Upland birds

[woodsdog2]

Everyone laughs whenever I say I'm going snipe or frog hunting but they both have legit seasons here in NY.

 

[10essee]

We used to hunt them in the mountains of East Tennessee when I was a kid. Don’t startle when they flush or that opportunity is gone. I dont live there any longer but I never hear my brothers talk about hearing them drum in turkey season anymore or flush them along the creeks like we used to. Sad actually. We would pin their tails open like a turkey fan when we would finally get one. Simpler times gone by

 

[CZMark]

Wouldnt they be considered a lowland bird? Them and woodcock esp.

We always flushed woodcock out of the same places we found grouse.

 

[BTaylor]

We always flushed woodcock out of the same places we found grouse.

That's interesting. When they get down here I only seem to find them around damp sloughs in the river bottoms. I dont think of that as grouse type cover based on the very few shows I have seen where they were hunting grouse.

 

[CZMark]

That's interesting. When they get down here I only seem to find them around damp sloughs in the river bottoms. I dont think of that as grouse type cover based on the very few shows I have seen where they were hunting grouse.

A lot of the woods where I hunt grouse are interspersed with 5-200 acre marshes.

We also only see the woodcock for a brief period when they migrate through, once the weather turns cold they're gone.

 

[Nutterbuster]

NY actually has a season for snipe, rails and gallinules.... they're all shorebirds I believe and although you have to use non toxic shot you do not need the Federal Migratory Bird Stamp for them. All under the auspices of migratory game birds. Woodcock and Crows too but you do not need to use non-toxic shot nor the fed duck stamp either. HIP Registration is required for all except Crow.

Gallinule are fun to hunt, especially from a canoe with a single shot. Take turns shooting and paddling.

My buddy is getting a purple he shot last year mounted. I filmed that hunt and it's one of my favorite pieces of footage.

 

[woodsdog2]

Gallinule are fun to hunt, especially from a canoe with a single shot. Take turns shooting and paddling.

My buddy is getting a purple he shot last year mounted. I filmed that hunt and it's one of my favorite pieces of footage.

That was cool! Never hunted them before. I always wondered about it. You have any snipe and rail vids???? My only thought is, the vernacular for a relatively easy target should change to “like Gallinules in a barrel.” Did he mount the Golden Snitch?

 

[Nutterbuster]

That was cool! Never hunted them before. I always wondered about it. You have any snipe and rail vids???? My only thought is, the vernacular for a relatively easy target should change to “like Gallinules in a barrel.” Did he mount the Golden Snitch?

He did. Waiting to get it back.

We have shot snipe and rail, but don't have it on film.

Snipe are hard to find here locally since most public land isn't ideal habitat. Based on a trip to Mississippi, ideal habitat is a cow pasture or ag field with an inch of sheet water over half of it.

Rail are easier to find, but I'm a little hesitant to shoot them because their are a few lookalikes and I'm not ready to violate the Migratory Bird Treaty.

 

[kbetts]

We don't have much in the way of quail or pheasants here anymore. Woodcocks migrate across the bay every year. I'm planning to give them a go for the first time this year.
Being a waterfowl guy, I couldn't resist the urge to get another retriever. You only get so many in a lifetime. My Chesapeake, Pepper just turned 4 months. Although more of a flusher, I've been able to observe her on point a handful of times. Here she is on a dove in the yard. My first female, she has been the easiest to train by far.

 

[Iron_llama]

I've got a few grouse. Good eating. Fist one I headshot with a .357 because it was there and the deer weren't.

We used to go into the BWCA for a "cast & blast". Fish between the portages and shoot grouse on them. Mostly a social event but the shore lunch was a nice bonus. I don't have a dog so I ground-shoot them (legal in MN) with a .22, but I'd have used a .410 if I had one then. Now I have my FIL's .22/.410 Savage 24 which is perfect for grouse.

I used to hunt quail in AZ. I learned I'm a lousy wingshooter and even worse at finding birds I've shot in flight (again, no dog). I found it most productive to shoot the sentinel birds off the branches they perched on.

If you've got an upland hunting buddy invest in a couple of boxes of clay pigeons, or get one of those mini throwers that launch Ritz crackers. Wingshooting is hard.