22lr and grouse.

I’d just stick to head shots on grouse found in areas with lots of gravel and sand, and just sacrifice the loss of the flushing birds. It’s easy with a scope or aperture sight and ammo doesn’t matter.
I’ve never shot a grouse in the body with anything.
 
I have shot Prairie Chicken, ruffed grouse with a .22 since I was about 13, when my Dad bought me a brand new Cooey 39. Over all those years,all body shots but one. All with solid round nose, short, long, or long rifle. Not sure where the "ruined meat" comes in?? If you use hollow points, for sure ruined meat.
 
hoytcanon said:
On grouse you have two good options for shot placement to save meat... best of course is the head shot, and it is not difficult with a scoped or red dot mounted rimfire rifle, no reason why you can't shoot a nickel every time at 25 meters. In this case, shoot whatever ammo is most accurate for you. The other option is the high back shot on a bird facing away from you. This shot breaks the back and will miss the breast meat. As for bullets, I like CCI Subsonic HP's most of the time, or 45 grain Quiets when big game hunting with folding/takedown rifles.
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You are right, grouse that sit or stand still are very easy to shoot in the head out to 30, 40, maybe 50 yards.

Unfortunately, our Kootenay ruffed grouse do the tuck and dodge moves all while bobbing their heads as if they were
listening to a great Country song. We literally have to time the head bobbing so these birds actually walk right into the bullet......:) LOL

Our grouse get very spooky, very quickly I might ad. This year they were doing the tuck, dodge, and head-bob moves only a few days into the season. Of course out here near Cranbrook, every guy and their dog hunts and shoots grouse......:)

The spruce grouse here on the other hand are so stupid, it's not even a challenge to shoot them, they will stand by while watching their brethren tip over. My wife and I stopped shooting spruce grouse over ten years ago. Blue grouse and ruffed grouse only for us. In addition to being stupid, the spruce grouse have extremely dark red meat and are like eating my hunting socks after a days hike....:)

The blue grouse have nice white meat, or at least until they get very old and or it's close to the end of November. Then the blues can get darker meat as well.

Ruffed grouse on the other hand are absolutely delicious. Their light colored white meat melts in ones mouth when handled properly. In the ole' days as a young man I used to hunt California Quail along the river dikes in the Okanagan Valley. And in the foothills along with Chukars and Hungarian Partridge. The California Quail are the elk/moose meat of game birds. They taste like white meat grouse tenderloin hors d'ouevres.

I remember Ringneck Pheasant, Chukars and Hungarian partridge all taste very similar, still not as good as ruffed grouse and California Quail.

I know some guys like the dark red meat of Spruce grouse, we just don't care for them and they are way too easy to kill. This is probably why the ruffed grouse are so spooky, everybody is trying to kill them!......:) LOL
 
Suther said:
For those considering slingshots in BC, I emailed the BC COS about it just to be sure and they gave me the green light.
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Good to know. I wouldn't have even thought about it until they were asking me. "Honestly officer, it was a rimfire slingshot."
 
When I shoot grouse with a .22 it’s mainly with mini mags or Fed American Eagle, head or neck shoot them @ 30-50m.

Generally though I use a 12g and a mod or full choke and head shoot them, I prefer the shotgun if they’re under 30-40m
 
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Thunderhog said:
Grouse are not as dumb as some people believe. A well hunted grouse, or grouse in an area of huge hunting pressure, they take off at the sight of a vehicle, UTV or quad. When the grouse are pressured, one is lucky to get 50 yards away. That 10-30 yard rule is no longer possible.

Back in the late 1990's, I guided for Kettle River Outfitters in Christian Valley. We had hunters from Pennsylvania, apparently their state grouse are so spooky, they take off at 100 yards away or even farther in some instances. The hunters stated the grouse were tougher to hunt than their WT Deer. When I had them shoot grouse with a Ruger 10/22 at those 10-30 yards distances, they enjoyed this more than shooting their WT bucks.

Grouse that are not hunted, can actually be harvested with a rock or slingshot. I would like to see a hunter try this in Pennsylvania!......:) LOL
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How right you are. I cut my teeth as a kid hunting grouse in northern Alberta. Walking up to within 10-30 yards was the name of the game. Decades later I did a bit of grouse hunting close to Edmonton, and was quite shocked to see them take off 50-60 yards away on many occasions. After that, I really learned what a spooky grouse looked like, when I would run into them from time to time at a pheasant release site. Those grouse were quite certain they were Pennsylvania residents! LOL!

Apparently, they're even worse in Massachusetts. An old school friend of mine went on to become a neurosurgeon and has spent his adult life working in Boston. I remember him calling me one day absolutely ecstatic that he had just shot a grouse -- after 4 years of trying to bag one! Mind you, he did this without a dog, so was certainly handicapping himself. But 4 years?!? What made that call even funnier is that he asked how my season was going. It was October, 1998. That was the year the bird population around Fort McMurray absolutely exploded to levels never seen before. I still have an article from the local paper about the grouse numbers that fall, with Fish & Wildlife estimating a population of over 1 million in a 30 km radius around the town. Back then, the daily bag limit was 10 ruffles and 10 spruce grouse per hunter. My dad and I would go for a walk together, bag 40 birds, and be home in time for breakfast. And no, those birds did not fly off when we got to within 100 yards :)
 
Aim for the wingbutts

Mainline grouse get shot in the wingbutts unless a vehicle can be used as a rest. Spur road grouse get shot in the head or with shotguns from feet away.

I used to use solids for grouse, but switched to flat shooting cci stingers after a few flew away after taking a hit
 
conor_90 said:
Aim for the wingbutts

Mainline grouse get shot in the wingbutts unless a vehicle can be used as a rest. Spur road grouse get shot in the head or with shotguns from feet away.

I used to use solids for grouse, but switched to flat shooting cci stingers after a few flew away after taking a hit
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I've had best success by aiming for the wing butts. Usually drops them on the spot and you can wring the neck if needed.
 
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Wing but… ok that is one term I don’t know or heard of yet, please enlighten me!!
 
mbogo3 said:
There clarification..I do have a buddy with a PCP that could relax a moose if legal.
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I believe it. I knew a fellow who killed a coyote with a 1200 fps 177 caliber air rifle. He shot it in the right eye and the pellet went directly into the brain. The guy shot this coyote at 40 yards.....:)

It dropped and died almost instantly.
 
mcaswell said:
Good to know. I wouldn't have even thought about it until they were asking me. "Honestly officer, it was a rimfire slingshot."
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I'd ask for it in writing, and carry it with me...

Because it seems like hunting regulations (of most provinces) are usually pretty specific about which weapons can be used to hunt a specific game (and yes, a slingshot used for hunting would be considered a weapon).
 
There is a new nonlead choice on the market "Winchester 21 Sharp". Means a new rifle but that's not a bad thing. I just saw that someone else already mentioned this.
 
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DGY said:
Good day all! I use a 22lr for most of my small game hunting, and I find that most 22lr bullet destroy a lot of meet if the birds are shot in the chest cavity, there has to be better bullets than others, I’m thinking of trying to find some lead free ammo maybe it will be better! I try for head shot most of the time but they have pretty small head those little buggers !!
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slower target ammo might help, but it's more expensive and may not cycle well in a semi-auto. A shotgun would solve your problem too.
 
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