ditch chickens...

H4831 said:
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.
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22 for ditch chickens is just as easy if not more than 20g head shot. It can be done if you know youre pattern at different yardages. I use a full choke NEF 20g single and I've have a shot in the birds breast in some time. Still get a odd pellet but most are neck up. :D
 
sjemac said:
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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x2 on that.

I mainly use my 12 gauge, aim for the head but just slightly higher with a mod choke using # 7 1/2 shot. Works every time and I never ever get notta one pellet in the breast meat. 9 times out of 10 I take their lids clean off :dancingbanana:

I do also use a .22LR Semi which is my trusty Marlin Mod 60 for head/neck shots when I want a change.
 
I used to use my .410 a lot but now I enjoy the challenge of head shooting with a twotwo. For good wing shooting on ruffies or sharptails though, you can't beat a nice O/U in 20 ga.
 
the 20 guage offers one advantage the .22 can't[and I've head shot a lot of grouse with my .22] -the opportunity to legally take a deer with a slug,and thats the reason I have a 20 guage and not a 410,otherwise I'd just stick to my 22.
 
I hardly ever go out "grouse" hunting" these days, but view grouse as a dinner table supplement. So I don't care much about the "proper" way to shoot the majestic ruffed grouse, I want them dead with as much meat left intact as possible!:)

Some guys like the make up their own rules regarding catching fish, catching deer, catching grouse etc. Keep in mind that if it's legal, it's your OWN rules and no one else's...;)
 
Gatehouse said:
I hardly ever go out "grouse" hunting" these days, but view grouse as a dinner table supplement. So I don't care much about the "proper" way to shoot the majestic ruffed grouse, I want them dead with as much meat left intact as possible...;)
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Absolutely. That's why I prefer to take them on the ground with a head shot. I hate getting the wad of feathers around a chunk of lead, marinated in deliciouse breast meat. The smell/taste of wet feathers kinda ruins the meal for me.
 
My opinion on this subject is potentially worthless, as I can't remember the last time I hunted grouse anywhere near anything that could be considered a road (with the possible exception of the last 50 yards coming back to the truck).

But, if I were hunting ruffed grouse along a road, I'd be using a 16 or 20 gauge shotgun (12 gauge for sharptail, but I wouldn't hunt them along a road). Why?

1) Because it's more universally effective for the different types of presentations you'll encounter: standing, running, flushing
2) Because ruffies are often found in pairs and sharptail in groups of 2 to 20 (later in the season)
3) Where I hunt, it's illegal to fire a rifle from or along a roadway.
 
I'll take them where ever I can find them, if they're on the side of the road (assuming it's a road legal to shoot from), they're mine!

Straightshooter, just curious about your points 1 and 2 .. and why you don't think they apply equally to the side of the road and in the field? I've seen and taken birds in all the presentations you indicated in BOTH the field and on the road side and I've seen equally large coveys in BOTH the field and along the road.
 
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Like H4831, I am a 22 rimfire, shoot them in the head or neck type of grouse hunter. I prefer the challenge, and a good shooting sporter 22 within 50 yards is usually the ticket for grouse dinner! [Helps if you shoot rimfire silhouette a bit] I have taken 5 sharptails with headshots before the rest flew. Ruffies are generally in smaller groups, so can't remember taking more than 3 or so at one time. Delicious eating, for sure, regardless of methodology! Regards, Eagleye.
 
TPK said:
I'll take them where ever I can find them, if they're on the side of the road (assuming it's a road legal to shoot from), they're mine!

Straightshooter, just curious about your points 1 and 2 .. and why you don't think they apply equally to the side of the road and in the field? I've seen and taken birds in all the presentations you indicated in BOTH the field and on the road side and I've seen equally large coveys in BOTH the field and along the road.
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You're absolutely right, of course. Points 1 & 2 do both apply equally in the field. I didn't mean to leave the impression that I was suggesting otherwise. Just that the topic was about shooting along roads, so I confined my comments to that scenario. Thanks for asking, though - others may be getting the same impression.

BTW, I should have said it's illegal to shoot from, along, or across a road with a firearm (except shotgun). the exact quote from the 2008 Alberta Hunting Regs reads:

It is unlawful to:

(part of quote omitted due to lack of relevance)

discharge a firearm from or cause a projectile from a firearm to pass along or across:
a) a provincial highway,
b) a road that is paved, oiled, graded or regularly maintained, unless
- the road is held under any active disposition under the Public Lands Act or under an order under the Surface Rights Act, or
- the person is hunting game birds with a shotgun under the authority of a licence.
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I'm with Gatehouse here. I'm don't care how they end up in my frying pan. I do use a .22 and lo vo shells, but not to be sportsman like but to make as little noise as possible.

KTK

Grouse Dog

IM001673.jpg
 
Ken The Kanuck said:
I don't care how they end up in my frying pan.
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Gotta agree with you there. As I mentioned I'll take em anywhere I can but that usually means one of two scenarios with me.

1) I'm out hunting big game and will nail em in the sluice box (ditch) coming and going from my hunting site.

2) I spend a day dedicated to grouse and walk the cutblocks looking for sharpies ..

Is it "more rewarding" hunting in the field vs on the road? .. sure, but I won't limit myself to just field hunting. I read once that the Grouse picked off by the roadside usually have a higher mortality rate (natural predators .. not just because of us hunters) than the ones "off the beaten track" and so in fact, hunting the birds in the fields is culling the "smarter birds" (lol- ya I know, smart and Grouse don't belong in the same sentence) that would stand a higher chance of raising a successful clutch.
 
While hunting alligators and walruses in good old Southern Saskatchewan over the last 40 years or so, I have taken most of my chickens and partridges with a Savage .22/20 ga.. I have blasted a few sitting with the 20 ga, and lots with the .22. On occasion, I have fired the 20 ga. by mistake, forgetting to flip the selector lever. Boom!!!! Ouch!!! #@&%!!;);)
 
Ken The Kanuck said:
I'm with Gatehouse here. I'm don't care how they end up in my frying pan. I do use a .22 and lo vo shells, but not to be sportsman like but to make as little noise as possible.

KTK

Grouse Dog

IM001673.jpg
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I am with you as well as Gatehouse.

I will take them what ever way they are presented to me. I paid good money for my courses, license, firearms and ammo. I feel as though I deserve the meat if it is presented to me and I have the opportunity for a humane kill. That doesnt go to say that I enjoy shooting them on the wing much better. But I will take what I can get at the moment it is presented to me.
PS
Sweet pic :)
 
I have no problem with someone else collecting meat by shooting a grouse on the ground with a shotgun. Some people would mix a fine single malt scotch with Coke and think that's OK too. But I just wouldn't do it. To each his own.
 
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