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#453469 08/16/16 07:33 PM
Joined: Jan 2010
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I'm damned if I can find a place to shoot birds that isn't expensive...and then they're planted. I'm not counting doves. So I'm mostly a Not Shooting gun owner.

I sold two shotguns today. I can't remember ever shooting them. They were inexpensive guns and went for a cheap price...a Hunter Fulton (good gun, 16 ga) and a Stevens 12. Utility gun, heavy and wide.

I would like to be a Shooter but I'm not there yet. Maybe I should have titled this thread "Shooting" and "Collecting."

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the 16ga fultons are nice guns.....the earlier ones especially.....I sold a 1936 good condition fulton last fall 4 $280...and a 1920 fulton in v-good condition this spring for $400....probably should of kept the 1920 gun but I also have more guns than I shoot.....


gunut
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You may think I'm daft, but I strongly suggest that you take the time/make the effort to meet and know the local game warden where you might wish to hunt. Most wardens know who the land owners are and where the game is and can possibly put you in touch w/a hunting possibility that proves less than expensive.

FWIW, I think most here either have guns not shot often or at all and for those who may not, I think they would like to, but as Russ used to say, I could be wrong.

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There are no wild birds (quail) in your part of the world in huntable populations. I came through Watkinsville this afternoon. If you shoot quail they will have to be released birds. If you don't count doves (???), what exactly are you looking for? A place to shoot early released birds that fly well ....... cheap? I understand your frustration, but don't quite understand what you want.

If you don't want to shoot released birds, and I fully understand that, and you don't count doves, you may need to become a clay shooter. It ain't all bad. It lets you shoot all you want, with varying degrees of difficulty, and won't break the bank. They do make thin gravy, tho'.

SRH


May God bless America and those who defend her.
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My observation has been that once you start counting the pennies in hunting and shooting, it's all over.

I recommend just start budgeting a certain amount every income period, and just stow some money away year round. Store it on a debit account, and when season comes round, use the card until it's all gone.

I know many people that struggle to find time and money at the same time. A year round monthly shooting budget at least solves one of the problems.

If I lived near a quail plantation, I'd budget for once a week.


Out there doing it best I can.
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Supposedly there are about 6 wild grouse in the Cohutta wildlife area (part of the Chattahoochee national forest).

I am in the same boat. Shoot clays regularly in Atlanta, but can't seem to find any suitable hunting opportunities in reasonable proximity (for a novice such as myself). A buddy and I went to a "plantation" in South Georgia and gunned down a few pen-raised birds. Didn't feel very sporting and haven't done it since.

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I've belonged to two clay bird shooting clubs that folded. I don't mind shooting clay birds, and would prefer that to pen-raised birds.

There's a club fairly nearby. I may take a trip there and see if it's going to fold before I buy in.

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Buy a dog. Get access to some grown up fields or open woods. A clear-cut will do. Get some training birds and let your new dog find them. Dog needs to know what his name is and to come when you call him. The rest is hard wired into his brain.

Start now and keep going through the winter. You will have a bird dog next fall. You'll feel an obligation to the dog to go out every weekend you can and you will have the best next ten years of your life. Get another pup at five years and repeat for the rest of your life.

You will thank me for this advice one day!...Geo

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Some years back, a bud & I concluded that it cost $2500 a weekend to hunt quail, if we were honest about the real costs involved w/good dogs, training, dog food, dog trailers, vet. bills, dog tags, micro chips [JIC one cut the wrong scent & made a bad decision] & dog related accoutrements ad infinum, leases that might or might not harbor movable numbers of coveys, guns chosen & bought exclusively to that purpose, clothing &c. Wot had motivated us to even wonder of such things? Dementia? We elected to leave our findings alone, being best disremembered and continue to hunt as long as we were able, which left all of those dogs spoken of to run out their years in bliss, cutting a bird scent when the opportunity arose, honoring one another much of the time, but not always, not buying replacements to be trained, but keeping a coupla working retrievers & constant companions at a minimum and ultimately subsequent disposal of trailers, kennels, Dogtra's and not renewing leases that held native birds no longer due to the changes w/crops & pesticides as much as anything, IMHO. It was regional, not a locally specific phenomena, but it certainly affected the areas we were leasing for a number of good years prior. I'd even lay some of it off to crop dusters which are highly non-selective to where their vapors land and one must remember that a quail's best & primary source of protein is bugs. Sounds dismal I know and it was and remains so for that particular area. Last season we hunted on the last lease kept in that area we took one dove. Excluding everything aside from the lease fees, we had $1200 apiece in that stupid bird! Prolly flew too close to a magnetic field of some sort and lost its built in compass settings as it was clearly lost. Not sure there was another within two counties that year and we never saw or moved the first quail on that place that year either. Hope springs eternal, eh?

On the positive, birds [quail] have undergone a remarkable recovery in parts of W. TX over the last couple of seasons and it was possible to move numbers of covey not seen in the previous twenty years last season, as some members here can attest. My main hunting pard these days & I hunt with friends and/or an outfitter who is also a friend out Joe & Mike's way. Wild birds were prolific last season and the need for flight-pen raised birds was honestly non-existent, but he can supply them as well, when/if needed or desired. Those hunts run roughly $300+ a bit/day [inclusive of tips] over rough terrain w/an opportunity to take a limit over good dogs. Usually limited to four guns alternating opportunities much of the time w/two handlers and from four to six bird dogs [two to three on the ground at any one time] and a retriever. Weather and temps rule how long the dog(s)need to be out hunting. Of course you have to get there, have a gun & ammo, cover hotel & per diem expenses &c. Me? I call it a bargain.. and should Joe be w/us he makes up for my misses w/ease, since Mike has truly trained him very well in the art of shooting guns w/inordinate amounts of drop, hammers & other obstacles that would cause some city slickers to kennel up!

I've yet to see either of them take a dove off a wire from a vehicle moving 50mph. One or both being somewhat disremebersome in the shell game sense of hand eye math & fizziks.. Joe's old truck never had an accurate speedometer to begin with.. and I'm not positive Mike's even has one.

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Ruffed grouse drumming counts up 19% in the northern part of the state. Pheasants are going to be good, too, and better in South Dakota.
My club is going strong, even if we did just lose Loren Hentges, the founder, Daughter Rita and Son-In-Law rick see it is well run. I bought my house because of it's proximity to the gun range, well, that, and work, and the liquor store.
Might be time to move, Gene.

Best,
Ted

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