Hello Socrates

I don't personally much care for the idea of the canned hunt, but it does perform the function of keeping city people from scaring game and getting lost in the mountains.

Tom

rwj, here in Alberta if you are going to hunt bison (fair chase hunt) you'll be going East of High Level and West of Ft.Macmurray. There are oil lease and lumber roads in there, but for the big bulls (going way back in), it's either snowmobile or helicopter. One of my friends did this a couple of years ago, said it was a great hunt (nearest town was about 150 miles away) but getting the bull out was an expensive proposition. he said he would do it again, though. - Dan

The only canned hunt I've been on is at the grocery store. Not to say that it's not here, but I've never heard of any canned hunts in this part of Missouri.

My company took our client quail hunting last year. It was a pretty neat experience for awhile, but it was one of these canned hunts.

The host had a 4x4 crew cab with a large front deck on the front, with two swivel-type bass boat chairs. You sat on that while he drove you around looking for one of the hundreds (literally) of quail he had released that morning. The hawks ate most of them, and when we would see one, he would have to go over and slap at them with a stick just to make them fly up to be shot.

I learned several important things about quail hunting:

-> don't shoot more than your boss or the client.

-> Don't remove the plug and chamber load the ugly old combat-style shotgun you were given, because it is somehow bad to blast away with 8 rounds when all they have are fancy over-unders.

-> Don't get bored and start shooting at targets.

-> Don't criticize them for not wanting the birds afterwards, because the guide will be thrilled that you actually want to learn how to dress them and cook them. You will end up with dozens.

-> Don't yell "who's yore daddy!" when you tag one on the wing twice before it hits the ground.

-> Don't play frisbee with the dogs.

-> Don't suggest that instead of releasing and shooting them, you just butcher all of them and drink beer. It is somehow unsporting and uncouth.

-> Don't suggest that the client obviously couldn't hit the ground and would be better served if you all just loaded up and made a trip across the border to chase senoritas.

-> tip the guide. At $5,000 a head, it is hard to make a living.

-> Don't suggest that you take some gasoline and a garden sprayer along in case you find a rattlesnake den. Real hunters are not interested in snakeskins, they want challenging and dangerous game like farm raised quail.

-> Don't suggest that it would be more fun to use pistols. Only a crack shot could hit a sitting quail at 20 yards, and again, it is unsporting to use anything other than a combat-style 12 gage, unless you are the boss or the client, then you need a custom engraved over-under.

-> Don't shoot at the hawks. Don't even suggest it. They are there to be fed by the hundreds of farm-raised quail and provide competition to the hunter.

-> Don't suggest that the others are pussies because they drink the imported high-dollar beer. Just be glad they are leaving the lone star for you and count your blessings.

-> don't belch loudly from drinking beer, or you will not be allowed to hunt. They will make you drive instead.

-> if you are forced to drive, don't suggest that you "see what this baby will do on those hills".

-> don't get fancy and play with the 12gage flares that you brought along for fun. Leave them at home. Quail hunting is a serious effort, and besides, they tend to scare the hawks.

-> don't try and talk anyone into drag racing you in the rental cars. Minivans are not meant to be drag raced on open deserted stretches of highway where the last car to pass by was a day ago.

-> On the return flight home, if you have done everything correctly, you will have a whole mess of frozen birds in your suitcase. Be sure and check your bag, because it causes a commotion when they go through the X-ray machine.

I don't think I would do it again unless they forced me, but I'm glad I did it. I learned so much from it, as you can see