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

stubblejumper said:
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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It wouldn't hurt most guys to hit a patterning board and see what their shotgun likes. My findings were that tight chokes with lead shot #4 and bigger would often pattern poorly. Can't beat smaller shot for killing average sized game birds and most barrels throw 7 1/2 very nicely at any constriction. As said, I witnessed a bajillon fat mallards killed graveyard dead at decoy ranges with simple 7 1/2 "standard loads"...as they were called years ago.
 
shoota said:
7 1/2 in 20 gauge, I was shooting 7 1/2 in 12 but I find 20 gauge just as good, it's pretty easy to kill grouse.
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I shoot the vast majority of my upland birds with a 28 gauge. I generally use #6 though, because I purchased a few flats of Fiocchi Golden Pheasant in #6 at a great price a few years ago. The #7-1/2 was on backorder at the time, or I would have purchased #7-1/2 as well, at that price. I was using the 28 gauge for pheasant again yesterday, and the birds were hitting the ground just as dead as the people using the heavier shot charges of larger shot. And I find grouse much easier to kill than pheasant, even released pheasants.
 
Grouse are not something I target. Mostly "road swatting"(good term), while traveling big game hunting. My go to has been a 410 Uplander SxS, with #7.5/8. 410 even with #6 just has too few pellets, and big holes with a half ounce load.

Years ago I used old model 12, handloaded super wimpy Partridge poppers....for road swatting.
 
Ruffys on the wing are the king of game birds, on the ground there about as challenging as stocked trout ponds, released pheasant, September 1 egg shell on head Huns and Sharptails.

pass the 6s and 5s please.
 
Jonny5 said:
Stubble jumper? 7 1/2 is great for ground swatting, you just aim high right.... lmao
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Way back when I used to ground swat ruffed grouse with a 410, I just aimed high, and no meat was ruined. These days, I don't even look for ruffed grouse, as I prefer huns, sharptails or pheasants.
 
When ground swatting a Grouse with a .410 I aimed for the head .
Same as when they where in the trees looking down at me, covered the head with the bead and bang, flop... thud.
Leave the 2's at home or save them for the geese.
Rob
 
stubblejumper said:
Way back when I used to ground swat ruffed grouse with a 410, I just aimed high, and no meat was ruined. These days, I don't even look for ruffed grouse, as I prefer huns, sharptails or pheasants.
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Way back? Like 2yrs ago? I guess ruffies on the wing don't compare to chicks with egg shells on their head or chicken coup roosters...
 
When I walk through the woods with a shotgun for 6-8kms....only flushing 2-3 grouse a day maybe 75-100 yards away and never even pull the trigger...I find #7-1/2s to be just fine. :) lol When I started grouse hunting maybe 10 years ago, I shot 2 birds in the first 5 minutes of the hunt (in 2 shots with my trusty old 11-48) I thought "this grouse thing is easy". Got 1-3 birds every outing and things have just gone downhill every since. Didn't even hunt them last fall, shot nothing in 3 outings the year before.

However....

always #7-1/2 whether it was a 12 or a 20ga. I was using. 7-1/2 in a long MOD choke barrel the 12 if I was in a spot where long-ish shots are likely to be part of the day. 20ga. CYL in a 21" barrel in the thickest bush. Last bird I shot was with that set-up from quite some distance. 1 pellet to the breast (easy to find/cut-out) and what looked like a few to the noggin. Cleanest kill yet.
 
Jonny5 said:
Way back? Like 2yrs ago? I guess ruffies on the wing don't compare to chicks with egg shells on their head or chicken coup roosters...
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Way back like 40 years ago, when I was growing up in Saskatchewan. I used to shoot quite a few after school, back then, but on weekends we still preferred to hunt sharptails. I started the season this year with sharptails, and my favorite is still Hungarian Partridges. Ruffed grouse populations are poor in my area, so I don't bother with them.
 
stubblejumper said:
Way back like 40 years ago, when I was growing up in Saskatchewan. I used to shoot quite a few after school, back then, but on weekends we still preferred to hunt sharptails. I started the season this year with sharptails, and my favorite is still Hungarian Partridges. Ruffed grouse populations are poor in my area, so I don't bother with them.
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Aren't those Huns fun to hunt...turn a seasoned birdshooter into a jumble of nerves :))
 
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