doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ground swatting.

A mentor of mine, some years ago, pretty much summed up this discussion for me.

"Air birds taste better!"

What we had in my family when I was growing up were two .410 single shots. When I graduated from being a paperboy to working in a service station, I saved my money and bought myself more firepower: a Savage OU 420 in 20ga. The OU part didn't stick, but 2 barrels and 2 triggers did. Rather than watching my dad shoot roosters out the window of the car, I preferred walking the road ditches and acting as both dog and gunner. Dad thought it was kind of odd, but I didn't grow up in the Depression like he did.

The other typical method of hunting pheasants in Iowa back then, mid-50's and going forward, was for a platoon or so of hunters to work the drive and block operation on corn that hadn't yet been combined. If they had a dog, it was probably a Lab with which they hunted ducks. If it didn't run too far ahead in the corn, it might have helped them. If it did chase birds as they ran down the rows . . . well then, the blockers at the far end got some shooting. Pheasants were also eventually chased into road ditches, where hunting was legal as long as you kept a safety distance from buildings inhabited by either people or animals.

It was not until Uncle Sam was kind enough to send me to Morocco for a couple years, where I hunted Barbary partridge with a group of hunters who were mostly other embassy staffers who had dogs. Some of which were pretty good. Coming home to finish grad school, I had a Brittany that was much better on quail than he was on pheasants. (He had little patience with birds that ran.) But he was a very good retriever. And if they didn't run, he would point them. I shot my first quail, ruffed grouse and woodcock over that dog. All without leaving Iowa. I really enjoyed hunting with pointing dogs, and have had a lot of them since then. I lucked into a few very good ones, but most were at least average, and certainly helped me and my buddies more than they hurt us. I mostly helped their development simply by taking them hunting a lot for a variety of birds.

Once I had dogs, I didn't do much ground swatting anymore and always remembered to tell new hunting partners not to shoot rabbits, for fear that a dog might have been in the way.

Even if birds aren't as plentiful as we'd like, it's a grand sport we have. And I've been fortunate enough to have successfully made some compromises that have allowed me to do a lot of it. And thanks to forums like this one, as well as books and magazines, I've learned a lot more about classic shotguns. And for more than 40 years, I wrote about the dogs, the birds, and the guns in a variety of magazines. Finally gave that up this year, figuring I'd done enough of it. I'll continue to share and learn in places like this.

Yup, you're a self appointed mayor, and prove who you are, again and again.

[quote=Kolar Dickson
Brent the narcissist and dog abuser.[/quote]

Any pictures of your 15 year old bird dog that you care to share? I have one that age, it is not easy for me or her. Brent's dog appears to be very well taken care of if not spoiled. Why must you promote this nonsense just because you disagree politically? It says volumes about you.

Absolutely!! That's what my neighbors call me, because I have lived in my area longer than anyone else. I'm glad we joke and have fun. I believe someone on here referred to it as "locker room talk". But Trump supporters (right wing nut jobs as John Boehner calls you) turn it around and whine, bellyache and cause controversy just like Trump does. You prove who YOU are. That's why we need to get rid of him. Dividing America is getting old and tiresome.

Who did you convince that a dozen mourning doves were causing damage to your property? Sounds like bs to me

Even if you don’t like Trump, no one who believes in freedom and liberty could possibly vote for any commiecrat. You’re a fool if you base your opinion of Trump on what the democrat propaganda media tells you and you don’t think the Commiecrats ever lie? You can spout this crap all you want, but we’re not as gullible as you apparently are. We know what your politics are and you expect us to believe you ever voted for a republican, well maybe Romney or Mcain. Maybe

Blah. Blah. You realize that you are ignoring me. Mr. 2% isn't going to like it that you are reading my posts and commenting about them. But, better luck next time trying to find out who I have voted for.

When it coms to mountain grouse, I am after my limit every time. There is nothing better than a Blue grouse, and that includes pheasant.

Huns, sharptails and other birds are not as important and no limit and somethimes no bird is OK, but mountain grouse is another story.

What people don't realize is the winter mortality on birds is so great, very little does hunting affect the population...