First time hunting!

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DontBurnMyFlag

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Hey all,

I have been around firearms for quite some time and have also been an avid outdoorsman for even longer. But today I combined both and went hunting :D

My neighbor, his brother, his son and I all went to private owned lands in western PA to hunt pheasant. We had 20 birds released and had a scout with a dog flush or point them out. Now, I own no hunting equipment. So I show up in a cold weather BDU jacket and jeans, a commando/fishermans skull cap and a Mossberg 500 persuader with heatshield and 20in bbl all black. Nothing about me screamed "hunter".

Sooooo after a few laughs by the locals, we headed out. I have shot skeet and clay pigeons before, and always thought of myself as a decent shot. But when one of those birds comes up outta the grass and I let off 1-2 shots at it and miss...I cant help but feel Im shooting blanks. haha.

So my day went well, as I left with two confirmed kills lol. We ended up with close to 50lbs of bird meat at the end of the day. It was a pretty good haul. I was told that my outlandish getup and "military style assault weapon" would be the talk of the lodge after I left. :evil: Suprisingly, Im ok with that.

So I just thoughtd Id share, as I will be doing this again, and hopefully move into different types of game in the future.
 
We had 20 birds released
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Pardon my ignorance, but what does that mean? Do you release captive birds so you can hunt them?

All the pheasants I've hunted/shot at/shot were living wild in the fields. I've always done the driver and blocker method without dogs.

Glad you had a good time and the meat will be great.
 
They don't fly quite as steady as a clay bird, do they? :D Glad you had fun! I wanna do one of those bird farm things in the future. Used to be one near here that wasn't bad cost wise, but I haven't researched it in a while. Pen birds is the only way you'll hunt things like pheasant and chukar and such down here. We got native quail, but that's about it for upland birds.
 
Hey, everybody's gotta start somewhere! Be afraid, though; be very afraid: It's addictive.

You'll wind up with a dedicated pheasant gun, and get to be on a first-name basis with half the pheasant hunters in the Dakotas, first thing you know.

Then the dedicated deer rifle. After that, a .22 Hornet for woodchucks, and a .223 or .22-250 for prairie dogs and coyotes.

And a big mess of non-deductible travel expense.

Fun, though. :D

Art
 
Welcome to the world of hunting. It can be very expensive but heck it sure is fun.
 
One round

It's having that second shot that messes you up. Just put one shell in the gun and suddenly you'll be a lot pickier where you shoot it.
Think I'm kidding? Years ago my buddy and I couldn't hit a pheasant worth a darn until we did that. It solved our problem real quick. Give it a try.
 
Something else that can help one's ability with a shotgun: Take up IPSC or IDPA shooting. In a Weaver stance, your strong-side arm becomes the rifle stock and rear sight, just as the stock of a shotgun is essentially the rear sight (if it fits correctly).

"Front sight, press." is common to both.

I found this out accidentally. I'd never been much with a shotgun. I did IPSC for three years. The next time I went dove hunting, it seemed like I couldn't miss! Surprise, surprise! :)

Art
 
Ain't it amazing how a big ol' rooster with a two foot tail, cackelin' away and lookin' as big as a 747 can get up in front of you at ten yards and you can miss? Wait till two bust at the same time.:what:


here's a hint......like woodcock they generally will pause for a nanosecond after their initial rise before they level out to fly away.......
 
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