12 Ga 2 3/4" #7 1/2 Shot For Upland Birds

Back when lead was legal for migratory game I used one shot size #4. It seemed to work for everything from rabbits, grouse and ducks. I still use #4 and sometimes #4 as I prefer those for rabbits and they work quite well on grouse. If I aim just above the head I usually get no more then 1 pellet in the breast if any. 4,6,7 + I find you just end up with lot's of pellets in the flesh for both rabbits or grouse.
 
Thanks all. The 7 1/2's are loaded up for next week. I will see how they do, or should I say, we'll see how good I'll do if I see any birds. There are still lots of leaves, so will have to look carefully on the ground.
 
stubblejumper said:
I have killed enough sharptails at 40-50 yards with #7-1/2, and enough pheasants with #6, that I wouldn't even bother with anything larger. #2 works well for 13-14lb geese, and is way larger than required on upland birds.
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Without a dog? Come on now, the birds will hear the Hunter coming yards ahead. I have had birds break at 75 yards when hunting on foot while with dogs they would break at 50 feet. No sir, long range shooting requires heavy loads especially when on foot and while with dogs shorter shots are possible, at least in the areas I hunt. Our birds in Saskatchewan are wild and alert to movement and noise. Try heavy loads as a test at 50 yards and beyond.
 
Wilbur1005 said:
Without a dog? Come on now, the birds will hear the Hunter coming yards ahead. I have had birds break at 75 yards when hunting on foot while with dogs they would break at 50 feet. No sir, long range shooting requires heavy loads especially when on foot and while with dogs shorter shots are possible, at least in the areas I hunt. Our birds in Saskatchewan are wild and alert to movement and noise. Try heavy loads as a test at 50 yards and beyond.
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Yes without a dog. I grew up in Saskatchewan, and we hunted sharptailed grouse without a dog for many years. We never used any shot larger than #6, and we usually used #7-1/2. We had no trouble killing sharptails at 40 to 50 yards. Even without a dog, we had many birds flush at 20-30 yards, and sometimes so close that they would startle you when they flushed. If the birds flush at 50 yards, they will be 60 -70 yards by the time you shoot them, and patterns with #2 at those distances are too sparse to guarantee pellets in the vitals of smaller birds like sharptails.
 
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Wilbur1005 said:
Without a dog? Come on now, the birds will hear the Hunter coming yards ahead. I have had birds break at 75 yards when hunting on foot while with dogs they would break at 50 feet. No sir, long range shooting requires heavy loads especially when on foot and while with dogs shorter shots are possible, at least in the areas I hunt. Our birds in Saskatchewan are wild and alert to movement and noise. Try heavy loads as a test at 50 yards and beyond.
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#2's on grouse is ridiculous... you say for "long range" flushing, but at long range you are loosing pattern density with the large shot and will cripple and miss birds inside the pattern. I agree with Stubblejumper... #6 lead will do everything that is required on grouse as far as shotguns are feasible... over dogs or walking them up makes no difference. Adjust the choke, not the load. IMO.
 
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No. You have to use some exotic, $40 a box stuff that most stores have never handled. :p

I've hunted upland for nearly 50 years with pretty much all the common stuff. Good old Imperial Special Long Range, Canuck, Gevelot, Canadian Tire stuff, you name it. I've smoked my fair share of Prairie Chicken and bush partridge with my trusty old Savage 24H-DL, both with .22 and 20 ga. I used my Dad's old Tobin double for years as well. :)
 
7.5 target loads work very well on Ruffies in my experience. Lately I shoot steel 6's on them and released pheasant (and closer range ducks)
 
My pet 12ga grouse load is 1oz of #6 in a Federal Paper hull, sitting on top of 18.7gr of 700-x in 12S0 wad lite off with a Fed.209A, it spits out the business end of my skeet choke at 1220fps. I switch to #5 after grouse season closes and pursuing Snowshoe Hares. I'm yet to see a reason to switch from this. Most grouse will be shot under 35yrds, #7 1/2 or 6 is more than adequate for the task.
 
A 12 ga. 2-3/4" 1-1/8 oz. # 7-1/2 "standard" Trap load (either 2-3/4 or 3 dram equiv.) will work just fine on grouse.

