Small Game & Bird Hunting: every species, season, and tactic

Pick a species

• Wild Turkey — Cheap tags, dawn woods full of gobbling, and a shotgun hunt that rewards patience and calling more than gear.
• Ring-Necked Pheasant — Walking miles of grass behind a good dog for the single loudest flush in bird hunting — with over-the-counter tags and cheap access.
• Ruffed Grouse — Walking young aspen and alder cover with a dog for the single hardest wingshot in North American hunting.
• Sharp-Tailed Grouse — Wide prairie walks behind a dog for a bird that flushes in groups and offers rolling-country wingshooting few hunters ever try.
• Chukar Partridge — Steep canyon country, running coveys, and a physical test that separates chukar hunters from everyone else in wingshooting.
• Northern Bobwhite Quail — Pointing dogs locking up on a covey, then an explosive close flush — the quintessential Southern upland hunting tradition.
• Mourning Dove — A social opening-day tradition, a small fast target, and the single most-harvested game bird in the country every year.
• Mallard — Sunrise in a duck blind, decoys bobbing on cold water, and greenheads finishing into range — the classic American waterfowl hunt.
• Wood Duck — Tight timber shooting, a squealing whistle call, and one of the most colorful birds any hunter will ever carry out of the woods.
• Canada Goose — Big skeins of geese finishing into a field decoy spread — one of the most technical and rewarding setups in all of waterfowl hunting.
• Sandhill Crane — A large, wary migratory bird hunted over grain stubble with a special permit system and a reputation as the best-tasting bird in waterfowl hunting.
• Eastern Cottontail Rabbit — Cheap tags, forgiving seasons, and a beagle chorus in the brush — one of the most approachable hunts for new hunters of any age.
• Snowshoe Hare — A true winter hunt in northern conifer swamps — snowshoes, baying dogs, and a hare that turns invisible against fresh snow.
• Eastern Gray Squirrel — Sitting dead still under a hickory or oak with a .22, learning to hear the woods before you ever see game — the foundational small-game hunt.
• Raccoon — A night hunt built around hound music, headlamps, and the distinctive sound of a dog changing its bark from trailing to treed.
• Coyote — Year-round hunting, minimal licensing, and one of the sharpest tests of calling skill and patience in North American hunting.