16ga.com ~ View topic - Top 5 hunts to do before you die

1. Sharptail grouse in S.D., Nebraska or Wyoming. Hopefully in 2007.

2. Alaska ptarmigan.

3. Texas or Oklahoma bobs.

4. Desert quail in New Mexico or Arizona. Maybe 2008.

5 (tie). Huns in Montana, Idaho or Utah and Kansas mixed bag.

I'm fortunate to hunt ruffs/woodcock in Wisconsin on a regular basis, as well as N.D. ducks and Iowa pheasants. God willing and a healthy bank account, maybe I'll scratch a few of the above off my list and add a couple of others.

Member Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 328

Top Five Hunts.

1. Dove hunts.
I live about as far south in NM as one can. Dove hunting here is great. Never a day passes during the season that we can't get 15 birds. And not have to pay to get on the property either.

2. Quail hunts. We have 4 species of quail here and although their numbers are down we can still have a good hunt for them. And not have to pay to get on the property either.

3 Pheasant. Mother and Father-in-law live in SD. They will let me hunt anytime I can get up there. And not have to pay to get on the property either.

4. Sage Grouse in MT. I understand West Nile Virus is hitting this bird bad. Will have to get there soon. Will have to hire a guide for this hunt.

5. Sandhill Cranes. There are a lot of Cranes that winter in NM and most land owners can not stand them as they can destroy a newly planted field in a couple of days. Nothing like taking a prehistoric bird with a seven ft wingspan. Oh and by the way we don't have to pay to get on the property either.

There are still great hunting opportunities in the american west!!!

The goal: Every major upland gamebird species in the continental US, over the same pointing dog.

1. Pheasant, sharptail, and prairie chickens in SD.

2. Sage, blue, spruce grouse in eastern ID.

3. Ruffs and woodcock in MI.

4. Ptarmigan in CO.

5. Various species of quail weherever they may be found.

I have done 1 and 3 with Greta, but I doubt we will be able to do the others together. Maybe the next dog.

1 plantation quail in the SE
2 SD pheasant
3 S. Texas quail
4 SD sharptails - done this twice and it is a hoot
5 mearns quail in AZ before I get too old to climb the hills

KS is two hours from here and provides many opportunities for the CO resident. CO provides decent sage grouse (only a 10 day season), throw in some Ptarmigan, and blue grouse. Phez and quail (bobs and blues) in the eastern part of the state but not much decent public access.

I'd like to ride along with longwalker nice list. Do a North American Grouse grand slam. Hunt chukers in the snake river valley. Hunt huns and sharptails in some lonely empty prairie with a real big sky. The dog would be a Pudelpointer of course the gun would be a 16 gauge SxS american classic. You boy's have crushed my concentration for the day all daydreaming now.

Terrific topic guys... having lived overseas, I wish I had been more aware of European hunting when i was there, but it is seen almost exclusively as a perogative of the rich over there. Other than stumbling into Purdey in London when I was a graduate student, I had no idea the Europeans even hunted or anything. I wish I had known to look at some of the great doubles.*sigh*

Anyway, all of these hunts sound unbelievable.

1. Driven red partridge in Spain

2. Driven grouse in England/Scotland

3. Ducks in Mexico

4. Dove in Argentina/Chile

5. tie (a) Pheasant hunting in KS/NE... folks, Brad6260 isn't kidding when he says he picks up the local real estate flyers at Piggly-Wiggly. Having been with him last year and watched it in action... I'm just waiting for the day that I get a call/email from him saying come on up, I finally bought the farm... got hundreds of birds.

(b) Old time southern quail hunt, preferably here in Mississippi, but maybe in GA or SC somewhere. Dogs, wagon, horses, mule... just doesn't get any better... something straight from the pages of Havilah Babcock.

Enjoy the KS hunt guys, I wish I could go.

KB

My top 5 shoots would be

Scotland Driven Grouse

Spain Red Partridge

South Dakota Pheasant

South America Doves

The Northern Territory Magpie geese.

shooting all gauges from 28ga through to 10

good shooting

sbs470