Today, some shooters consider the shooting of a game bird on the ground a shameful act. Likely an uneducated throwback to the late 1800's. For today's hunters who walk 5+ miles looking for a grouse and who traverse every type of brush, tag alder, black berry brush, etc...while ready to take aim, it is a very different experience. These hunters may get a shot or may not during the entire hunt. If birds are flushed, they almost never flush into the open where a shot is afforded, rather they flush towards the thickest, nastiness and are usually out of sight before a hunter can lift his/her shotgun.
Don't disparage a real hunter who puts in sweat equity to earn a single chance at bringing home a grouse.
We'll just have to agree to disagree on what caliber of person makes a "real" hunter. I have often walked similar 5+ miles and while I had seen several grouse on said walk, I never pulled the trigger, and still felt good about it. And at least for me, if I find that my sweat equity isn't yielding enough back on my investment, perhaps a part time job would alleviate the burden and provide some funds for dinner too. At least more than a Pa'tridge's worth.
Also, why not suggest to said hunter, why not just drive? If they need meat in their freezer that badly, why not take advantage of all the advantages road hunting has to offer?
For the record, I don't need to eat what I hunt. I eat it because it is tasty, and the right thing to do if I killed it for sport. I hunt for the sport of it and respect my prey., If you can tease it out from above, I have little respect for the meat hunter's position. We haven't lived in a hunter gatherer society in quite some time now.
