Grouse Hunting Advice

I

Iron Glove

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
44   0   0
Location
Hope and Tulameen
Never hunted birds but after eating some of the neighbour's grouse McNuggets, I'm looking forward to the fall grouse hunt in BC. :p
I've always thought that it's 22's for sitting grouse and 410's for in flight but some are suggesting using 20 guage all round. Seems a bit overkill to me, but what do I know?
Neighbour dosn't like 22's 'cause of the lack of a safe back drop often and prefers the 20 guage for the safety factor.
I'm well outfitted with 22's, 410's and 20's and would appreciate any comments / suggestions and recommended ammos for each.
Thanks guys.
 
a 12 or 20ga with light 7.5 or #8 target loads works great and doesn't damage much meat if shot on the wing, where birds are typically flying away from the shooter. if you;re walking logging roads use a open patern IC or Mod at the most, birds fly fast and typically are close when they flush.

ground shooting the birds I would stick to a .410 or a .22 and go for head only. .22 Hollowpoints only please. a chest shot chicken with RN's can go a long way, and sometimes we all hit a little low. a HP will damage more meat (not an issue with head shots) but will lead to a recovered bird, where the RN will more often then not, not.

might help if you put a location in your profile
 
Hunt in Northern ON where 90% of shots are ground shots- they'll run more often than not. I use a 12 & aim high to catch their heads with the edge of the pattern -useful for the odd double opportunity also.

Use #5 or 6 shot normally- does a bettter job of anchoring them if you get a 1 or 2 pellet hit
 
If you're going to shoot grouse ( i.e. bushwack them sitting on the ground ) then I would suggest a .22 with either .22 subsonic or .22 CB loads.

If you're going to hunt them ( i.e., find them, with or without a good pointing or flushing dog - flush them, then shoot them on the wing like a sport ) then I'd recommend either a 20 ga. or 28 ga. The 20's seemed to work best with 7/8 oz. of either 7-1/2 or 8 shot. My preference is a double, 28" straight stocked.
 
After reading Grouse Man's version of hunting, I see his point of shooting them on the wing. I don't have a grouse gun, so when I hit one on the wing with 12ga full choke, all but his ####### goes out thru the breast meat. Kinda detracts from the delecate flavour and appeal. My experience is that, depending on terain, they tend to flush across the trail, giving me a side or quartering away shot. When hit in this position, I almost always end up with pellets in the breast meat...allong with the feathers the pellets travelled thru...yuk! I'd love to try them with a cylinder bore 20ga, sounds like a lot of fun.
On another note, when shooting on the wing, how many do you think escape wounded? I've watched a lot of geese go 100 yards then drop from the sky. 100 yards in saskabush is a LOT of bush.
If I'm looking for a snack, I'd rather pop them in the touque on the ground, but winging it is a lot more exciting.
 
I posted Grouse Man's post in response to the difference between hunting and shooting grouse. Not to push forward either position as better. I just thought it was well written and I remembered it from a couple months back.
 
Just to respond to a bit of 2fat2fly's post: Grouse aren't anywhere near as tough as geese; I've recovered several birds hit with only 1 or 2 pellets through the body, stone dead. It doesn't take much to put one down. Secondly, since a missed grouse doesn't often fly much further than 50 yards, and often more like 30, I always follow up on a "missed" bird, and if it was nicked but made it 20 yards or so, the dog will find it. If it was a clean miss, you can generally flush it again.

Also, I always field dress a grouse right after I shoot it; it cools better, tastes better, and if there are any pellets that hit the gut, there's less contamination of the meat.

And great post Grouse Man. X100
 
22 is all you need. They will just sit there for you to shoot them. When you miss they will likely walk toward you so you can whack em with a stick.

Shot gun??? Blaspheme!!!!
 
Personally I've just used a .22. Cheap bullets and a little more quite then a shotgun(since I'm also hunting deer!) Also, since your mainly shooting about 5 feet infront of you and pointing down, there is not much hazard of stray bullets(I did say not much)
This year I'll be trying out the 17hmr!
 
Heck you can kill 'em with a .177 cal pellet gun with a shot to the head. Best choices though are a .22LR or maybe the .17HMR that someone mentioned.

Around here the way to get them is to cruise the gravel roads in the morning and mid afternoons in Sept.-Oct. Seem to see more if it's a nice sunny day.
 
Thanks for all the tips and advice guys.
Great post Grouse Man - still don't know if I'll be hunting, shooting or catching but I do intend to be eating !!
My 93 yr. old father-in-law tells me stories of just walking up to 'em and whacking them in the head with a hockey stick - hmm, I wonder if the new composite sticks would be best and what flex & lie to use. :p
 
Grouse Man said:
Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Has anybody tried catching one?
Click to expand...
Credit given where credit is due. It was an excellant post.
For me, the # 1 best eating upland game bird, bar none, is the Ruffed or sometimes called Willow Grouse.:) For hunting any Grouse, I use a Ruger Red Label 20ga Mag, or an English SxS, 12ga 2.5". For shooting Grouse, ie: while going to, scouting for or on the return from a Moose hunt, on the dash of the truck, I have either a Ranger single shot .410 or Savage .22 / .410 OU.
Catching a Grouse, that would be quite a challenge. I almost did once years ago in the interior, but that was because she was more intent on protecting her chicks than she was escaping from me. My Dad used to mention something along similar lines concerning Deer. Try getting close enough and slapping one.;)
Again, good post.
 
Grouse Man said:
Has anybody tried catching one?
Click to expand...

So takin' them off the wing isn't tough enough for you, eh? :D

Not sure who would make more noise, a bush chicken stomping around like he's invisible/invincible, or you in hot pursuit. You'd sure look like a pud if a CO caught you and tagged you with harassing wildlife. :p
 
Iron Glove said:
My 93 yr. old father-in-law tells me stories of just walking up to 'em and whacking them in the head with a hockey stick - hmm, I wonder if the new composite sticks would be best and what flex & lie to use. :p
Click to expand...

Those Composite's break just when you need then most - besides a second hand cooey 12'er might be a bit cheaper ,,,,;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom