Upland hunting is an American term for a form of bird hunting (fowling) in which the hunter pursues upland birds including quail, pheasant, grouse, woodcock, prairie chicken, chukar, grey partridge, and other landfowls. [1] [2] Unlike aquatic and semiaquatic bird species (waterfowls and shorebirds), upland birds are terrestrial and tend to be found strictly on the dry lands above the high mark of waterbodies, often hidden in heavy groundcover, so hunters generally employ the use of gun dogs to locate, expose and retrieve game. The average group consists of 2-4 hunters with 1-2 dogs.
Depending upon their method of work, some dogs (pointers and setters) are tasked to detect game, and some (spaniels) to purposefully startle ("flush") game. When the birds are forced to flee out of concealment and into the open, either by the hunter or the dog, the hunter then attempts to shoot down the birds on the wing, also known as wingshooting. Once downed, the game is usually either incapacitated or immobilized, and is then retrieved with a dog (retrievers) or by the hunter himself.
Upland hunters use all types of shotguns from break-action single-shots to semi-automatics, calibered from .410 bore through to 12-gauge. The quintessential shotgun for upland hunting is a double-barrel shotgun in a smaller gauge such as a 16-, 20- or 28-gauge, using small round pellets known as birdshots, which are also commonly used in duck hunting.
Hunters often wear specialized vests with external hardpoints and/or hooks to carry collected games, though there is a trend toward more functional technical daypacks specifically designed for the demands of more rigorous upland hunting in remote areas. In North America some states such as Alabama and Arkansas require upland hunters to wear blaze orange clothing for safety. [3]
Upland hunters work specially trained gun dogs to find game. Spaniels and pointing breeds are used most often, though retrievers are worked with considerable success when hunting pheasant in many areas.
Upland hunters traditionally walk when finding game, though quail hunters in the southern states often employ buggies or vehicles due to the sparseness of game. Because of the large area that must be covered in order to find bobwhite quail, many hunters employ specially designed hunting buggies to haul gears and kennels for fresh dogs. On the other hand, chukar and grey partridge hunters of much of the western regions will hunt with one or two dogs on the ground for the duration of the hunt, hiking 8+ miles of steep mountainous terrain in a single hunt with well-conditioned dogs.
Pheasant hunting, the most popular form of upland hunting takes place primarily in open fields which provides cover for birds. Upland birds can be hunted in a wide variety of habitats from deserts to high mountain elevations. This variety of locations is part of what makes upland hunting so popular. Some states such as South Dakota derive a significant portion of their revenue from upland hunters who travel into the state to take advantage of the ideal fauna. Numerous pheasant hunting lodges are prevalent throughout South Dakota, most of them in the eastern half of the state.
Upland birds are found throughout the United States and much of the world, although it is most popular (by number of participants) in the United States. There are two different ways that hunters can approach upland hunting, the more challenging way is hunting wild birds in less populated parts of the country especially the Midwest; the second way is hunting farmed birds.
Popular game birds by region in the United States:
The Gordon Setter is a Scottish large breed of dog, a member of the setter family that also includes both the better-known Irish Setter and the English Setter. Setter breeds are classified as members of either the Sporting or Gundog Group depending on the national kennel club or council.
The common pheasant is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin phasianus, "pheasant". The species name colchicus is Latin for "of Colchis", a country on the Black Sea where pheasants became known to Europeans. Although Phasianus was previously thought to be closely related to the genus Gallus, the genus of junglefowl and domesticated chickens, recent studies show that they are in different subfamilies, having diverged over 20 million years ago.
The Phasianidae are a family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds. The family includes 185 species divided into 54 genera. It was formerly broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae and the Perdicinae. However, this treatment is now known to be paraphyletic and polyphyletic, respectively, and more recent evidence supports breaking it up into two subfamilies: Rollulinae and Phasianinae, with the latter containing multiple tribes within two clades. The New World quail (Odontophoridae) and guineafowl (Numididae) were formerly sometimes included in this family, but are now typically placed in families of their own; conversely, grouse and turkeys, formerly often treated as distinct families, are now known to be deeply nested within Phasianidae, so they are now included in the present family.
The American Water Spaniel is a breed of spaniel which originated in the United States. It was developed in the state of Wisconsin during the 19th century from a number of other breeds, including the Irish and English Water Spaniels. The breed was saved by Dr. Fred J. Pfeifer, who set up the breed club and standard, and whose work led to recognition for the breed by the United Kennel Club, and later, the American Kennel Club. While they are the state dog of Wisconsin, they remain a rare breed.
The ruffed grouse is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only species in the genus Bonasa.
