Gun Dog Forum

Mr. Ringneck gets my vote. Takes a special kind of dog and hunter to get him in the air and in the bag. Nothing like pheasant.

Chukar for me they can be a real challenge

Mearns Quail for me.

I have to pick ptarmigan as my favorite because of the awesome scenery and abundance of birds here in AK.

Pheasant. I like the country they live in, love being able to watch a dog work them, love eating them, and I can hit them!!!

grant wrote:I chose quail, just because I'm in GA, but I would like to venture outside GA this year at least once to hunt pheasant.

You need to make a trip to the Dakota's at least once in your lifetime. You have to witness first hand the sheer amount of birds to believe it !!

A close second is sharptails. Just find them a neat bird to hunt and I think I might like eating them better than pheasant

Original Mngsp,

Your kiddin right ? While you can make that dark meat sharpie taste ok, you might be the first person that I've ever heard that said he may prefer it over Phez. mmmmmmm good.... Let me know if you want to try a new recipe.

Well, I should probably keep this a secret. Have hunted and eaten sharptail since the mid-80's. For the first 20 years I hated eating them. Then up at hunting camp we put some in a marinade, soaked em over night, and did not grill them to death. They were delicious. Then one day we forgot to put them in the marinade, so when we got back to camp we simply soaked them in some cooking oil for a little while, maybe a half hour, and again did not grill them to death. A little red on the inside. Again, they were delicious. So now, virtually none of our sharptail ever make it back from camp to the freezer in the house. They are all eaten up there.

When sealed with an oil coating, and cooked so they are warm inside but and cooked to medium rare, they are at least as good as phez. Unless you shoot them out of the sagebrush country. Ugh. Black meat.

DUCKS!!! Any thing else with feathers is a close second.

Bobwhite, nothing gets your heart pumping like a big covey coming up from under your feet.

I voted pheasant because I hunt them so often and my dogs really get em'. If I had to rank the adversaries they would go, pheasant, chukar, sharptails, woodcock, huns and then anything else with feathers.

Growing up on the Canadian Prairies, I cut my teeth on Sharptail, but
if I had one day to live, I'd spend it hunting bobwhite.

So my vote is:

Bobwhite Quail,
Huns,
Ruffed Grouse,
Sharp Tail,
Pheasant
Woodcock

I'd probably have a heart attack hunting wild chukar's but would really like to go south for exotic quail.

No doubt bobwhite quail!!!

I've never shot anything but pheasants for upland so they are first, but training the pup with quail has been fun, even without shooting them. I'd like to get into them, but they are hard to find here.

birdogg42 wrote:No doubt bobwhite quail!!!

No, I can reach wild bobwhite with a brief 14 hour truck ride,,

I mean the really exotic ones..

Mearns, Gambels, California etc.

Love Ruffed Grouse but never have the time to go hunt them.
Pheasants would be a close second thou.

I love hunting any bird, but I feel the ruffed grouse is the most challenging. I have only hunted them with a dog once but I am planning to hunt them this year with my now 7 mo. old GSP. I can tell you without a dog they are vurtually impossible.

Kelly

Doesn't get much better than a late December, snowy day, deep woods, Grouse Hunt, It is challenging for dog and gunner. Good to be in the woods or a field no matter what you hunt. Every bird has its quirks and is a learning experience first time around. Never have hunted wild Chuckar lookis like a tough but fun hunt.

Kelly, I gotta tell you, I grew up hunting grouse in northern Minnesota. We never used a dog. We used to walk the logging roads and still hunt, listen for footsteps in the leaves on the quiet days, and watch the forest floor. We shot an awful lot of grouse without dogs. In fact, the first few dogs I tried on grouse were negative contributors to the hunt, just bumped em out. It takes a very special dog to make a good grouse dog, not just any dog. Breed is irrelevant I have come to conclude, although those breeds with highly refined pointing instinct seem to give you the best chance.

Alot of dogs are just along for the walk in the woods, and to warn the grouse before you get there.

Good luck.

Pheasants for sure -- Bobwhites are a close second to me...

mid and late season sharpies-that's the measure of a dog, especially on a windy day. You find out which dog has the nose, which dog is honest, and which dog can hold 'em.

Similar thought late season pheasant after they have been hunted hard. Leaving just a lot of old wise roosters. Really puts you and the dog to a test.

I know grouse are this way, can try a hunt dog and hunter for sure.

Ok, guys that hunt quail are late season quail harder?

I love ducks and geese but pheasant and quail as well!!!

Grouse and Chuckar I love the challenging cover/terrain....

What is up with the link garbage anyway??? I have noticed a bunch of that around here lately...Don't kids have better things to do??? If it is a kid?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I think it's the same porn spammer that we've been having trouble with.

