upland hunting

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rkr

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How do you guys make sure you shoot a flying bird in the head? The guys I hunt with said they never shoot the body but in my case, even with a lot of practice I still do a full body shot. When I get home to clean the birds I check to see my results and usually the wing(s) and insides are hit.
The head of a grouse is so small that I believe it's almost impossible to do a perfect shot.
 
They are full of Shyte... guys talking about head shooting are ground swatting not wing shooting. Yes, you can increase your lead on a bird, but rarely do you get more than a snap shot on grouse, for the most part they will be in forest or brush not like pheasants or sharptail. Also, increasing your lead will cause more misses so you have to be prepared for that. Use light shot, and an open choke, something like #7 1/2 or #8 with an I/C or Skeet choke... most of the time you are going to be shooting a rising and departing bird, the light shot will most of the time not reach the breast meat if you get on target at 20-30 yards.
 
Hoyt pretty much summed it up. And I agree, if they haven't put a pellet in the body, they are ground swatting or using a .22.

Easier to do head shots on the wing on ducks and geese, but even then, its inevitable that you’ll hit the body. Its impossible to have proper lead 100% of the time. Some birds are faster then others and your shooting distance is never the same. Be happy that you are dropping birds and don't pay much attention to folks who are too full of themselves
 
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rkr said:
How do you guys make sure you shoot a flying bird in the head? The guys I hunt with said they never shoot the body but in my case, even with a lot of practice I still do a full body shot. When I get home to clean the birds I check to see my results and usually the wing(s) and insides are hit.
The head of a grouse is so small that I believe it's almost impossible to do a perfect shot.
Click to expand...

You should offer to take your friend Snipe hunting...
Shotguns are designed by nature to shoot a large number of pellets in a wide pattern as per your discovery cleaning your quarry.
Rob
 
Ask them to show you their birds when they clean them, you’ll know right away they’re bs’ing you. Out where I am it’s primarily ground swatting and you can easily head shoot, when you do get to wing shoot there’s no way you have the luxury of head shots.
 
hoytcanon said:
Use light shot, and an open choke, something like #7 1/2 or #8 with an I/C or Skeet choke... most of the time you are going to be shooting a rising and departing bird, the light shot will most of the time not reach the breast meat if you get on target at 20-30 yards.
Click to expand...
I used #6 Winchester lead the other day on a flying grouse and it was a good hit with lots of feathers coming off but the bird kept flying, didn't drop as I was expecting. I'm afraid to use something heavier, maybe the brand would make a difference.
 
I’ve managed to get a couple flying grouse with a single pellet through the head. And both times I’ve said to the guys with me “that’s how you do it so you don’t wreck any meat”. And then we all laugh and joke about it….. both were nearly misses if we’re being honest, but I’ll take what I can get.
Ground swatting on the other hand….
 
rkr said:
I used #6 Winchester lead the other day on a flying grouse and it was a good hit with lots of feathers coming off but the bird kept flying, didn't drop as I was expecting. I'm afraid to use something heavier, maybe the brand would make a difference.
Click to expand...

You could check the pattern of your shotgun with those shells. But my guess would be that your shot wasn’t as good as you thought. It doesn’t normally take that many pellets to bring a grouse down.
 
In my experience, grouse are not hard to kill if a few pellets get into the head/neck area..
However, as was stated, to hit them in the head only is a measure of luck rather than good shot placement, considering a shot cloud is fired at them!
Cat
 
hoytcanon said:
Use light shot, and an open choke, something like #7 1/2 or #8 with an I/C or Skeet choke... most of the time you are going to be shooting a rising and departing bird, the light shot will most of the time not reach the breast meat if you get on target at 20-30 yards.
Click to expand...

rkr said:
I used #6 Winchester lead the other day on a flying grouse and it was a good hit with lots of feathers coming off but the bird kept flying, didn't drop as I was expecting. I'm afraid to use something heavier, maybe the brand would make a difference.
Click to expand...

7 1/2 is lighter than 6, I don't get your comment?
 
My hunting buddies used to like the ducks I shot, because there were minimal or no pellets in the body.
Either the head or the wing tip. It wasn't because I was head shooting, it was because I missed the body.
 
rkr said:
How do you guys make sure you shoot a flying bird in the head? The guys I hunt with said they never shoot the body but in my case, even with a lot of practice I still do a full body shot. When I get home to clean the birds I check to see my results and usually the wing(s) and insides are hit.
The head of a grouse is so small that I believe it's almost impossible to do a perfect shot.
Click to expand...

My friend back in the day I was running them in skeet fairly regular many times the 100's and I could not or would not even try to shoot them in the head on the wing
Your buds are full it
Cheers
 
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I'VE shot with those guys before,not only is every bird shot only in the head they are the ones that got it,no matter how many guns go off":)
 
It's impossible to predict where the pattern of shot will strike a flying bird.
Certainly we strive for quickest and cleanest kill but nothing is guaranteed.
I remember plopping a fairly energetic teal. The long shot pattern strike on this fast bird sounded like a Mac-10 out of the John Wayne movie McQ.
 
Of the many ducks and geese shot only a few have had pellets in the head or beak.
Nothing to do with exceptional skill, but we sure had a good bravo sierra session till the next flock came by and we missed completely :).
Rob
 
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