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Pheasant Hunting
- Thread starter hermes2069
- Start date
Unsportsmans like in most peoples opinions.
And I think it might have also been mentioned before, but flushing a bird out from someones dog on point is most definitely not OK. Doesn't matter if they're 10 yards away or 200 yards away that's never OK.
In this particular case, there was really only one way to go. On the left there was a rock wall, on the right dense brush and it funneled down to about 20 feet wide. Im not just going to stop and wait for the dogs owner to finish his convo, and Im not going to go back to my car so just kept on walking down the path. I'll keep the whole bird on the ground thing in my mind though.
If the owners are 200 yards away and Im walking on a path and a dog is on point what am I supposed to do? Maybe the owner should be a little closer the dog. In the field different story because I have options to keep a wide birth around the dog.
![[rolleyes]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/042.gif "Roll Eyes [rolleyes]")
boilermaker
NES Member
They didn't cover that in your hunter's ed class? They mentioned it at least 20 times in mine.
kengog
NES Member
Thanks for being cautious when shooting over the dogs.
boilermaker
NES Member
What about shooting ducks on the water? I heard that one about 10 times.
They mentioned ducks on water in mine.....but specifically said it is not illegal.....just considered unsportsmanlike. Never mentioned ground shooting pheasants at all. As far as I know there is no law against ground shooting a pheasant........I just worry about myself when I'm out there.......the fun for me is hitting flying pheasant not ground swatting one so I wait till they fly. However the guy that mentioned not ground shooting a pheasant due to ricochet really needs to sit and think about that statement for a minute......cuz rabbit and squirrel are open right now in 10-14 zones.......and unless I can get a hunting dog to catch the ****ing thing and whip it up in the air for me its gonna be kinda hard to bag a rabbit! And my son whacked a nice squirrel this morning and it was on the ground when he hit it........I'm gonna say it was a safe shot!
I've heard about not shooting into water due to ricochet, but not because of ethical reasons. Ground shooting pheasants was never mentioned once. And we did go over fair chase and ethics a little bit so I feel like one of the instructors would have said something.
As "the guy" i must say you've given me something to think about! I've never hunted those... Just remember my first firearm safety training around never shooing at the ground. But I guess you have to when rabbit or squirrel hunting...
71montess
NES Member
Ya, new guy that's been hunting birds since a teen. Think about it. You old guy
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If you just stay aware of your surroundings (no trails or houses or roads in the direction you plan to shoot).......and check for orange before you take a shot then even on the ground when hunting rabbits and squirrels etc... that is safe IMO.
One of the reasons even in zones 1-9 I use a shotgun for squirrel even though you can use a rifle out there is because I personally don't feel comfortable launching a 22lr up into a tree when there are houses roads and buildings in the area surrounding the land I hunt. I know the chances of hitting a person are nill to none but all I can picture is an anti hunter hearing the crack of a 22lr and then even hearing a ricocheting 22lr bullet (those are actually very load and menacing sounding when they ricochet) and making a stink about it and we don't need that.......with a 22lr I'd only be comfortable shooting squirrels on the ground or lower in the tree.......and that limits the number of shots I'd feel comfortable taking when a 20G shotgun with a full choke and high brass loads has the range to knock a squirrel out of just about any oak tree in this area I find no need to use a 22lr. But......everyone has opinions as some like the 22lr with scope for as part of the experience. For me schwacking em with a shotgun is fun enough.
But as for the original topic of shooting toward the ground with a shotgun for pheasant......there me be other reasons in some guys opinions why you shouldn't but safety is not one of them.
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I feel its all about sportsmanship. Do you really need to kill pheasants that bad? Shooting them on the ground is just killing not hunting. They are pen raised birds. As for shooting birds off someone pointing dog, that is wrong. Good way to get a black eye when you do it to the wrong guy. People put a lot of time and money into THEIR dogs. Also people don't like unknown or inexperience people shooting over their dogs. Clearly from your posts about ground shooting at a packed WMA all hunters are not thinking about safty. As for the rabit hunting theory. I have never seen a WMA packed with hunters to rabbit hunt. Pheasant season is a different situation.
Very good way to sum it up. I hate it when i'm working a piece of cover and I see someone with no dog waiting at the edge to see if my dog puts anything up. In that case I call the dog back and move on to circle back later.
Really? Last year on opening day I ran into a pair of nice guys that had bagged 4 cock pheasant and 3 rabbits......and I'd pay good money to see someone walk up to those two guys and tell 'em shooting rabbits on WMA pheasant stocked land is not safe cuz shooting toward the ground can cause a riccochet! Just make sure you let me know first so I can get my cell phone camera running
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
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Really? Last year on opening day I ran into a pair of nice guys that had bagged 4 cock pheasant and 3 rabbits......and I'd pay good money to see someone walk up to those two guys and tell 'em shooting rabbits on WMA pheasant stocked land is not safe cuz shooting toward the ground can cause a riccochet! Just make sure you let me know first so I can get my cell phone camera running
Not sure why that story matters to the argument. Because some guys did it, it is safe? Is it legal? Yes. So do what you want but I still don't think it is a good idea on opening day when the place is packed with people. Of course I would shoot a rabbit on the ground just not on a packed WMA. I like rabbit hunting. But I would not walk around shooting stocked pheasants on the ground unless I was in need to feed my family. It takes no skill it is just killing to kill.
45collector
NES Member
I went out Saturday and had no luck. Tore a big hole in my knee-high boots and lost my plastic bag with all my licenses tags, stamps, LTC, and cell phone.
Found it in the dunes half our later, miraculously.
Found it in the dunes half our later, miraculously.
Went with my son.....no luck with pheasant......
It was wierd because the WMA was not as crowded as I expected it to be on opening day. Heard a few shots ........maybe 6-8 over the course of 2 hours we were there. I've been out on opening day in years past and it was pretty constant shots ringning out.......wonder what was up this year.
Anyway......we ended up taking a ride over to Harold Parker State Forest to try for squirrel and had some success. I didn't know Harold Parker was huntable until I did some research last week. There are signs posted on the trails telling people to expect hunting activity there from OCT-FEB. Not too bad I only got the "hairy eyeball" from one older woman out walking her dog. I was surprised that the other people out walking were friendly toward us and even got the "good luck must be opening day for small game" from a guy on a mountain bike. I played it safe and walked in deep of the trail and only "worked" our way into the woods and made our shots in the opposite direction of the trails. Nice piece of ground over there. I let him pick the places to stop and sit and hes getting better at moving slow and quiet.......I've taught him what oak stands look like and to look for chewed up acorns on the ground and it worked for him as he paid attention to the types of tree stands we were in.....avoided areas that were mostly hemlock and birch.......headed for the oak stands right away. He is learning fast too......we use his 20G shotgun with full choke and #4 heavy field loads so he reach high into the trees....had discussed with him before that if you have a close up shot you have to hit em with the fringe in order to avoid too much damage......13 years old and he listens well.......his first one walked 15 yards in front of him and he intentionally shot low and "kicked" the shot up at it....only 3 pellets hit that squirrrel and no meat ruined! Hes a geniuse! Bottom line it was good to be out there with my son and have him experience harvesting some game. I skinned and cleaned em this time.......next time he said he wants to clean them which is good. Squirrel stew was for dinner that night. On the way home he actually told me the squirrel hunting was better than pheasant because he bagged something that was not stocked!
Good stuff
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Saturday was one of the quietest opening days that I can remember. Not one bird was flushed in our area and I only heard a few shots from across the street. It was clear that they didn't stock our area. Hopefully they get their heads out of their ass and stock the area's better.
