Do you need to limit your mag tube for hunting grouse in BC?

ironsighter said:
No, I don't, and I don't see any similarity between the two situations. I don't know a single other hunter who doesn't legally shoot what presents itself.

Point me to studies that show grouse numbers are positively influenced by not shooting the whole covey and I'll take it into consideration.
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I'm one........, and I also don't harvest a "button spike" even though they're legal to shoot.

2 out of a group of 5 would be my take.

No need for a "study", simple common sense would dictate that more birds left in one area, have a better chance to repopulate (even if it's with the neighbors) than no birds left in an area.
 
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ironsighter said:
The next person who rolls along is likely to take the remainders anyway.

If they are all dumb enough to wait around while everyone gets shot, then they get the Darwin award.

I took 4 yesterday with a .410 single. Had to go back to my bike to get more shells after the first 2. The other two waited as I struggled to get my ammo box out and opened. So they got shot.

No need for a repeater, much less an unplugged tube.
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Geesh - not the brightest grouse. It is funny, my daughter can walk right up to them but they flush as soon as they see me.
 
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Haven't seen a shortage of grouse yet
I think the population is pretty steady and back in the day we shot every one we seen there wear no such thing as bag limits on grouse or rabbits wen your a 8 year old kid with your first rifle .
It never Hurt the population then don't think it will now
all the logging roads have really improved grouse habitat
 
I used to think that if you saw 5 grouse you should only shot 2 or 3 too. But a few years ago there was an article in one of the hunting mags about grouse conservation. A biologist said something like "Grouse populations in BC go up and down in cycles, and hunting by humans doesn't really change that. The limiting factors will be the point in the cycle, habitat, predators and weather. So shoot away"

And then we get to the very real question of how many should you shoot?

If you see one, do you shoot it? Or do yo assume someone else shot the other 4 and leave it alone?
If you see two, do you shoot both, assuming that there are still some unseen in the bushes?
If there are four, and you shoot 2, then someone else comes by the next day and shoots the other 2, should you have shot all 4 anyway?
If there are 3, and you shoot one, but a coyote gets the other 2, should you have taken all 3, since they are all dead, and now the predator got an extra meal?

And possibly the most important question- how many grouse do you shoot a year? If you are limiting out 5 days a week, you are going to have a much bigger effect on grouse numbers than the guy that shoots 4 out of 5 grouse, once during hunting season. So there isn't really a cut and dry answer, other than it's legal to shoot 5 grouse at once in BC.
 
Gatehouse said:
I used to think that if you saw 5 grouse you should only shot 2 or 3 too. But a few years ago there was an article in one of the hunting mags about grouse conservation. A biologist said something like "Grouse populations in BC go up and down in cycles, and hunting by humans doesn't really change that. The limiting factors will be the point in the cycle, habitat, predators and weather. So shoot away"

And then we get to the very real question of how many should you shoot?

If you see one, do you shoot it? Or do yo assume someone else shot the other 4 and leave it alone?
If you see two, do you shoot both, assuming that there are still some unseen in the bushes?
If there are four, and you shoot 2, then someone else comes by the next day and shoots the other 2, should you have shot all 4 anyway?
If there are 3, and you shoot one, but a coyote gets the other 2, should you have taken all 3, since they are all dead, and now the predator got an extra meal?

And possibly the most important question- how many grouse do you shoot a year? If you are limiting out 5 days a week, you are going to have a much bigger effect on grouse numbers than the guy that shoots 4 out of 5 grouse, once during hunting season. So there isn't really a cut and dry answer, other than it's legal to shoot 5 grouse at once in BC.
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I maintain my aggregate bag limit and trust the scientists who tell me 5 a day is fine. I shoot my grouse over dogs and 5 a day is a lot of walking usually. Good exercise.
 
Gatehouse said:
And then we get to the very real question of how many should you shoot?

If you see one, do you shoot it? Or do yo assume someone else shot the other 4 and leave it alone?
If you see two, do you shoot both, assuming that there are still some unseen in the bushes?
If there are four, and you shoot 2, then someone else comes by the next day and shoots the other 2, should you have shot all 4 anyway?
If there are 3, and you shoot one, but a coyote gets the other 2, should you have taken all 3, since they are all dead, and now the predator got an extra meal?

