GUNS Magazine October 1956

WEST COAST COUSIN OF EXTINCT PASSENGER PIGEON
IS ONE OF MOST SPORTING SHOTGUN TARGETS IN U.S.
By FRANCIS SELL
E FLIES like a snipe but has the speed of a frightened
H canvas back. Quite often he acts for all the world like
a ruffed grouse. And he is about the size of a greenwing
teal. Add all those characteristics up and you have a West
Coast bandtail pigeon, probably one of the most sporting
shotgun targets on the North American continent. The
bandtail, like the passenger pigeon, migrates-coming
north in the spring and turning south with the first frosts
in autumn. From September on through late October, depending
on whether you hunt him in Washington, Oregon
or California, he is the upland game bird you dream about
-the most unpredictable in the field today.
If the problem of selecting just the right shotgun for
ducks is complicated, then selecting just the right scattergun
for bandtail pigeon is almost impossible. Take a highflying
gamebird as big as a greenwing teal that behaves
erratically like a snipe, and there are not too many shotguns
suitable for such shooting, nor too many gunners who will
turn in a good field performance on such game. A light
shotgun is indicated-one with which you can get on that
twisting, turning target with dispatch.
But the only sticker is, you have also a game bird which
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Erratic, speedy bandtail pigeon which
moves slowly or in dazzling bursts of
speed will tax expert wing shot's abil-
ity with very difficult overhead shots.