doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com shooting flying vs ground sluicing

They probably taste better if ground sluiced. No lactic acid and all that. Now, how do I turn off the sarcasm font?

The vast majority of game birds shot in Alaska are taken with a .22. On the ground, out of the trees, etc. When I was living in the interior….people would ask me why I hunted birds with a a shotgun.
I would occasionally see a hunter or two walking around hunting ptargiman with 10/22’s or Nylon 66’s. Friends of mine who hunted the Minto Flats for waterfowl also brought along their rifles to shoot grouse.
Different strokes for different folks.

Shooting grouse with a .22 is quite common in northern Minnesota as well.

I’ve seen quite a few folks on the tube shooting “at” ptarmigan with a .22.😏

I grew up ground sluicing pheasants when the opportunity presented itself. Learned that trick from my Dad, who lived in Iowa during the Depression. He used to take my mother along, and she was really good at spotting a rooster's head poking out of the grass. Dad would roll down the driver's side window and shoot them in road ditches. That was the only illegal act I ever saw him commit. We didn't have bird dogs. And much later on, when he hunted with me and my dogs, he saw what a difference that made. If you're a pheasant hunter, both finding the birds in the first place and then retrieving those that come down with 2 good legs, which stand a good chance to escape if you're dogless.

I am a shameless groundslucer, especially road birds. They all taste the same.

I would never ground swat any bird other than an already wounded bird. Then only to humanly dispatch it as I was taught. I’d rather give up hunting forever, find a new pastime or just stop shooting forever. Not how I was brought up. Others can do as they want, just not my cup of tea. As to hunting in Alaska, locals can do as they see fit or as needed due to local conditions.

I only shoot birds flushed by my dogs. If I shot Blues out of trees or on the ground I would kill way more than I do but I'm out there for fun and dog work more than anything.

"ground sluicing eliminates the fair chase, sporting element from the hunting experience"

"ground sluicing is not so safe for the dogs"

"I would never ground swat any bird other than an already wounded bird"

"I was not brought up that way"

"the first time i ever felt guilt was when i shot into a covey of quail roosting on the ground under an orange tree"

Cry me a river...