# Bird Hunting - Need Some Guidance



## JUllom (Dec 13, 2009)

I've never been and am thinking about trying it out...I was recently given a 20 gauge mossberg lever action...would this work well or not? 

There is a Farm within an hour (I'm in East Central Indiana) that has pheasant, quail, and chukar. To complicate things, I do not know anyone that does this type of hunting often so should I just call up the Farm and ask for a guide to teach me? Any of the three birds above easier/better for a beginner? 

Thanks for the thoughts and things to consider...


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## Wintergrower_OH (Sep 21, 2010)

Pretty sure their Pheasant hunting clubs . Not sure about Indiana . You could always start with a trip to South Dakota or Iowa to learn.


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## Wintergrower_OH (Sep 21, 2010)

http://www.pheasantsforever.org/


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

You might want to check out a local gun club that has trap shooting. Many clubs have "open" shoots that are open to everyone. If you get there early before it gets busy and ask around someone could give you some pointers. My club is very well known for helping people who want to get into the sport. Trap shooing will get you used to the gun and help sharpen your eye for hunting birds.


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## JUllom (Dec 13, 2009)

Thanks for the pointers. Will a 20 gauge mossberg work or should i begin considering something different. Thanks,


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

A 20ga. is just fine. The secret is getting use to hitting things with it. That takes lots of practice. Fortunately the practice is a lot of fun.


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

They are all pen raised birds. Learning how to hunt them is nothing like hunting the real wild birds.


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## JUllom (Dec 13, 2009)

So let me ask a similar question to my original posts intent...

I'd like to learn to bird hunt (quail, pheasant, chukar, duck, any that I can find locally/regionally), I know no one that does this. I have a 20 g shotgun, I've shot it less than 50 times. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE ME TO LEARN THIS AS A HOBBY? I have read online at various sites but they can be confusing for a beginner. I have young boys and would love to be able to do this sort of thing with them as they grow. Thanks for the help and advice.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

Before you learn to hunt, learn to shoot. Wing shooting requires the same skill level as being a good golfer or tennis player. I hunt grouse and woodcock. At times it's like swatting a fly with a pencil. I spend more time on the trap field and skeet range honing my skills then I do hunting. What good is finding birds if you can't hit them?


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE ME TO LEARN THIS AS A HOBBY?


Buy a few cases of clay targets, and something to throw them with.

Then PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE (while having fun)


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

JUllom said:


> So let me ask a similar question to my original posts intent...
> 
> I'd like to learn to bird hunt (quail, pheasant, chukar, duck, any that I can find locally/regionally), I know no one that does this. I have a 20 g shotgun, I've shot it less than 50 times. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE ME TO LEARN THIS AS A HOBBY? I have read online at various sites but they can be confusing for a beginner. I have young boys and would love to be able to do this sort of thing with them as they grow. Thanks for the help and advice.


First, do as said and get some shooting practice. Next, get a good bird dog, you will see 10 times more birds (and find the ones you kill) with a dog.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

Have you and the boys that are old enough take the Indiana hunter education classes.
http://www.register-ed.com/programs/indiana/agency:25.

Then practice shooting. When shooting trap, the targets rise like a flushing pheasant. Good practice for pheasant hunting. Sporting clays give a varity of different shots. You may find a mentor at the gun club that will teach you to hunt. If organised shooting is too expensive, you can get a clay pidgeon thrower and throw your own but you need a place to do it where the broken targets can stay on the ground.

You need a place to hunt. You can hunt the public land and it looks like Indiana has some.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3077.htm
Spend 4 or 5 weekends before the season opens doing pre-season scouting. Find out where the birds are before you try hunting them. Also try to get permission to hunt private land. There are certain etiquette rules in hunting public land. Usually, the first group to arrive gets first pick of where to hunt. If they are still at the parking area, you talk to them and work out where each of you will hunt. When hunting private land you call at least a day ahead of time to get permission and let the landowner know where and when you will be hunting and what vehicle you are driving. Leave all gates as you found them and don't leave any trash, including empty shells. At the end of the hunt, thank the landowner and offer to share any game you got. It has become very rare to get someone to give you permission to hunt their land. If you find such a setup you keep it a very big secret, and if you really want to score points with the landowner, you volunteer to work a few days a year on their farm.

