Hunting Buddy

[u/bilalahmed381]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for someone who has experience in bird hunting. I'm new to Canada and I have my RPAL and a Winchester SX4 Hybrid, which I specifically bought for hunting. I also took a hunting course from AHEIA Calgary, but I was unable to find a buddy there. I do trap shooting sometime and hit 15/25 on average.

I would appreciate it if someone could help me shadow how they do hunting and what the proper gears needed are. I would really appreciate it. If someone is kind enough to take the pain, you can DM me.

[u/TheSmallSlice]

Welcome to the sport of bird shooting brother! I also bought an SX4 specifically for hunting waterfowl with my buddies and 3 or 4 seasons in (actually can't remember how many I've done now haha) and it is a work horse, absolutely love mine chambered in 20 gauge. Coming from someone who's still relatively new to hunting/bird hunting finding someone who knows the ropes is definitely a good place to start, ask a lot of questions, get familiar with your shotgun. hunting loads are usually a little stouter then trap and you should be feeling comfortable with your gun and how it shoots. Look for some good camo, face paint, if your waterfowl hunting on water you can look for waders, My buddy has used many different brands of waders when he was younger and has firmly landed on Cabelas Super Mags, but look for gear that will suit you and your environment, example, our waders are pretty heavy neoprene and 1,600-gram Thinsulate for the winter time even here in southern Ontario it gets pretty cold sometimes. You can start with some basic calls and just practice as you go. Its not a race for gear, and theirs lots to learn. I'm personally very appreciative of my two buddies showing me and teaching me everything I've learned up to this point. Keep your eyes peeled, your mind open and have fun! Also remember to be respectful of property and other hunters, sometimes hunters don't care about looking up maps and boundaries etc. and sometimes just don't want to hear that they are wrong even if by accident. But there's no reason to be upset or confrontational, best thing to do is respect others and their wishes if you or them have crossed any lines. Always make sure of where your shooting (waterfowl is mostly* done within 40 yards)be aware of how hard your hitting spots. try not to shoot up roosts because once one is it is hard to get it back, post up somewhere above or below and wait for them/call them in. And if you don't get any, hey there's always another day to try again and now there's more birds to shoot! understand bag limits and possession limits, legal shooting times etc. Don't get fussy over who shot what birds, just shoot what you can and divvy them up afterword's (some days I'm not hitting anything in the blind). My buddy always says bird hunting is a social gathering with friends interrupted by gunfire lol. Its all about learning, being in nature, and having fun with friends.

There's a lot you can dive into so just take your time, enjoy it, be on the look out for deals on gear too. Waterfowl specifically your using non-toxic loads, the most prevalent and cheapest is steel, be aware that it can be very inconsistent, it doesn't hit the same as lead. Which is why me and my one buddy are gonna be reloading bismuth from now on after seeing our other buddy shoot the same amount of birds if not more with like half the amount of shells fired. It should only take you 1 shot to down a bird, steel though.....sometimes just doesn't let you do that unfortunetly.