Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Rail / Marsh Hen Hunting?

I've been watching some videos on marsh hen hunting and have a hankering to try it. I'm researching a few guides on the S.C. coast. Anybody here ever hunted shore birds?

There is a season on rails here in Colorado.
One year, after shooting a limit of ducks early in the day, a few of us duck hunters were looking for something else to do. I had seen a number of rails at the pond I had been hunting, so I went back there with a buddy and my black Lab.

Jumped some rails, shot one. My Lab went out after it, picked it up, and spit it out. Shot another, same result.
Anyway- we shot enough of them to take back to camp and try eating them. All I can say is, those little worm-eating suckers are no longer in danger of being hunted by myself, or any of my buddies. They make coots and mergansers truly delicious in comparison.

Growing up on the coast of Texas, I used to hunt Sora Rails occasionally. My dog at the time, a Springer Spaniel, had no objections to retrieving them. They are deceptively hard to hit when you first start shooting at them. My high school shop teacher, who was an avid waterfowl hunter, used to make fun our rail hunts, saying "Hunting rails is just an excuse to shoot something when no real hunting seasons are open yet." My great Aunt Nita, who was a pretty fair Cajun cook, could prepare them in several different ways, all of which were actually darned good eating.

Went 2-3 times over the years here in NC. Found a few birds each time, not that hard to hit if within range. Major difficulty is real world schedule often doesn't mesh well with time and tide.