehicles is, unfortunately, a common practice and this is why I will always speak out against "swatting" of any kind... because the folks who do it don't seem to think there is a difference. They believe that as long as they're bagging grouse, it doesn't make any difference how it is accomplished.

Grouse are a special bird. I think every bird I've seen taken, before it is slipped into the game bag, there is a quiet moment and a smoothing of the feathers

Yup, me too, and I am especially reverent of woodcock.

For over 40 years I have hunted the same trails in a designated 'State Ruffed Grouse Management Area'. I walk 6 to 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, with a 15-20 minute lunch break. I can repeat this process, for days on end, without so much as seeing a grouse. They are out there, indeed, but not always where I can see them. I hunt alone, without a dog, and rely on my sight and hearing to locate the birds. They certainly are a challenge! We have a large population of 'Road Warriors' here. I can honestly say that, MAYBE, twice per season I meet a hunter on foot, or on a small ORV (much to my chagrin!). My favorite was the mini van with the side door open and a 'shooter' watching the brush as they toodled by at a fast walking speed!

The ground swatters see grouse just as "meat". Grouse are deserving of so much more. I'm afraid I'll never be able to comprehend treating them so callously, traditions be damned.

Regarding the van guys - There is a special place in Hell for "Heater Hunters"

To some it is all about the '' get'' as in wad ya get. If you say 10 flushes 4 shots and 1bird they say to bad,better luck next time. Do not accept an invitation to hunt with them.Met a state trooper in Maine he was patrolling log road and asked how i was doing. Told me he got 15 first week of october. I asked if he had to get out of the cruiser for any of the shots.I guess thats why i have a hard time making new friends.

Ground sluicing partridge is common practice in northern Maine and Downeast. In the rest of the state one must wing shoot ruffed grouse, they are almost a different species given their extreme wariness. The ground sluicers aren't using classic doubles;-)

Are they not just birds, or are the mythical ? Some folks just plain like eating them. I happen to agree with the sentiment here that they do deserve respect, like all animals. But if folks just want them for the "pot" that's fine to.

Yes, to a lot of us they are somewhat mythical. Not so much that they "deserve more" but rather they, like all other game animals and game birds, deserve a sporting chance from whom we hope are good sports and gentlemen (and ladies). Maybe it's just about respect for the quarry. It rather surprises me that the oafs who ground swat them wouldn't just as soon toss them over the rail into the hog pen as to bother to prepare them for the dining table.

Sorry if I offended some folks' sensibilities with my humble opinion.

Readers of Spiller and Evans will only think one way, they make no bones about the impoverished souls who ground shoot.A$5000.00 gun to shoot 5 oz. of meat makes no sense.Those who spend $5000.00 for an ATV and $89.00 for a gun will not be dissuaded either.I only get what I seek for my own reasons.I pity those who get so little where so much is to be had.Yes they are mythical and magical too.

We are not really talking about birds. We are talking about ourselves and who and what we are.

But some folks, in northern Maine, struggle to make $15000 a year. The are shooting $200 shotguns and are happy with the meat they get. I think you, sir, are a snob and do not get it. You are a "sport" from "down below". Sorry.

Hey- Fight fair! No cheap shots about where somebody hails from.

Raising free range chickens is a lot cheaper too, so why waste time driving back roads ?

shooting birds on the ground that can fly is not for me. i have never done it and i hope i never will. i shoot all year long so i don't have to shoot a bird on foot or afloat (unless a cripple or a turkey). I have never been that hungry and birds chew better with less shot in them.:) scott

But Dean, if you struggle to put food on the table, as many folks in northern New England do, a bird in the pot is worth two in the bush. It is protein, pure and simple. I cringe at folks passing judgment on those less fortunate than us. I know wardens in Northern Maine that look the other way at certain families that poach a deer or moose because they truly need it as food for there families. Please do not judge them by our standards. Be dam the critter if it fills the belly of a hungry child.

I don't begrudge a destitute family the occasional deer or maybe a moose - in fact I support it and I would stand beside him if the law took him to task under those circumstances... but a wild native gamebird like a grouse or woodcock, not so much.

Now if he were more sporting about it and took nothing but head shots with a .22 it wouldn't bother me as much - but to drive back roads with a 12 gauge sticking out the window when he could more easily and cheaply have free-range chickens running around his place that he can kill any time... he needs to be charged for the crime and pay the penalty.

About the sporting practice of 'catch and release' Lee Wulff once said that "A salmon is much too valuable a gamefish to be caught only once." I have similar beliefs about our ruffed grouse - they are much too valuable a gamebird to be ground-swatted.

Perhaps we can shake and agree to disagree :cheers:

I understand in Scaled quail hunting, if a bird has one foot off the ground it is considered "in the air".
......that is hearsay for my part.
Any Texans?.....:corn:
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...V_OKSB6WjN9uHb

a bird is a bird is a bird no matter what the wrapper. We tend to let the flesh man come out thinking my hunting is the best and the hardest I'ts so easy to let everything become a contest.