Rifles for Birds?

[HappySonny]

Just wondering if rifles can be used to hunt birds? Has anyone ever tried?
Any feedback is appreciated

[thundergrey]

upland only.

grouse heads pop off very well with a .22 (dont you hollow point if you hit the body there isnt too much left)

It is unlawful to:

hunt a migratory game bird using:
-a firearm loaded with a single bullet
-lead shot
-a cross-bow

hunt any game bird using:
-a shotgun in which the magazine and chamber combined will hold more than three rounds of ammunition,
-a trap, or
-bait.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by HappySonny

Just wondering if rifles can be used to hunt birds? Has anyone ever tried?
Any feedback is appreciated

Partridge only with rifles.
It's a lot more fun shooting them on the fly with a shotgun however....
Cat

[snow goose]

I use an adaptor called the game getter. It uses a hilti cartrige and a single buckshot tapped through a die to fit the cartrige. works great http://www3.telus.net/gamegetter/

[thundergrey]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

It's a lot more fun shooting them on the fly with a shotgun however....
Cat

And safer. Not the greatest idea to shoot a rifle up at a bird. Not only will you probably never hit it you could kill someone off in the distance. A .22 will do what a mile or something like that?

[ABDUKNUT]

Originally Posted by HappySonny

Just wondering if rifles can be used to hunt birds?

Mostly, no. Birds were invented, to be shot with shotguns.

Some bumbling savages hunt grouse with .22's, but this practice really should be relegated to women and children only.

[thundergrey]

Originally Posted by ABDUKNUT

Some bumbling savages hunt grouse with .22's, but this practice really should be relegated to women and children only.

Haha hey now! .22 shells are cheap! And you don't get those pesky lead pellets between your teath when you eat em!

[Deemoss]

if your question is whether or not rifles kill birds, then the answer's yes... is it legal, i'm sure it's not for migratory birds, but not sure of the rest... is it safe... probably not; unless you're using an air rifle... is it ethical.. depends on the situation

[joe-nwt]

Originally Posted by ABDUKNUT

Mostly, no. Birds were invented, to be shot with shotguns.

Some bumbling savages hunt grouse with .22's, but this practice really should be relegated to women and children only.

Yep. If your skills are so poor you can't hit them with a single projectile, you are much better off with a shotgun. Pretty soon, as hunter's skills continue to deteriorate, we will be back to the 8guage shotguns......

don't forget crows, magpies and ravens......oops..

[shortaction]

Yep.

I use a 22lr all the time for grouse.

Nice light firearm and if you run into a flock you can usually shoot your limit as the muzzle report is light enough it doesn't spook them.

Sure improves your off hand shooting also.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by thundergrey

upland only.

grouse heads pop off very well with a .22 (dont you hollow point if you hit the body there isnt too much left)

From the regs, you COULD use a rifle on migratory waterfowl. You just can't use a single shot. Oh, and it couldn't be a bullet with lead. Perhaps one of those nifty barnes numbers?

[hal53]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

From the regs, you COULD use a rifle on migratory waterfowl. You just can't use a single shot. Oh, and it couldn't be a bullet with lead. Perhaps one of those nifty barnes numbers?

think the regs say single "projectile".....

[tbosch]

My grandfather shot grouse and partridge with his 22 from 8 years old until his mid 80's. He was an incredible shot and almost always got them on the first shot. He had such an eye for grouse in the bush he would usually have head shot most grouse before my dad or I even saw them. I didn't see anything savage about what he was doing at all. Obiously you dont take fly shots at them with a rimfire but what harm does a ground shot do? No different than spudding gophers IMO.

tbosch...nice sturgeon...Manitoba?

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by hal53

think the regs say single "projectile".....

nope, they say "single bullet". If you have one in the chamber and at least one in the mag yer golden. I mean, I don't know why you would, but it seems to say you could, legally.

[tbosch]

Originally Posted by Precisionshooter

tbosch...nice sturgeon...Manitoba?

Thanks precision. That came out of the fraser river near mission b.c.

[Tredeb]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

nope, they say "single bullet". If you have one in the chamber and at least one in the mag yer golden. I mean, I don't know why you would, but it seems to say you could, legally.

Looks pretty cut and dried to me. From the Act:


(4) A person shall not use or have in the person’s possession for the purpose of hunting migratory game birds anything described in Item 4 of the Schedule.

...

Item 4
Items prohibited for hunting
migratory game birds

1 A rifle.

2 A shotgun loaded with shotgun slugs.

3 Any other firearm using ball cartridges.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by Tredeb

Looks pretty cut and dried to me. From the Act:


(4) A person shall not use or have in the person’s possession for the purpose of hunting migratory game birds anything described in Item 4 of the Schedule.

...

Item 4
Items prohibited for hunting
migratory game birds

1 A rifle.

2 A shotgun loaded with shotgun slugs.

3 Any other firearm using ball cartridges.

Ahhh thank you. Seems the Regulations are not very useful. Have to go to the actual Act to find the right answer. I wonder why the regs are so vague when it would be so easy for them to be specific and clear?

[Tredeb]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Ahhh thank you. Seems the Regulations are not very useful. Have to go to the actual Act to find the right answer. I wonder why the regs are so vague when it would be so easy for them to be specific and clear?

I have often wondered that as well. How much more effort would it take them to say;

It is unlawful to use a rifle or shotgun slug for mig game birds

As opposed to, it is unlawful to use a gun with a single bullet.

One opens up the door for guns with magazines, the other is pretty clear.

There are numerous examples of this in many different regulations and a lot of times, it is in regards to things that are slight nuances between differrent provinces. I remember having confusion on clothing and whether I could shoot upland game birds with a .22 when I moved to Alberta. Since then, I make a habit of verifiing things in the Wildlife Act when I have questions.

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/574.cfm?pag...=9780779738540

You can also fiind the Agricultural pests act there. All good reading and sometimes valuable information to have at your finger tips. Especially the parts about transporting firearms. It is amazing how many people think a gun rack in your back window is illegal.

[MathewsArcher]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

nope, they say "single bullet". If you have one in the chamber and at least one in the mag yer golden. I mean, I don't know why you would, but it seems to say you could, legally.

Is not the bullet the part of the shell or cartridge that is projected from the barrell, so having a shell in the magazine would not suffice?

[Copidosoma]

I think that it is pretty clear that "a single bullet" means one single projectile flying through the air hitting the target. There is no mention of magazines anywhere. I can't imagine someone thinking that "a single bullet" means only one cartridge in the firearm.