A tower "hunt" is very challenging with released birds? Really? Are the "hunters" blindfolded?

Europeans can have it. I'd rather go hunting with my dog.

It's too bad that you're not willing to try a tower shoot before dismissing it as not very challenging. It's much harder for even accomplished shots to bring down high birds with a tail wind than anything over a point (which I love too and am not demeaning). Several of us use our dogs for retrieving and then take them in the woods after the shoot to pick up dead birds and shoot a few survivors over points. Having over 22k birds in my journal, I'm very familiar with all the ways they can be taken and see nothing unsporting about a well put together tower shoot. Naturally we dog guys prefer wild birds but this fills a void when that isn't possible for whatever reason. I respect everyone's right to choose but can't help thinking you and your dog are missing a very good time.

"I'D RATHER GO HUNTING WITH MY DOG"
ABSOLUTELY,AND I AGREE WITH 'OLDBIRDHNTR' ABOUT THE CHALLENGE OF SHARPENING YOUR TALENT AND OPTIMIZING SKILLS OF GUN AND SPORT TO REWARD OUR DOGS IN THE HUNT.

I go several times a season to a nearby preserve with friends to hunt over dogs. We hunt mostly chukar and quail and the occasional pheasant. They also offer tower shoots , although I have never participated in one. As was stated above , there are usually around 20 participants. One morning , there was a tower shoot going on while we were hunting in a nearby field. Our guide told us to be aware of the adjacent treeline as several birds would escape and most likely head our way. There was a lot of shooting going on. We saw several birds come over the trees very high , but only managed to bag one. Our guide also told us to keep an eye out for the "money bird". He said in the "old days" , they used to release a white pheasant at random and whoever killed it would get the "pot". Nowadays , he says they tie a piece of landscaping ribbon to its leg. He said sometimes the arguing gets pretty heated over who actually shot the bird. I would say a heavy 20 gauge load would do the job , but I would go with a 12 just to be sure. Now , what would be neat is if they would hold an all double barreled shoot , or a vintage shoot.

A Tower Shoot is a draw for some folks...always will be.
Especially in areas where wild bird opportunities are gone, reduced or require a Gazeteer and Superslab to access.
At times, those shoots may be for some folks who are challenged, either as regards Time or physical issues that makes hunting less possible.
Maybe, they are often only opportunities to imagined a driven bird shoot or a sound reason to use a fine scattergun.
Many reasons, I reckon but any imagined challenge or sport or difficulty is likely related to the shoot boss and his layout and mindset.

Any ethics would be best viewed in any escaped or most certainly, wounded bird numbers.....but those numbers can always be explained or justified and the validity of each is based upon which end of the stick one holds....and again, always will be.

"Challenging", when used with live birds, seems the worst reason to participate in the canned event to me as challenging can be found with the more difficult clay games w/o the potential downsides.
As well, not all live birds are challenging so that is a p-poor reason to tap a trigger on a live bird....slippery slope that.
Woodcock tired from migration are far from challenging and a Preserve pheasant swatted before his landing gear is raised....pretty unchallenging.
The challenge as a good reason, much like raising money or attention in RGS ruffed grouse hunting contests,....bad idea that kids love.

Sadly, this perennial message board issue normally comes down to the silly idea of supporting fellow hunters or shooters as Job #1, rather than to looking at the practice in the light of reality....or, to realizing it's existence is to further the income to an organization.

I suspect that tower shoots can be carried out well and that they can also be an example of the worst in individual attitude and decision.
Let's simply hope we each never have to defend the worst in attitude and decision to those just looking for a crack in the wall.
That could make a tower shoot "challenging" to those forced to explain and that is unfair and, perhaps, selfish....certainly, self-focused.

Kind of like a religion isn't it?

^ What !?

I thought this is kind a UN sportsman like thing at first, Like the Argentina dove hunts, did some research though before I said anything. Like the Argentina dove hunts, there are good reasons to offer and go shoot these kinds of things.

Argentina, the doves are a real problem, and if it wasn't for the guys going down there and shooting away, the birds would be poisoned along with all the other birds that live there. So more power to the guys going down there having fun.

The tower shoot is a way to get rid of the last of the pheasants for the year, they won’t last the rest of the year on their own, the birds will fight and kill each other in a pen, and some will be starved to death because other birds won’t let them eat. And if let loose would not make it and it attracts unwanted predators to the clubs.