The red-legged partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is sometimes known as French partridge, to distinguish it from the English or grey partridge. The genus name is from Ancient Greek alektoris a farmyard chicken, and rufa is Latin for red or rufous.
A retriever is a type of gun dog that retrieves game for a hunter. Generally gun dogs are divided into three major classifications: retrievers, flushing spaniels, and pointing breeds. Retrievers were bred primarily to retrieve birds or other prey and return them to the hunter without damage; retrievers are distinguished in that nonslip retrieval is their primary function. As a result, retriever breeds are bred for soft mouths and a great willingness to please, learn, and obey. A soft mouth refers to the willingness of the dog to carry game in its mouth without biting into it. "Hard mouth" is a serious fault in a hunting dog and is very difficult to correct. A hard-mouthed dog renders game unpresentable or at worst inedible.
Gun dogs or bird dogs are types of hunting dogs developed to assist hunters in finding and retrieving game, typically various fowls that are shot down on the flight. The term hunting dog is broad and includes all breeds and skills of hunting canines, but "gun dogs" refers to canines that are trained to work alongside a loud firearm while hunting or retrieving game. Gun dogs are divided into three main categories: pointers and retrievers, setters and spaniels, and water dogs.
Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products, for recreation ("sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, though most are terrestrial mammals and birds. Fish caught non-commercially are also referred to as game fish.
The Drentsche Patrijshond is a versatile spaniel-type hunting dog from the Dutch province of Drenthe. Called the Dutch Partridge Dog in English, approximately 5,000 dogs are registered with the breed club in the Netherlands, and breed clubs operate in Belgium, Denmark, Scandinavia and North America. The Drentsche Patrijshond bears some resemblance to both spaniel and setter types of dog. An excellent pointer and retriever, this dog is often used to hunt fowl and adapts equally well to the field or marshes.
The Small Münsterländer is a versatile hunting-pointing-retrieving dog breed that reached its current form in the area around Münster, Germany. The Large Münsterländer is from the same area, but was developed from different breeding stock and is not related as the names would suggest. Small Münsterländers bear a resemblance to both spaniels and setters but are more versatile while hunting on land and water. The Small Münsterländer is recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale under Group 7, Section 1.2, Continental Pointing Dogs of Spaniel type, by the American Kennel Club as a Foundation Stock Service breed, and by The Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club as a gun dog. It is related to the Epagneul Français and the Drentsche Patrijshond.
The Boykin Spaniel is a medium-sized breed of dog, a Spaniel bred for hunting wild turkeys and ducks in the Wateree River Swamp of South Carolina, in the United States. It is the state dog of South Carolina, where it was discovered and further developed by hunters in the early through mid 1900s. September 1 is Boykin Spaniel Day in South Carolina, originally established in 1984.
Waterfowl hunting is the practice of hunting aquatic birds such as ducks, geese and other waterfowls or shorebirds for sport and meat. Waterfowl are hunted in crop fields where they feed, or in areas with bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, ponds, wetlands, sloughs, or coasts. There are around 3 million waterfowl hunters in the United States alone.
Upland game bird is an American term which refers to non-waterfowl game birds in groundcover-rich terrestrial ecosystems above wetlands and riparian zones, which are commonly hunted with gun dogs.
In the United Kingdom, the term hunting with no qualification generally refers to hunting with hounds, e.g. normally fox hunting, stag (deer) hunting, beagling, or minkhunting, whereas shooting is the shooting of game birds. What is called deer hunting elsewhere is deer stalking. According to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) over a million people a year participate in shooting, including stalking, shooting, hunting, clay shooting and target shooting. Firearm ownership is regulated in the UK by licensing. Provisions exist for those without a Firearm or Shotgun certificate to shoot under the supervision of a certificate holder.
Romania has a long history of hunting and remains a remarkable hunting destination, drawing many hunters because of its large numbers of brown bears, wolves, wild boars, red deer, and chamois. The concentration of brown bears in the Carpathian Mountains of central Romania is largest in the world and contains half of all Europe's population, except Russia.
Australia has a population of about 26 million while the Commonwealth Government estimating there are 640,000 recreational hunters in the country. There are around 6 million legally owned guns in Australia, ranging from airguns to single-shot, bolt-action, pump-action, lever-action or semi-automatic firearms.
Pheasant shooting is the sport of hunting the common pheasant. It takes place primarily in the United Kingdom, but is also practised in other parts of the world. The shooting of game birds is carried out using a shotgun, often 12 and 20 bore or a .410, sometimes on land managed by a gamekeeper.
Athos Rodolfo Giorgio Alessandro Menaboni was an Italian-born American artist who spent the bulk of his career in Atlanta, Georgia.