My favourite 12 ga. load since around 1970 has been a handload of 1 oz. of 8's at around 1200 fps for grouse & woodcock, and have lately been
shooting a 24 gram load ( ... just less than 7/8 oz. - Kent Internationals ) of 8-1/2's at 1250 fps. Work just fine. Have also used standard Skeet loads of # 9's for
woodcock and the odd incidental grouse when primarily after woodcock has not known the difference. They have been bagged just as well with 9's ....as 8-1/2's, 8's or 7-1/2's.

Neither grouse nor woodcock are tough to kill.

"Standard" low-based target loads of 7-1/2 - 9 all work very well, be they in 12, 16, 20 or 28 ga.
 
I reload a 2.75" 1.5oz #4 (lead) magnum load for all my upland game. Originally when lead was legal in Sask here it doubled as our Goose/Duck & Pheasant load. Should any Sharpies or Patridges flush we tend to let them fly a bit before shooting. When we hunt Ruffed/Spruce Grouse up north I normally use a .410 with 4's-6's.

7.5's should be fine. It'd be great to either pattern your gun/load on a patterning board so you have an idea how it patterns at various distances as well as get a couple of rounds of clays under your belt before season starts. Good luck! :)
 
Bluedevil25;14091729[B said:
]I reload a 2.75" 1.5oz #4 (lead) magnum load for all my upland game.[/B] Originally when lead was legal in Sask here it doubled as our Goose/Duck & Pheasant load. Should any Sharpies or Patridges flush we tend to let them fly a bit before shooting. When we hunt Ruffed/Spruce Grouse up north I normally use a .410 with 4's-6's.

7.5's should be fine. It'd be great to either pattern your gun/load on a patterning board so you have an idea how it patterns at various distances as well as get a couple of rounds of clays under your belt before season starts. Good luck! :)
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Slight "upland overkill" Mark?!! Or are you hunting Jurassic Park?! I can't say I blame you for packing that heavy though. I have watched the Jurassic series and the coloured guy always gets eaten first! ;)
 
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Bluedevil25 said:
I reload a 2.75" 1.5oz #4 (lead) magnum load for all my upland game. Originally when lead was legal in Sask here it doubled as our Goose/Duck & Pheasant load. Should any Sharpies or Patridges flush we tend to let them fly a bit before shooting. When we hunt Ruffed/Spruce Grouse up north I normally use a .410 with 4's-6's.

7.5's should be fine. It'd be great to either pattern your gun/load on a patterning board so you have an idea how it patterns at various distances as well as get a couple of rounds of clays under your belt before season starts. Good luck! :)
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Likewise on the Ruffed and Spruce grouse. I use nothing bigger than a 410 when hunting up north........they sure taste great in camp!
 
the spank said:
Slight "upland overkill" Mark?!! Or are you hunting Jurassic Park?! I can't say I blame you for packing that heavy though. I have watched the Jurassic series and the coloured guy always gets eaten first! ;)
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Then damn Velociraptor Pheasants in SE Sask can be tough to take down that's why the extra firepower is a welcome addition lol. It's getting harder to duplicate that load with older components as the Win Red Wads are now discontinued but there is a Claybuster replacement and the powders are getting discontinued or hard to come by. I have a bit of Win 571 and HS7 but once those are gone I'll have to tap into my Blue Dot and Longshot, hehehe.
 
Bluedevil25 said:
Then damn Velociraptor Pheasants in SE Sask can be tough to take down that's why the extra firepower is a welcome addition lol. It's getting harder to duplicate that load with older components as the Win Red Wads are now discontinued but there is a Claybuster replacement and the powders are getting discontinued or hard to come by. I have a bit of Win 571 and HS7 but once those are gone I'll have to tap into my Blue Dot and Longshot, hehehe.
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When lead was allowed for waterfowl I used to load a 1 3/8 oz load of copper plated 5's into a Federal Gold Medal hull with a Remington RP12 wad seated over top of 34.0 grains of IMR SR4756 powder and ignited by a Federal 209 primer. The advertised velocity of the load was 1365fps. Out of my Model 12 28" barrel I averaged 1345 fps over the chronograph and about the same out of my 27" barreled 101. They were an awesome load that patterned beautifully. I preferred the RP12 wad to the WW12R wad as the Rem had a deeper shot cup and all the shot was contained within it, none protruding above. It made for much more even density patterns as well as limiting fliers on the fringes. It was however a little too stiff of a load for grouse. In those days I shot grouse with a Win 101 28ga which I should never have sold!! :bangHead:
 
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