And possibly the most important question- how many grouse do you shoot a year? If you are limiting out 5 days a week, you are going to have a much bigger effect on grouse numbers than the guy that shoots 4 out of 5 grouse, once during hunting season. So there isn't really a cut and dry answer, other than it's legal to shoot 5 grouse at once in BC.
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Exactly. There are thousands of them that never even get seen by humans and they keep the populations going from year to year. Leaving 2 out of 5 means the next guy gets 2 birds you could have had because they will be standing on the road in the same spot until something finally kills them.
 
I'm glad the issue of limiting the mag tube came up as it has changed the type of firearms I will be bringing with me hunting.
 
Reminds me of the days of the choo-choo train and dem dere Kah-bouys shoot'in buffalo without restrained.

Giver boys, take them all out.
Just like the over supply of moose in this province.

Yah dun us proud................................:sok2
 
kamlooky said:
Reminds me of the days of the choo-choo train and dem dere Kah-bouys shoot'in buffalo without restrained.

Giver boys, take them all out.
Just like the over supply of moose in this province.

Yah dun us proud................................:sok2
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If shooting every grouse you see has no effect on the population, we might as well do away with the bag and possession limits.
 
Com on now wear just being silly and the guy was asking a legitimate question
I to learn something new and I bin at this a long time
Shot your legal limit and injoy eating grouse beats the hell out of dirty bird (KFC)
 
stubblejumper said:
If shooting every grouse you see has no effect on the population, we might as well do away with the bag and possession limits.
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Nonsense!

Nobody is recommending taking more than one's legal limit.

Those of you who leave those "breeding pairs" behind are fooling yourselves. Someone or something else is eating them, because they were obviously candidates for the Darwin award to begin with.

Literally thousands and thousands of them breeding each year that are never seen by man (or woman), but somehow we think leaving a few standing on the road is saving the species? Get a grip!
 
ironsighter said:
Nonsense!

Nobody is recommending taking more than one's legal limit.

Those of you who leave those "breeding pairs" behind are fooling yourselves. Someone or something else is eating them, because they were obviously candidates for the Darwin award to begin with.

Literally thousands and thousands of them breeding each year that are never seen by man (or woman), but somehow we think leaving a few standing on the road is saving the species? Get a grip!
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Then shooting every one that we see, will still leave those thousands and thousands to breed and maintain the population.
 
stubblejumper said:
Then shooting every one that we see, will still leave those thousands and thousands to breed and maintain the population.
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No. Shooting every one we see, but within our daily bag limit.

Having said that, I should mention that I hunt in many areas where a particular type of hunters completely ignore the daily limits and there are still grouse to be found (although the dumb ones who hang out in ditches don't last long). I am not advocating this practice at all, because I believe there should be limits and I strictly adhere to the ones that are in place. There's just an entire separate group which does whatever the hell they want. They stand up in the back of the pickup with a 12GA pump (as buddy drives) and "take whatever they want" (as one of them told me at the roadside one day).

Still, if you get out onto the older, narrower trails - off the beaten track but in the same area, you find grouse.
 
I've hunted several times in Cuba ... where no plug is required and lead shot is legal, including for waterfowl. They have liberal limits on both waterfowl and game birds, migratory and non-migratory. Trust me, there is no great advantage of going "unplugged" ... if anything, you're success rate may drop.

When younger, a "limit" shoot seemed all important, and I took many, both on waterfowl and upland birds. Lately, not so. My own practice tends to limit me to a brace of grouse, and I rarely take more ... even though I could and can. Even years ago, I would shoot the covey rise ( quail & huns) and not try to follow-up on the singles. On waterfowl, I've pretty much adopted the practice of shooting drakes only, as far as I can identify them, leaving the hens. Those seeking to "limit out" never discover my favourite coverts, and Im loathe to go with them anywhere else. Each needs to develop their own conservation ethic.
 
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