Grouse Hunting Ethics

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I will take a Grouse however they provide me the option, a good season down here in Southern NB is about a dozen birds. In some areas, it is considered in bad taste to shoot them on the ground, fortunately I don't live in one of those areas.
 
I think it depends more on the area and how the birds react to people.

I always hear on cgn how people get them with .22's and they can just walk right up to them, but that's obviously nowhere near where I hunt. It seems that here on the east coast we have a much more timid spooky bird than you guys out west, a lot of the time they spook before you get near enough to even know they were there and when they do spook it's into the thickest stuff around and they just keep going in a lot of cases.
So for me, it's rare enough to even see one on the ground before it takes off flying, so if you get a chance while it's on the ground, you'd better take it or you'll be picking up some KFC on the way home.
 
Every grouse that's ever made it to my plate was taken with a .308 or a .303.

Not a very good caliber for wing shooting, lol.
 
the spank said:
Don't get caught using a 22 for waterfowl! It's illegal.
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I think he had switched back to talking about grouse again...

Ethics are a much "grayer" area than many believe... when it comes to grouse hunting, ethics are both personal and regional.. I prefer to wingshoot birds over our Springer Spaniel... I enjoy hunting over and working with a dog... but I grew up in Northern Ontario, where the Bush is THICK and wingshooters are HUNGRY. We shot grouse as we found them, ground or tree branches... at this stage of life, I have shot and eaten many thousands of grouse, I really don't care if I come home with a limit or none... but field experiences with my kids and working the dog on birds... priceless!

If it is legal, I'm not going to look down on fellow sportsmen... we have bigger fish to fry.
 
Still alive said:
I use a .22 so shooting into the sky may qualify me for the "Shooting into space" thread.
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Stop...Full Stop !!
One can only use a Solar Powered Lazer Beamed Guitar to Shoot into Space.
Everyone knows that shooting said bird with said Lazer beam would not end well for the Grouse.

Now, back to the question at hand.
Grouse in hand is better than two grouse in the bush.( written by old ancient Chinese guy )
Shooting into the air with a single projectile is not only futile, but dangerous ..had to be said before someone says otherwise.
As for ethics I sluisw grouse ont eh ground with the scatter gun or in the air.
I prefer on the wing, but on the ground and into the pot works just fine for me.
YMMV,
Tight Groups,
Rob
 
Lucas269 said:
Your mileage may vary but personally I shoot grouse for food and the only ethics that come to mind are getting a clean kill. I don't think a bird that is dumb enough that you could probably hunt with your bare hands constitutes good sport anyway. As long as you are keeping within the law and kill them cleanly just get it done however works and look forward to a good meal.
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I wish the grouse around here were that dumb. Mine are willy, fast and damn near impossible to shoot on the wing.
 
For all game, I usually hide in the woods naked and catch them with my bare hands, then I burn incense, pause in a moment of grief over the death, and give thanks to the Great Creator. Anything else is unethical - they don't have tools so why should we?

Other times when I actually want the meat, I shoot them in a place that will kill them, while following local laws.
 
My Ethics are I eat what I shoot and I don't think they taste any different if shot on the ground or in the air.

PS, grouse opens in a month and a half!!!!! Heading to Chapleau Sept 17th for a week of bird shooting!!
 
Lucas269 said:
Your mileage may vary but personally I shoot grouse for food and the only ethics that come to mind are getting a clean kill. I don't think a bird that is dumb enough that you could probably hunt with your bare hands constitutes good sport anyway. As long as you are keeping within the law and kill them cleanly just get it done however works and look forward to a good meal.
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I wish the grouse around here were that dumb. Mine are willy, fast and damn near impossible to shoot on the wing.
 
Gillshot said:
If you are from Toronto and hunting with a 3000 dollar shotgun, you should definitely shoot them in the air. The rest of us can shoot them on the ground.
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It's usually individual preference - anyway, matters least whichever way that is done. But the above is one dumb statement!
 
jparent said:
I wish the grouse around here were that dumb. Mine are willy, fast and damn near impossible to shoot on the wing.
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Yeah it surprised me that folks seem to think that "ground swatting" is unethical. I have literally killed one with a hammer. The almost always use a .22lr to the head because I hate picking pellets out of the meat. It is definitely the fun way to do it for me.

The thing is by the time I see them fly I usually wouldn't have a hope in hell of hitting it. If I am quietly walking in the bush and come across a grouse it either flys aways or sits there playing the "Nobody move nobody gets hurt" game. Chances are if it flys away I would have to be in a shooting position with the safety off to hit it. How does a person even know its a grouse when that happens? It could be a sharp tail grouse or a pheasant. Something that is illegal to shoot in the area.
 
coleman1495 said:
Yeah it surprised me that folks seem to think that "ground swatting" is unethical. I have literally killed one with a hammer. The almost always use a .22lr to the head because I hate picking pellets out of the meat. It is definitely the fun way to do it for me.

The thing is by the time I see them fly I usually wouldn't have a hope in hell of hitting it. If I am quietly walking in the bush and come across a grouse it either flys aways or sits there playing the "Nobody move nobody gets hurt" game. Chances are if it flys away I would have to be in a shooting position with the safety off to hit it. How does a person even know its a grouse when that happens? It could be a sharp tail grouse or a pheasant. Something that is illegal to shoot in the area.
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When hunting over a pointing dog as I do, I am in a shooting position with the safety off when the bird flushes. If you can't tell the difference between a pheasant, a sharptailed grouse, a ruffed grouse, or a hungarian partridge when they flush, you shouldn't be hunting any of these birds.
 
stubblejumper said:
When hunting over a pointing dog as I do, I am in a shooting position with the safety off when the bird flushes. If you can't tell the difference between a pheasant, a sharptailed grouse, a ruffed grouse, or a hungarian partridge when they flush, you shouldn't be hunting any of these birds.
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Agreed... it is easy to identify flushing birds in a split second.
 
With the shotgun, I'll always take them in the air. Anything else, (and that has included many things...) and it will be head shots on the ground.
I have always been amazed that for a typically dumb as a stump bird, they can put a tree between itself and a shot pattern so fast.
 
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