ORIGINAL: newpuppy
I've never handled a gun, so I'm going to look into taking a lot of safety courses and doing my homework first. I did read that people occasionally pick up grouse by slingshot, though.
where do you live? its rather hard to get close enough to a pheasant or bobwhite quail to shoot one with a slingshot, but a blue(scaled) quail will run on ya and give you a good opportunity to shoot one...
i prefer the lead slinging option of a shotgun
best place to learn is to get out in the field and do it... if you don't feel comfy with a gun quite yet, just tag along with some people, you don't have to have a gun to learn!