The past few days, they've been hitting while I'm at lunch. Otherwise, I've been catching them.

I've deleted the post, but I can't block the user. Grant is the only person that can block them right now.

Best regards, Greg J.

Grouse all the way for me!! To many hunters out to enjoy pheasant, we get out a few times for them and I always take kids out for the youth hunt.
Woodcock when they come through are fun also, don't shoot them though, strictly dog work.(don't eat 'em, don't shoot 'em)

I chose other and my other is doves. I'm sure some dont consider them true upland, I live in a hot area for both mourning and white wing doves and we love it.

After that it would be quail. Have only hunted pheasants once to date and really enjoyed and hope to make some more trips, but , I have to drive 12 hours just to get out the North side of TX then on to IA, or KS or wherever, it gets tough with todays gas prices.

ALso love to hunt snipe. Anyboby else here hunt 'em?

Sharpies for me

Yes I do enjoy snipe hunting, we never really target them, but that is a bird that holds tight and is in my books by far the most challenging to hit in flight. My favorites in order are all of them but quail and grouse are #1. I love sharp tails, but I have never seen one that will hold tight, but it might just be where I hunt. Usually several hundred birds a day. Once i saw that many in one group, now that was exciting. Now a grouse that holds tight is a sage grouse, but they are not very challenging to shoot.

But of all birds i would say scaled quail, they are run just like a pheasant and it is awsome to watch a dog the can get the things to hold!

I said grouse I live in oregon and noone hunts them were I live

I love Phez, but I would have to say the devil bird (Chukar). Few birds are harder won, and the hike is not for the faint hearted. The big country they live in is wonderful to run AA dogs on. Dogs make gigantic casts up through the cliffs and ridge tops. The best part of the hunt is watching the dogs work and saving you thousands of step straight up. Great bird and they taste like no other.

Sharptail and Huns

I live in a city(unfortunatly, much prefer country) in Ontario, Canada that borders Michigan. I said ruffed grouse because thats mainly all we have a season for around here. Ring Necked pheasants were planted a little east of the city I live in but didnt take too well. You can still find them. but few and far between. I have a huge desire to hunt them, but unfortunatly know of no close place to hunt them, or else I may have changed my mind. I have read lots about them and the type of hunt you can have with your flushing dog, and wish that I will be able to hunt them one day. Anybody who may know of a place close to the Ontario/Michigan border(The twin Soo's) please let me know

I like phez for eating, but to hunt, bob whites or grouse of any sort.

Hands down GROUSE

I voted other as the only bird I have SUCCESSFULLY hunted is dove. I have been quail hunting but never got any. I am going to be doing more quail hunting this coming season and hope to get more upland bird and possibly duck opportunities in the future. My favorite bird to eat is quail but I've never had any of the other upland birds so hopefully I will have opportunities to challenge my sitting favorite.

John

Bird Dog 67 wrote:I chose grouse because those no good rotten flyin' between tree pine tree perchin' blasted birds get the best of me the majority of time....................................and I love em for it. The most challenging bird, (around here) that I can chase. Also a true test for my Weim Dusty.

I voted grouse for the same reason

Mearns

Wow - this thread has been going since May 2004.

For those that don't know "Mearns" are a type of quail. Although I've never hunted them I've read that they generally do not tend to run like most other quail but hold tight for a pointing dog. They are swift flying but generally are found in spaces that allow more open shooting.

Nothing beats a covey rise ... oh how I love them bobwhites

The Ruffed Grouse is number one for me.

Now I haven't had the chance to hunt every upland bird in North America, but that's my favorite so far.

Ruffed Grouse hands down. The most challenging bird I know.

My favorite upland bird to hunt are sharptails. I just like following a dog through open native habitat after a native bird.

I voted Quail, but Woodcock should be on the list....

Pheasant...yum!

I would say pheasants here in western WA, But I really enjoyed going after Quail and Chuckers in eastern WA

quail better dog work

Hungarian !!!

Snipe make honorable mention for me.....Once a pointing dog knows what they are, they can produce some great points and teach the dog alot about wild birds.

Mearns have been the most fun for me. They live in open country and hold really tight and are Very rare. Bill

Billinsd wrote:Mearns have been the most fun for me. They live in open country and hold really tight and are Very rare. Bill

Some day I am going to have to give Mearns a try.

Its really a lot of fun to put your dog on different types of birds...I

I have shot BW quail, pheasants and Prairie Chicken over my setters.
BW Quail are my favorite around here. Prairie Chicken in the early season are a distant 2nd followed by pheasants.
The only other bird we have in KS to hunt is Scaled quail, and they are way down in the SW corner of the state.
But Hun and Sharptail are on the list for next season