Walking around hoping to flush a grouse, partridge or pheasant has become my favorite type of hunting. Used to really be into whitetail and mule deer buck hunting but I gradually drifted away from that and the last few years have only hunted birds. I know guys that wouldn't waste their time looking for a bird and I know a few guys who only hunt birds.
I guess ideally a guy would have a drilling and focus on birds with the off chance of getting a shot at a big buck. That would be paradise.
But back to the original thought....
How many of you guys really anticipate upland bird hunting?
It's when I come back to life. When we could get OTC deer tags in NV I always carried a drilling. If I went deer hunting I also shot chukar, quail, and blue grouse. When chukar hunting instead, I often popped a nice buck the bird dogs booted out of thick brush, where I would have walked right past him.
It's illegal to use dogs to hunt deer, but I was ALWAYS chukar hunting.
You could no doubt take full advantage of hunting with a drilling, Sam. If I could afford FJB gas I'd bring a couple out for you to try and help thin your sharptails and pheasants.
Blue grouse with Kreighoff drilling:
Chukar taken with a drilling: I got a small mulie buck a week later here, but I didn't have a camera.
Bobwhite and a great eating little doe in OK a while back, taken with the same drilling the same afternoon. .