Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cockapulozza...

I'd like to enjoy the ruffed grouse, the northern game bird.

My little guy turned 5 the other day Sam. He knows when we go bird hunting that the purple ones are 16ga and the yellows are 20s. The 12s mix him up, last time I packed the 12 I had red, green, and blue shells in the bag and he didn’t know what to make of it!

I love hunting, shooting and eating ruffies as much as anyone. But, grouse guts sure do stink to high heaven. Good thing they gut quickly. No other game bothers me, but those birds gag me at times.

I kinda miss grouse shooting in Alaska. Get up early and walk or drive old gravel roads with a 22. Flush them into a tree and step off the road and shoot their heads off. Pretty good eating but stomping the fence rows for cocks is much more exciting.

That’s a damn nice rooster

Kid, the 16 gauge Fiocchi are blue.

Confusing, Federals are still purple?

RS, I just take the breasts and hind quarters if they're not all shot to hell.


Leave the remains out in the field.


Technically not legal for proof of sex?



Not worried here local.

Roger on the Federales still being purple Sam, about all I can get around here without driving an hour. I buy the 1 ounce 7 1/2s and use them for everything, doves, quail, cocks. Not a whole big bunch of bird hunting around since the quail vanished about 20 years ago but we still shoot 100-150 doves a season if we try hard and have a good migration.

Did someone say Ithaca 16 gauge and northern game birds, but most especially purple and COCK-----all in the same thread?

I'm in heaven. Sammo, give me those aviators and let me die right here, in my happy place.

Dangit Tinman you fugged em up today. Do you have to have steel shot for seagulls?

Seagulls?

I thought they were cockatoo’s!

Pretty sure the Fed and Rem are black. Kent are green.

My dad paid $5 at an estate sale a couple years ago for like 15 boxes of Monkey Wards “Super Huntsman” 2 9/16” 16ga 7 1/2s. They were yellow paper hulls and the box claimed they were made in Mexico. He borrowed one of my 37s to shoot them in and finally used them up last month. Some M12 guy with a short chambered gun would have probably loved to have had those....

Sheit....I could have had twice that many seagulls if I could shoot worth a darn. I actually stood there and looked around one time to make sure nobody was watching me...after I missed 2 at maybe 20 yards, 4 times. It was bad....


No steel shot needed here, but on the North Slope you do....and need to be 5 miles from the haul road to use a shotgun. Those ptarmigan don't get much pressure up there....

You up the steese ?

I've got some up the Steese, but those particular ones weren't.

These were off of the Elliot Highway, then about 3 miles in to where the ptarmigan habitat starts.
It was a long day. 11.4 miles total.

T,

why you make them pretty white birds all red in the head?

11.4 miles for what, 8 birds?

Oh the fun we hunters think we have, right?

Well duh Geno.........

That's 9 birds actually, and I enjoy making them red. It brings me joy.
Right now, hunting them is just like a good big game stalk. Spot them 1/2 mile away, make your stalk, belly crawling if necessary and start shooting. Fun as hell.

These willow ptarmigan are about the most two sided challenge I've seen. Roughly 1/2 flush if they see you within 100 yards. The other 1/2 think they're hidden and stay put till you're about 20 yards away before flushing. I much prefer the latter.

Did a get up the Elliot to the Chatanika to spear whitefish at night? Always loved that.

I've hunted some quail like the former ones you mention. Especially after the first weekend of hunting season. See/hear them running up the hills in the desert, never down the wash of course. Then, if you do manage to get one shot and tumbling, it ends up in the middle of a cactus patch. At least those pretty white birds don't have cactus to land in.

Peasants leave the area when the motor stops while parking the car. Two wheat fields over. They don't even wait for the door to slam shut.

Glad you got a few, thanks for sharing the pics.