Like Tink said, get a hunting dog. Half the fun I have is watching the dog have such a blast hunting. Get a retriever like a lab or a golden or get a pointer like a German shorthair or a Weimeraner. Train the dog to the basic obedience commands and fetch. Much of the pointing, flushing and so on is instinct in the dog. You can refine these traits with training. I hate to shoot a bird and not find it. With a dog you will find most of your birds but you do have to train the dog to run down cripples.

There are whole libraries written about how to hunt birds. We don't have quail or chuker here. Early season pheasants will move from the roosting areas into the corn fields first thing in the morning. They are usually already in there by the MN 9:00 am opening. The exception is on rainy windy mornings. They like to stay in bed a bit longer so you might catch them still in the roosting areas. It can be very hard to hunt a corn field unless you have a big group. They eat their fill and some will go back to the roosting area in the middle of the day. Back to the corn for the afternoon and then back to the roosting area just before dark. They don't like to fly so you may not see them moving through the tall grass between the corn and the roosting area but hunt it anyway. The roosting area is very thick cover, close to the corn where they can get out of the wind. The roosting area will change from day to day as the wind direction changes. Young pheasants will hold for you because they are used to predators bypassing them if they freeze. Nothing gets your heart pumping like having a pheasant flush as you are about to step on it.

Later season pheasants have been educated. They know what most hunters do and how to avoid them. If most hunters follow a certain path from the parking area, you need to go a totally different way. If there is a little island of cover that you are sure couldn't hide a pheasant, check it out. Pheasants don't like to be in the wind. Check the lee sides of hills and the drainage ditches. They will run away from you rather than fly and they are like to follow routes that give them cover, like fence lines. If you know the area well enough, you can quietly post a hunter or two where the pheasants will run to and then drive them to the posters. Really late season pheasants will take to the cattails for cover. Sometimes you can really suprise them when the ice gets thick enough to walk on although don't do this alone. You may need someone to pull you out if the ice breaks.

Hunting game preserves is expensive and I think it misses the fair chase aspect of hunting. I could see doing it a few times to get the youngens excited.


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

Since you said you have young boys and were looking for suggestions on hunting birds and shooting. You might try getting involved in 4-H. There are many shooting sports/wildlife programs available. They/you will meet many likeminded people.

I never had an interest in shotguns until my boys were in 4-H shooting sports. Our meetings were held at a local gun range, and usually involved a few rounds of trap, and the parents were encouraged to be active participants in all activities. Then, you will probably be encouraged to participate in all kinds of shooting sports activities, as a helper and as a partaker.

I've been blessed with places to hunt with my kids since they were old enough to sniff burnt powder, but my interests were in rifle to that time. 4-H can possibly open up all kinds of interests, even possibly places to hunt for you and your kids!

Of my three sons, all are active shooters/enthusiasts to this day. But 4-H was a big factor in introducing them to archery and shotgunning. Oh yeah, as well as me!  Another BIG plus factor is keeping parents involved in all phases!

Costs can get high if you let them, and it's your responsibility to not let them get out of hand. Seems like kids will make do, and well, as long as they've got a decent gun. 2 of them went to state, and #2 son placed 2nd in state trap with a good hunting gun, shooting against some guns that had cost several thousand. Just make it all quality time, and it's all tiime and money well spent! 



JUllom said:


> So let me ask a similar question to my original posts intent...
> 
> I'd like to learn to bird hunt (quail, pheasant, chukar, duck, any that I can find locally/regionally), I know no one that does this. I have a 20 g shotgun, I've shot it less than 50 times. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE ME TO LEARN THIS AS A HOBBY? I have read online at various sites but they can be confusing for a beginner. I have young boys and would love to be able to do this sort of thing with them as they grow. Thanks for the help and advice.


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## JUllom (Dec 13, 2009)

Excellent, thanks for the info, this is very helpful...


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