The fly fishing thread begs another question, as bird hunting and pipes just seem to go together too. So: how many of the brethren are bird hunters? Gauges, guns? Autos, pumps or doubles? What birds, how, where, why? Me, I'm a side-by-side shooter and a desciple of the Queen of the Uplands, the 16 gauge. My go-to shotgun is a Fox Sterlingworth, c. 1935, 28" barrels, choked IM and full. I hunt the high plains of western Kansas, mostly for pheasants and quail. You?

Love upland gunning. Saw my favorite game bird at twilight this morning migrating north, the American woodcock or as we say Timberdoodle up here. Open choked 20 gauge fox sterlingworth, or my favorite 28 gauge Citori English stock o/u. Gotta wait until October which is a long way off. So for now the focus is on fishin' soon as the ice clears.
Doc

Pheasants used to be plentiful in my area and we enjoyed hunting them, but with the massive decline in farming, the habitat just won't support a good population. Now we just watch the few we see fly away and remember the good old days. Partridge (ruffed grouse) hunting has always been a favorite of mine. With a lot of regrowth areas bordering old hardwoods due to the logging they thrive, although they seem to cycle somewhat.

Hoth, I mean Bowman (cough), is a international destination for fezzunt shooters.

When driving around here it isn't uncommon to have to slow down or even stop to keep from driving through a flock of the critters boiling out of the brush on the shoulder. The biggest group I've seen so far was easily several hundred.

The funny part? I used to be an avid upland hunter, but stopped a while back. Now I just watch 'em.

Upland bird hunting has always been my favorite type hunting. Quail up until the early 80s then the populations declined to almost nothing here in north GA. Then I took up grouse hunting in the mountains about an hour away and used to take a trip to Iowa, Nebraska for pheasants, quail etc. or combined bird hunting with a big game trip to eastern Montana. A stroke about 5 years ago stopped my grouse hunting and long walks, but now can hunt some on fairly level terrain.

For shooting I use a Winchester O/U Featherweight 20 or a CZ Grouse 28 in the eastern US but have a Benelli M1 in 12 for western shooting.

For dogs, I've had a Brittany, 2 English setters, a pointing lab, and now have a Griff (which I wish I had a long time ago... great dog!)

Jim....whose brother hit a pheasant just north of Bowman while going about 80 mph at dusk. Didn't break the windshield but did break up my nap.

I don't do as much bird shooting as I once did, mainly due to work pressures at the moment. I have an old Alex Martin side-by-side & love it.

I think ducks are birds, so I guess I'm a bird hunter. I get to hunt 85 -90 days a year. I hunt in SD, WI, MN, IA, IL, MO, MS and LA. It's really a sickness.


Rodney

Pheasants and ruffed grouse are great but I have a passion for waterfowl. I hunt as many days as I'm able and have been from Manitoba to Arkansas. I love the history of duck hunting the most and my favorite days are spent in the blind with my best hunting buddy and our Fox 12 bores over his hand carved wooden blocks.

I don't hunt pheasants,but i do enjoy grouse and turkey hunting.

I don't get to do enough bird hunting, weather or other things interfere. We share the house with a pair of Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. Last year went to a game area for the "retrieve only" period. No guns, just a dog. The dog found us two birds, a wood duck and a hen mallard. The mallard was under the grass trying to escape and the dogs kept scratching. Both of us walked right past the bird, the scent didn't escape the nose of the dog. I plan to do more duck hunting this fall and more grouse hunting.

Stinger

I used to enjoy hunting birds, but vowed to give it up on the day I got married.

7 and a half out of 10. Definitely a good pun, but puns can only go so far ya know.