Upland Hunting, Bird Dog and Shotgun BS Thread

I picked one up this Spring through the CZ Military(Ret.) program. Mainly for clays it is just a bit heavy for a 16 ga. well if you're my age LOL. I did take it out hunting this fall a few times and shot at 3 grouse with it, and harvested all 3.

They are fixed choke bbls. which is fine by me anymore, IC & Mod and mine are well regulated.

Won a new old stock 12 ga. Benelli Cordoba 30" on Gunbroker that should be at my FFL dealers now, Merry Christmas to me. Always shot the Benelli Super Sport 30" well at clays ever since they came out. And wanted the Cordoba for a long time, not that I need another gun. Especially a black, soulless, heartless gun but the safe is full of blued steel and wood.

 

Nice screen name too

 

Thanks for compliments! Most people don't get it... Below is my beloved Grulla and a picture of "Klaus" when he was just a little guy two summers ago...

 

Here’s my two girls, mom(Bella) on the left and her pup Zoey on the right

 

Those look like two high speed devils at tracking and pointing birds!

 

Pulled the dove back out of the freezer for the first time in a couple months... She hadn't completely forgotten everything but I'm glad September is still several months away haha
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-2Qq_3jEXp/?igshid=1keoydiqtbb7w

 

Locked in on some Robbins in the front yard this morning! Happy Easter Everyone!

 

Here’s my boy Stanley (8 mo), he thinks I should stop splitting wood and play with him instead.

 

Emmie turned 10 on Thursday. I'm taking her to the North Maine Woods for a few days as a present.

 

Birdie doing a little air drying (fetch) after a hose bath because she got in the pond

 

So birdie is in her first heat... Next time I'm wanting to get her with my old boss's gwp and have some double doodle pointer puppies... Any input from people with greater knowledge on this subject? I know poodle pointers are a good established bread but am I trying to get too much of a good thing here?

 

So I need some help....I'm headed out to Wyoming in mid September to fly fish and bird hunt my way back to Virginia. I'm taking about a month to do this and will be concentrating on Wyoming and Montana for sharptails and huns, then heading east to Minnesota and then the UP of Michigan for ruffed grouse and woodcock. It's all going to be public land hunts and dispersed camping, just me and my dog. I've never hunted prairie birds before so looking to get some pointers and tips on locating them as I know I'll be a little overwhelmed by the vastness of the land. I'm a lifelong ruffed grouse hunter so have no worries about locating ruffs in northeastern MN and MI.

Any help would be much appreciated from those of you who chase sharptails and huns!

 

My dogs are worthless for hunting, by choice! One of them tries and the other is only good for holding down the Earth's crust.
......as with boats, I like my friends to have bird dogs. Pheasnts are my thing.

 

Is that a Ruger Red Label? If so, what gauge?

 

20g, my only 'fancy pants' rifle

 

Finally broke down and got a FAIR Iside in 16 ga. so now have another grouse gun this fall. Double triggers, straight stock, splinter, extractors SxS. Wish it had ejectors for hunting though. Shot skeet with it Sunday and kick myself for not getting it sooner.

2 years ago at the Sweet 16 Shoot shot a friends Iside on a couple of the Sporting Clays stations and shot it really well. Out of 5 of us that shoot SxS guns for SC and hang out together I am the last to finally get an Iside, most of the others were custom ordered. And I shoot them all well. Finally one of my friends said you know you have never missed a bird with one of the Iside's why the hell would you want a gun like that?! So now I will start missing LOL. In the shop now getting a recoil pad and auto safety removed.

Sharpies and Huns are incidental birds for me while pheasant hunting so I am not an expert. But IMO they will hold in much shorter grass than any self respecting ringneck would ever consider. After the first 2 weeks they flush pretty wild and far out, full and extra full are not overkill in my experience. But especially with Sharpies there is often one bird that will hold just a little longer than the others and late to flush. As soon as they flush I haul ass for where they flushed from.

Like most birds they are active in the mornings and especially evenings when they feed. Creek bottoms, trees, fence rows any edges where they might feed. Loafing in the day they can be anywhere and burning boot leather is about the only constant I can come up with.

About NE Mn. and grouse, that is where I have hunted them for the last 20 years. This will be my 48th season chasing ruff, all around the Country where ever I have been stationed or lived. NE Mn. is not the best spot in the State for grouse North Central Mn. is much better as far as numbers go. Just saying... But I have a lot of friends that live on the North Shore and gotten to know a few more over the years.

Not sure about where you have hunted grouse in the past but Mn. and UP are different than much of the rest of the Country hunting ruffs. Mile after mile of what looks like prime grouse habit. They can actually be hard to find here and took me a few years to figure out things in the Boreal forest. Will say that Aspen cuts of the proper age are a good starting point. Doesn't mean they will be in the stand but they will be nearby. Usually. Once the broods break up they will disperse anywhere en route to their new "home".

Rumor has it that the birds numbers are looking really good in Mn. this year. Wait, there are no birds in Mn. They are all down in Wi. and so numerous that they will impale themselves on your trucks radio antenna! No birds here....

I posted this in 2013 on Upland Journal in reply to someone that had come to Mn. to hunt for the first time. He struggled to find birds, because it all looked the same to him. An aspen stand is equivalent to a covert in much of the rest of the Country IME.

(my reply to him)
If you live where I think you do Pa. SGL 219 South of Owego has everything Scratch mentioned and not too far from you. And I will throw in besides the old apple orchard wild grape vines. And raise you an ancient stone fence running through the middle of it covered in lichen, pulled a lot of grouse out of there over the years.

When I hunted in Western NC the first time I saw some cover I could not tell you the names of the vegetation. But when I saw the cover on the left with edge that was perfect I knew there was a grouse in there. And harvested him. In Washington State in the foothills of the Olympics I saw a small hardwood patch in a creek bottom that looked familiar and knew there was grouse in there. And put up half a dozen grouse. In SE Mn. the first grouse I shot I saw a pine tree and a couple smaller ones across a ravine on the top of a bluff. I spent 40 minutes walking around the bluff to cross the bluff and when I got up there shot my first grouse in Mn. All the hunting I did in the Southern Tier growing up hunting them in the 70's helped me learn where grouse hold and live.

To the North of Mn. where you were you hunting last year it is a bit more difficult for me. There are many miles of perfect cover as you mentioned. But that isn't such a bad thing. Last year I was in the North Shore to the East of you before and after you were out here. Not as many grouse in the North Shore but the terrain and wildlife make up for it, at least to me.

 

If you ever decide to sell, I’d likely be interested. I have one in 28g since I mostly hunt quail, but a brother in 20g for pheasant trips would be nice.

 

I had the same thought. Funny how recognizable certain iconic firearms are.

I would love to get a Red Label from the late 80s/early 90s.

For now, I guess my Citori will have to do.

 

they are out there used but going for more than new (!)