Winter Projects for Ruff Hunters - Reloading & Shooting

[Bonasa Flats]

Last night, I got the work bench cleaned & set up for this winter’s reloading effort. I got started by punching out the first case of 20-gauge reloads on the MEC Sizemaster. The 28-gauge loads get done on the venerable MEC 600 Junior. All told, I’ll reload somewhere around 8 to 10 cases of ammo over the winter – all of it approximating the expensive “high velocity” factory loads that I like to use for grouse hunting.

Even as the ruffed grouse season ebbs here in Wisconsin, I’m already starting to reset for the next iteration coming in 2011. From my perspective, being the most effective grouse hunter you can be is a combination of five related elements that can all be polished during the offseason.

Those elements are:

> Improving your wingshooting skills
> Dog training & conditioning
> Your own physical conditioning
> Gear selection, usage & maintenance
> Understanding ruffed grouse biology & habitat as it relates to your chosen hunting area

For me, winter is when gear gets maintained & I can take some time to polish my wingshooting skills. It’s important to make the most of few short “off months” that we have available for these two elements, because once the snow is largely gone from the training fields, we’re back to work with the dogs on their training, conditioning & testing. That winter preparation begins with reloading a ton of shotshells that we will burn up busting bunches of clays & then during dog training. And if you want to shoot a lot, it’s definitely best that you take up reloading to help lower the cost of your habit. I estimate I save about 70% on the cost of 28-gauge loads & about 50% on 20-gauge.

I really didn’t become a competent grouse shooter until I began to study, understand & then apply the fundamentals of good wingshooting technique. Sure, there are some bird hunters out there who are blessed with strong natural shooting abilities, but unfortunately, I’m not one of them. As a result, I have had to shoot a lot more than I used to while I worked hard at improving my skills. And without a doubt, I’ve seen it pay off in the grouse woods over the last few seasons. On top of that, as I get older, I’ll have to continue to polish what skills I do have if I want to make the best of my grouse hunting opportunities in the future. Like the effects of aging, it’s just another one of those painful truths of hunting ruffs – if you’re not a good wingshooter, you ain’t gonna kill very many of the damn things.

Once I’ve had enough of chasing snowbound grouse (or the season closes here at then end of January), I’ll return my attention back to refreshing myself on the basics of good wingshooting technique. During that process, I’ll probably rehash a bunch of the more memorable misses that I had during the season & try to remember why I didn’t put those birds in the bag. Most of those rationalizations will inevitably end with something about “cruddy wingshooting technique.” So that will put me on the task of a good brush up on the fundamentals – or going back to the books to review good technique & then working on the various “at home” muscle memory exercises that wingshooting instructors always recommend. Color me silly, but I have – for once in my life – developed a good habit. If I’m walking past the gun safe & I’ve got a few minutes, I will always take the time to grab a shooting iron & work on the fundamental elements of stance, mount & swing. Believe me – the investment has been very small for the benefit it’s provided. The more time you spend just properly maneuvering your shotgun with your body, the more you’ll be able to notice how things are supposed to work when you’re actually shooting at clays or birds in the field.

The most helpful resources I’ve found on the subject of improving shooting skills are:

> “The Art of Shooting Flying” DVD by Bryan Bilinski & Tom Huggler
> “Breaking Clays” by Chris Batha
> “Mastering Skeet” by King Heiple

Then it’s just a matter of getting out of the house & busting a bunch of clays while focusing on applying good wingshooting fundamentals. For me, that usually means shooting a couple of rounds of sporting clays each week or hitting the skeet range if I want to really focus on working my technique. Without getting too much into the whole inevitable debate about the pros & cons of the different clays games, I’ve got my reasons why I like these two games the best as they relate to improving my effectiveness as a ruffed grouse hunter.

First of all, both sports allow me to shoot from the “low gun” ready position rather than a mounted position. The vast majority of the bad misses I experience in the grouse woods have everything to do with properly mounting the gun from some kind of awkward position other than fully “ready.” If you always practice shooting from a fully mounted position, you will never develop the strong muscle memory needed to make a good gun mount under the worst possible circumstances – like those you regularly encounter in the grouse woods. Not to disparage those who enjoy shooting trap from a fully mounted position, but quite honestly in my experience, the really good trapshooters who I’ve hunted with over the years are only mediocre at best in the grouse woods. Their bodies simply don’t know how to move instinctually to the mounted & moving position when one of those devil birds thunders out on an unpredictable path through the cover. Regularly shooting sporting clays & skeet allows me to drill myself on the critical elements of gun mount, swing & lead while building good muscle memory to help me succeed in the woods.

Clearly, the biggest practice benefit of shooting sporting clays is the variety of target presentations it provides the shooter. And while you’ll never see grouse follow some of the flight paths you get on the sporting clays course, the sport does help tremendously with large motion muscle memory & teaching you how to react quickly to different presentations.

Skeet, on the other hand, probably provides the most practical number of typical grouse presentations than any of the other clays games. As a matter of fact, since I started shooting more skeet, I’ve started to analyze my hits & misses in the grouse woods by the comparable presentation seen on a skeet range. For example, I know I’m terrible at hitting grouse that have given me a “high house 5” presentation – or an inward crossing shot coming from my left into my right. I consistently shoot behind those birds because that angle requires more lead than what my mind thinks it needs. It’s definitely one station of about three that I really have to continue to work on. However, if a grouse bails out of a tree on a clear straightaway – thus giving me a “high house 1” – there’s a good chance he’s going in the bag. I’m definitely deadly on that presentation & I love it when I get the opportunity to dust a grouse when it makes that uncommon mistake. In a nutshell, learning to shoot skeet has vividly revealed where I’m proficient & where I’m not. And that’s precisely why skeet was invented in the first place – to help wingshooters learn all the common angles so they become better at shooting live birds.

Let me be very clear that I do not shoot sporting clays or skeet on a competitive basis. I'm first & foremost a bird hunter & then I'm a hunting dog trainer. I don’t have time for leagues or tournaments. So suffice it to say that I don’t shoot clays for the sake of improving my clays scores. I shoot clays to improve my effectiveness on live birds. Period. End of story.

However, whichever clays game appeals to you the most, the one thing I do recommend is keeping score. And I say that not so you can compare yourself to your shooting buddies, but as a way to figure out your strengths & weaknesses as a wingshooter. If you don’t know what you need to work on to improve, you won’t know enough to work on those things that prevent you from getting better. Keeping score against your past performance also tells you when you are making progress or when something in your fundamentals needs attention. My goal is always to shoot a round that’s at least one point better than my average. Sure, that way my average will eventually go up, but more importantly, if I shoot below my average, I know that I’m doing something wrong with the fundamentals of mount, swing or lead. And clearly, understanding the fundamentals will help you then correct what’s ailing your shooting. That’s the true benefit of keeping score.

So unless you’re living in or headed to warmer climes where some other bird season is still going strong, I recommend that you take advantage of the upcoming winter months to work on your shooting in preparation for next grouse season.

Happy Holidays!

John Voight
Bonasa Flats Kennels
AKC & NAVHDA Registered German Shorthaired Pointers
“Versatile & Proven Bird Dogs for Dedicated Bird Dog Owners”
On the Web: http://www.BonasaFlats.com
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[RangeViewKennels]

Hey John,

You forgot element #6.

HAVE FUN!

[Bonasa Flats]

Ha! Yep! That's a great point! You know... I guess that's sort of a given for me, but it's definitely worth reminding yourself on regular basis.

Thanks!

JV

[RangeViewKennels]

Me Too!