Favorite upland bird to hunt?

[Ashby Kennels]

This will differ a lot by geographic location but I'd like to know everyone's favorite upland bird.

Mine for both eating and hunting is sharptail grouse.

[wolvmarine]

Why - King Ruff of course!

[wolvmarine]

Oh - I should mention the sharp tail is protected in Michigan. What is it like to hunt with out depending on a GPS to get you out of the woods?

[BlueRiverKennel]

Ring necks to hunt, ruffeled grouse or hungarians to eat.

[RangeViewKennels]

Love to hunt and eat quail!

[Ohiomike]

Pat (ruffed grouse), timber doodles (woodcock) followed by ringnecks(pheasants). Also the order of difficulty in hitting.....

[MSP24]

I love to hunt quail but then again I've never hunted anything else so I cant compare! Grouse and sharptail sound like a lot of fun. I'm supposed to go hunt pheasant (pen raised)in a couple weeks so I'm pretty excited

[britguy]

Pheasant, pheasant and pheasant, then ruffed grouse.

[GunDog_chazer]

Hmmm, in my book not even close... I hunt with a pointer mostly but have hunted over just about everything... and so I thought I would put the game dash favorite dog hunting them and uh, some editorial ... for grins

1. Quail - setter - the game is bust the covey, then hunt the popcorn (singles or doubles spread out)
2. Chukar - setter, GSP - wonderful to eat, tough, so tough to hunt, I am winded just typing about it
3. Pheasant - lab (Shade RIP), GSP (Whitney, Web), Setter (Daisy (Pictured), Josey Wales RIP)), stinkin' running b4st4rds deserve to be shot!, and they are scrumptious.
4. Grouse - any pointer (Setter, GSP, Pointer, Britney) - fun fun fun in the mountains and the best game bird I have eaten
5. Hungarian Partridge ("huns") - Setter, GSP - Flock flushes together, shoot, chase. Mix, repeat - I am not as partial to these dark meated birds but hey, they are in the same habitat that I hunt the top three so they fill the bag for a nice diverse meal.

I live Western Washington and there are three species of grouse (two on this green and treed side of the state) and three of turkey (Merriam, Rio Grande, some Rio/Merriam cross) and the other side (Eastern Desert) there are all five above and the Eastern turkey. Talk about heaven!

Cheers Chivas!

[Bonasa Flats]

After 30+ years of chasing them around Northern Wisconsin, I guess I've developed a long-standing "love / hate" relationship with the wily Bonasa Umbellus - a.k.a. the Ruffed Grouse. Not to slight the wonderful American Woodcock that roomates with the Ruff, but after that I absolutely love hunting Sharptails & Huns. I especially love shooting at those birds in the open after I've been beat up in the aspens, evergreens & blackberries for the better part of a season. I've only hunted wild Bobwhites once, but I can see why some folks get addicted to those little rockets. I enjoy pheasants in the Dakotas too, but it seems that as I've gotten older, going after the smaller birds with the smaller gauges are what I'm drawn too.

At any rate... everytime I get to go chase wild birds, I thank God that I live in a great country that provides us with the freedom to do so.

Best Regards,
John Voight
http://www.BonasaFlats.com
"Versatile & Prove Bird Dogs for Dedicated Bird Dog Owners"

My Boon (VC Neenah Creek's Autumn Boon MH) with a trio of Ruffs I bagged over his points in Northern Wisconsin.

VC_Boon_Trio_of_Ruffs_Small.jpg (91.05 KiB) Viewed 770 times