Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game new guy lookin for advice!

So I have been in the forum for a little over a year now but spent most of my time over in the elk hunting forum. A little about myself, I grew up with a very liberal, anti-gun/anti hunting dad, so my interest was kept pretty suppressed from anything but fishing. Once I moved out to Colorado a couple of years ago and married a wife who grew up more in that lifestyle I was able to start getting myself into the mix much much more.
Anyhow, I'm over here tonight looking for some help in my next venture. I'm strongly thinking of getting myself into some bird hunting next year and I have no idea where to start! What would be a fun/easy species to start off with? Where can I learn a little more about shotguns (my experience so far is in rifles and handguns). Being in Colorado, what are some species I should take advantage of? I appreciate any and all the help.

-Phil

Skeet-trap-sporting clay clubs and events. A commercially run shooting facility is probably the best place to start. They are looking for customers and you are what they are looking for.

Introduce yourself and tell them you are just starting out and need some assistance. Start slow and learn. Eventually you will run into others that will show you the way.

Not much different than if you wanted to learn to golf, shoot pool or bowl. Where would you go?

Yes very good advice. Only thing I could add is don't go buy a 1500 dollar shotgun to start out. You don't know what you are looking for yet and if you end up hunting chuckar then the duck gun someone talked you into won't be ideal. Once you shoot a while you will see what you like and dislike about specific guns and how they apply to the way you use them. A pump or inexpensive auto with a 26 or 28" barrel would be a good place to start. Not the perfect gun for everything but very general for a broad range of purposes.

Glad to see you doing what is in your heart to do regardless of your upbringing. If your born with the desire to hunt and fish then its your God given right to pursue it. Have fun but beware wingshooting is more addicting than meth or vaginal intercoarse.

I always wanted to hunt pheasant and quail and I hear chuckar are a lot of fun in Colorado. I'm not a huge fan of the taste of duck so it has never been a desire for me. Would there be a gun that could play into the birds I mentioned or would I need multiple?

A nice light 12ga. of some sort would do pheasants and quail. Opinions on this are greatly varied. I'm kind of middle of the road common sence on this. A 12 is better for pheasants period if they are wild. A quail/ruffed grouse gun would be a good 20 16 or light 12 ga. Teal and wood ducks eat MUCH better than mallards or other big ducks, so don't count them out. I don't know much about hunting other types of grouse or chukar so can't give you any good advice on that. A used (LIGHT) 391 12ga. would be a good gun but they are pricey even used. A weatherby SA 08 is only 6.5 pounds and can be had for a lot less than a new beretta or winchester or something.

Something to think about is you can shoot light loads and open chokes in a 12 and get the same results as a smaller gauge. You can also shoot 1 1/4 oz loads in a 20 but you have to go with a 3" shell. The 12 gauge is a more versitile gun. In a light model a 12 ga will cover anything you want to hunt in the uplands. If I only hunted upland birds I would want a light 12 ga auto with 26" barrel or a light 12 ga o/u with 28" barrels. If I only hunted quail and ruffed grouse I would use the same guns in 20 ga.

Go shoot skeet or something like has been suggested and maybe find someone to go bird hunting with. See if you can borrow a gun and you will find likes and dislikes really quickly. For instance I love the feel of a 391 but don't like the location of the safety. I despise the feel and weight of a remington 1100 but the safety is where I like it. I would carry a 391 and get used to the safety before I would lug around a boat anchor of a gun that is the 1100.

I could tell you what guns I like all day but gunfit is the most important factor so its not gonna help you much. Go shoot different guns if you can. You will find your match.

Phil, "upland" hunting; Pheasant, Quail, Grouse, even Rabbits and Squirrel, gives you lots of enjoyable time in the field. Start with a clean used shotgun in 12ga with screw-in chokes, and you're set for pretty much anything. Later you'll refine your tastes in shotgun style and gauge, and probably have several. I spent half the day today looking for a 20ga SxS with 28 or 30" barrels in the 6 lb range. You'll get picky too as you get deeper into it! :-)

I should just said this. He's correct.

As far as species go...

http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/SeasonDatesAndFees/Pages/SmallGameDatesandFees.aspx

Check out the Colorado DOW website. If you don't mind walking a lot (maybe up hill) you can hunt some species without a ton of competition (ptarmigan, chukar, gambels).

Good advice above. Get a good quality used 12 gauge that will handle 3 inch shells if needed and spend some time shooting some bluerock or sporting clays.

...As said above, make sure that it takes screw in tubes. That will allow you to adjust to different loads and conditions.

Phill as some have mentioned you have asked a pretty difficult question for an Internet forum. One would think buying s shotgun s/b easy but for those that are really interested there are so many action type/ gage / choke combinations to consider.

Many folks are indifferent and buy a 12 ga pump and go at it with various degrees of success. I for one could happily hunt with my 12 ga pump and have as much hunting success as with any of my various other guns.Others are much more "picky" as someone mentioned above.

No one has mentioned gun fit yet but it is much more important than with a rifle as generally with shotguns you have to bring the gun to your shoulder and fire rather quickly where as with a rifle you can squirm around a bit to get your sight picture. Fit will be different if to are 6'6" with long arms vs 5'7" with a short neck and short arms. So for this reason it is good if you can try various guns at a range to see what give you a good sight picture. This is more important than action type or choke IMHO.

But sometimes people don't have the opportunity to shoot a lot of different guns so in these cases a decent 12 ga auto is hard to beat for a first gun. It will serve. A lot of uses from clay birds to the live varieties. Screw choke are pretty much standard on new guns but if you find say a nice clean used remington 1100 with mod or IC fixed chokes for $350 -$400 they can over a lot of shooting clay birds and hunting and give you a lot of education about shotgun shooting for a pretty low entry price. New the Berettas are popular and are a bit lighter than the 1100. Some models also offer a shim system that allows you some fit adjustments as you come to know what you like however that will cost a bit more than a 1100 in most cases.

In closing shotguns are very cool and you are about to embark on a journey that you will probably enjoy for a lifetime. Just be advised to stick with quality and that what ever you buy it will probably not be your last shotgun. Good luck

My suggestion is to get a Remington 870 or Mossberg 500 12ga with screw in chokes. These can be found quite easily and are very affordable. If possible try to get to a sporting clays range, but if not just get out there during an open season and have at it! You'll learn what you do or don't want in a gun and the game you want to pursue. My hunting buddy has taken nearly all the species of upland birds in the lower 48, coyotes, moutain lions, sandhill cranes, swans, ducks/geese etc all with the same Remington 870 that he got when he was 12. It still works, cracked stock, rust and all...

If I were starting out, I would certainly look over the used gun market.. Of course MY First pick would be an 870 12 ga., but I would shoulder several of them, check stock length.. Most guns are too long for good shotgunning.. Even in the same model shotgun, the drop of a stock will be a bit different from gun to gun..
The pump is a great starting point.. If you move on to other models it will be a great waterfowl gun, or second bad weather gun. I have had them all.. Singles, SxS's O/U's, autos,and pumps.. About 12 years ago, I sold about a dozen or so doubles, and have gone completely with pump shotguns.. They do what I need and are reliable, and shoot to the point of aim with about anything you choose to shoot in them that is designed for the ga.. best of luck..