ditch chickens...

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ratherbefishin

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I'm not talking purist grouse hunting over dogs here-but potting grouse along side forest service roads-a lot of guys use a .22 or single shot 410's or a 20 guage-I went with a 20 guage because I can carry a couple of slugs if I chance in a deer.A older bolt action shotgun sells for about the same price -under $100-as a single- so I opted for the extra capacity.The magazine makes it a good choice for a truck gun too.I just have to decide to leave the barrel as is or cut it to 20'' and forgo the choke.Anyway- a few more weeks and hunting season is here so hopefully theory will be put into practice,meaning dining on grouse breasts or canned stew....
 
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Many years ago I was taught to shoot grouse in the head or neck, with a 22. When I was a kid I would get scolded real good, if I brought in a grouse shot in the body.
I taught my sons to do the same thing and they in turn got their sons shooting them in the head or neck only. A boy, or a man, can feel proud of hitting their necks, or missing them clean.
I could not bring myself to shoot a grouse on the ground with a shotgun. After all, we like to refer to ourselves as sportsmen. And there is nothing sporting about shooting a grouse on the ground with a shotgun.

OK guys, fire away. And lets hear how important that bit of meat is to your food supply, even if you have to chew around the shot in it.
 
OK guys, fire away. And lets hear how important that bit of meat is to your food supply, even if you have to chew around the shot in it.
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WHAT???

Nevermind, I can't argue with that. :p

Alot of folks do that, and if it's your thing fine. I have a couple friends who carry .22's for grouse. Granted you can't hit them on the fly, so of course they shoot them where they stand. A few years ago I tried shooting them with my recurve on the wing, and I came damn close a few times, but it's nothing I would rely on.
 
Taking a walk mid day in between the morning and evening hunt for deer or moose is a nice way to fill in the day .My BRNO 22 has accounted for a lot of grouse-but a 20 guage with couple of slugs in my pocket would have come in handy a few times when I was out grouse hunting and saw a deer....and I still like grouse better than canned stew...as for sporting-well I guess the guys who use slingshots are more sporting than those of us who use a .22[and packing a slingshot when hunting deer or moose isn't a bad idea either-no noise]
 
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I use a JP Sauer 20 guage SXS. It isn't terribly sporting with the first bird that I can see on the ground, but very effective on the bird my kill shot on the first one flushes.
 
There are places in Alberta where you can not shoot a .22 from, accross or allong a road or road allowence. Some of these areas you can shoot game birds with a shotgun. So I use a double .410 for most of my grouse shooting. I do use a .22 and head shots some times. And I have used a bow when the bird numbers are high and there are a lot of opportunities to get shots.

I have a Savage 30/30 over 20 ga. that I occasionally carry if I have a deer tag in my pocket and grouse on my mind.

Robin in Rocky
 
glang1 said:
Did you lose many arrows? :eek: I lost quite a few arrows shooting at cottontails on the run.
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I lost a few, but I made up a whole bunch just for that. They weren't crested and only had cheap field points. I tried a few with flu-flu's, but I thought they looked so slow in flight they would either just bounce off or wouldn't even catch up to a bird. It's fun though, and I recommend trying it at least once. We would practice a bit by kicking an old football of mine. It made it a bit harder cause you couldn't guess which way it would go when you kickd it. :)
 
I often keep a 20 guage single shot shotgun in my truck. I will sluice the grouse with that (you aim on top of thier heads and most of the pattern misses all but the head and neck). Then if the bird flies, I have a good chance of hitting it, too.

Other than that, I've used .22's for head shots, but I've also used .30-30, .303 270, 300WM, 300WSM, .338 WM, 7mmRM using both full power and reduced loads for head shots on grouse.
 
pharaoh2 said:
I lost a few, but I made up a whole bunch just for that. They weren't crested and only had cheap field points. I tried a few with flu-flu's, but I thought they looked so slow in flight they would either just bounce off or wouldn't even catch up to a bird. It's fun though, and I recommend trying it at least once. We would practice a bit by kicking an old football of mine. It made it a bit harder cause you couldn't guess which way it would go when you kickd it. :)
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In my bow and arrow hunting days I belonged to a very active club. For grouse and rabbits we made flu-flu arrows and used a 38 Special empty as the "tip." We found the flu-flu wrapped arrows would have enough speed to get a grouse out of a fairly high tree. We found a broadhead would go through a rabbit and the rabbit would take off. A rabbit or grouse hit with that 38 empty were really floored!
We made virtually all our arrows from scratch, of every type, using home made equipment, including a hot wire, using a toaster for a resistor, for cutting the tail feathers, after they were glued on.
 
And there is nothing sporting about shooting a grouse on the ground with a shotgun.
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I prefer a .22, and was taught to shoot head and neck by my dad, ions ago.
A shotgun is very effective if you know what you're doing. Aim for the head, lift until the head is no longer visible...BOOM. We get the odd bit of birdshot in the breast, but very seldome.
 
I use a 12 guage. If you shoot thousands upon thousands of rounds per year like I do, you know what your pattern is and can aim at sitting birds to catch their heads with the edge of the pattern. Really close, you just blast the the heads off with it. Gives me the option of knocking them down on the wing too, should they fly.

So I guess to H4831 I would say that its not the tool but how you use it.
 
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