Besides that, the investment the club owner has in getting these birds, and feeding them, the best way to recoup some of that is to hold these shoots. It’s not my cup of tea, either the Argentina thing or a tower shoot, but more power to those that enjoy it. I would like the idea of hunting up the ones that were missed with my dogs though.

So from what I saw, a 20 gauge would work just fine, but it is an excuse to go buy that nice 12 you have been looking at

Mike

A Tower (or European) Shoot is just that. It is not a Hunt! And it is not intended to be a Hunt. If you think it is a hunt, you are misinformed.

That said, a well run Tower Shoot can make for a very pleasant day. It is best if you shoot with a group of friends or acquaintances with whom you are comfortable and can handle some some good natured kidding.

We genrally shoot in the morning then break for lunch. In the afternoon we have a clean-up "hunt" with our dogs and pretty much kill the birds that escaped the morning "shoot" and recover most of the cripples. In my own case, I make sure my dog and I are accompanied by at least one very good shooter (I am not). My dog, a Boykin, averages finding ten birds in roughly ninety minutes: flushing four or five and running down the others.

I view the day as a social event and thoroughly enjoy the experience. When I was younger, I looked down my nose at these things becuse I considered them unsporting. Times change: As do our viewpoints.

R.

In the early 60's I was a kid and witnessed a tower shoot and the only shooter was a movie star. Sorry, his name escapes me but the details don't. He used a few hay bales as a blind and missed most of the ducks that flew over. It was a hot day and there was a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce parked behind the bales with AC and engine running. Inside the car was chauffeur and a women in furs. The movie star had a Lab that didn't retrieve very well and had to be coaxed. After what seemed like a long time, he loaded the dog and got into the car and the chauffeur drove away, sans ducks.

On a 250 bird shoot, with 25 guns, how many times can you expect to shoot? I've got my first one Saturday. I've hunted behind dogs for 45 years, but never done a tower shoot.

That all depends - if you are standing in the hot spot, you might get a lot of shooting in; one reason they typically rotate positions - same for high driven pheasant (which is what the tower shoot is trying to replicate)

On the one I went to a couple years ago, they gave us two boxes of shells each - I used exactly one box (one could get more if needed). I bagged 7 outright, and me and my "pegmate" collaborated on 3 or 4. It was definitely a fun morning. I'd say my shooting was average for the 25 shooters, because each shooter took home 7 birds. There were 10 launched per shooter.

Favored flight paths seemed to depend on the wind and sun angle/position - the rotation makes it fair, and everyone seemed to have about equal opportunities. Shooting was between about 9 am and 1130 am.

W

It isn't a "Tower Hunt", it is a "Tower SHOOT"; obviously you have no clue as to how these run. Walk-up/rough-shooting/upland hunting is NOT the same thing

Heck if chickens flew I'd shoot then instead of using a hatchet to lop off their heads.

Make a huge slingshot with surgical tubing and have someone launch then in the air!

I have done tower shoot of pheasants and pigeons probably 10 times. It is a blast, it is not hunting, it is shooting.
I always shoot a 12 ga, semi auto. For shells, I use 1 1/8 ounce #6 at about 1250 fps.

I think those chokes with high brass #5's would be great. A kid beside me the other week shot a few beside his dad with his brand new 20 semi auto shooting 7 1/2 low brass. Little guy but he could shoot!

Reminds me of something I saw as a young man. My dad and I were pheasant hunting and shot our limits in the morning. We stopped at a little restaurant to have lunch and a guy outside was selling live pheasants. A couple of guys bought four pheasants and the seller put them in a burlap feed sack. The two guys went over to the field next door and took turns shaking a bird out of the bag for his partner to shoot...and, they missed all four birds!

They went back and bought four more. This time, they set the tied up bag in the field and each fired a pair of shots into it, dispatching the pheasants...which they proudly loaded into the trunk of their car. They did return the burlap sack to the seller before driving away.

Makes about as much sense to me as a "tower shoot." Sorry.

Not even close; that's more like ground sluicing the birds by a bale of alfalfa. Tower shoots, if done properly, replicate high driven pheasants shooting. Those birds can get to heights of 60-70 yards - a lot further than someone using a dog.
Looked at another way, using a dog to hunt is more like your example with the burlap sack as the birds don't have much of a chance to get away by using a dog to find them.