Grouse hunting guns

Hank44 said:
Me too, external hammers don't make a gun safe, safe gun handling does. Dont point the gun at anything that dont need pointing at...

I usually use my mossberg 500, but ive take to swapping the buttstock off it and putting it onto my daughters mossberg 510 in 20 gauge. A little light for a nice swing but the areas i hunt are very much point and shoot or they're gone, not much chance for a nice swing. Carries very nicely and I like the location of the pump better than the full size 500. Iv been eyeing up one of the husqvarnas on tradex.com but am a little leery of inexpensive sxs's.
Click to expand...

We used to keep the rossi overland sxs 12 gauge loaded with slugs beside the door as our quick grabn'run gun when we were having predator raid problems around our homestead in alaska.
Don't know if that would be quite legal here in canada. Most things about protecting human lives with guns aren't.
Predators in alaska come big with bad tempers, ravenous appetites and very sharp teeth.
Cocked over loaded cylinders always made me nervous.
I liked the 'at a glance' extra safety aspects of the exposed hammer sxs and no safety switch to forget during a charge when the sh!t is running down both legs.
 
unstableryan said:
I've shot a pile this year with this and I absolutely love it. Hunting for 25 years and first time using a double and I'm a fan.
Ya4e87d.jpg
Click to expand...

I like that gun, who makes it?
 
Franchi SL 12 Ga. choked imp cyl / mod with #6 shot. i wish i could use a .22 on grouse but for s.ont ruffies that is not even an option and b) doens't seem nearly as fun as shooting on the wing.
 
At over $1000 to root canal a split tooth I'll forgo the fun of wing shooting birds and stick with 22lr on the ground.
If you think shooting a 'partridge' (ruffed grouse) on the ground with a single projectile rimfire rifle isn't sport try it some time.
They have a knack for moving that head at just the wrong time and that scrawny little neck is concealed by a lot of feathers.
 
thanks, i just bought it this year. i like it.

i've taken only 2 heads off a grouse with a single projectile, granted it was a 30-06 after a failed deer hunt. this was a northern grouse and just stood there. experience was meh. not for me but to each their own. i'm just saying i can't get away with that even if i wanted to. they are very wary in my hunting areas and do not present ground shots.
 
torontogungal said:
At over $1000 to root canal a split tooth I'll forgo the fun of wing shooting birds and stick with 22lr on the ground.
If you think shooting a 'partridge' (ruffed grouse) on the ground with a single projectile rimfire rifle isn't sport try it some time.
They have a knack for moving that head at just the wrong time and that scrawny little neck is concealed by a lot of feathers.
Click to expand...


Even a 12 guage with 2.75" birdshot has little recoil, if you are splitting teeth I think that your gun may not fit you well. I know right away when a shotgun doesn't fit, feels like getting a punch in the cheek. I have used a .22 before as well, it is definately sporting and difficult. I like the shotgun as it gives me more options if the bird decides to flush, which they do here alot.
 
FLYBYU44 said:
Even a 12 guage with 2.75" birdshot has little recoil, if you are splitting teeth I think that your gun may not fit you well. I know right away when a shotgun doesn't fit, feels like getting a punch in the cheek. I have used a .22 before as well, it is definately sporting and difficult. I like the shotgun as it gives me more options if the bird decides to flush, which they do here alot.
Click to expand...

I think she means from chomping down on the pellet while eating the bird. Although as a life long hunter who eats what he shoots, I've had plenty of lead shot in my mouth...never had a problem with splitting teeth. May be different with steel (I don't use it) but even when you hit lead, it's still pretty soft.
 
canvasback said:
I think she means from chomping down on the pellet while eating the bird. Although as a life long hunter who eats what he shoots, I've had plenty of lead shot in my mouth...never had a problem with splitting teeth. May be different with steel (I don't use it) but even when you hit lead, it's still pretty soft.
Click to expand...


Ha! You are likely right, I totally misread that. Sorry to all..
 
canvasback said:
I think she means from chomping down on the pellet while eating the bird. Although as a life long hunter who eats what he shoots, I've had plenty of lead shot in my mouth...never had a problem with splitting teeth. May be different with steel (I don't use it) but even when you hit lead, it's still pretty soft.
Click to expand...

Like I said before...some of us must be better eaters than others. And as Butthead said on TV "Some people are stupid".
 
I have a Baikal MP153 for the ugly days and a sxs BRNO that has become my new favourite grouse getter.
 
My grouse guns over the years: Baikal single in 12ga (paper route didn't pay that great), Rem 870 12ga (took over the morning paper route - better money), traded for BPS Upland Special 12ga (hunted that for a couple of decades, wore the bluing off the carry point, now covered in vinyl cam for the salt marshes), IGA Uplander in 28ga (current grouse, and woodcock, rabbit, pheasant gun). Absolutely loves #6, but #7.5 go in the right side if the woodcock are about. Always hunted over flushing retrievers (golden, y lab, b lab, b lab (currently promoted to house pet), CBR (current bird dog)).
 
When my good friend and I were just teenagers starting out to hunt we decided that we wanted to hunt both migratory birds and grouse, we couldn't afford both a 12 gauge and a 410 so we decided that 20 gauge would be a good caliber for both.

My first shotgun was a single shot 20 gauge Cooey that I purchased at Canadian Tire for about fifty bucks in 1978.

After I wore out the Cooey I was gifted a Mossberg Bolt Action 20 gauge by a very nice older gentleman who had no children, I have also acquired my Fathers Mossberg bolt action 410 and I now use the bolt 20 one season and the bolt 410 the next season for grouse.

I know the Mossberg bolt shotguns are not too popular, but they really are a comfortable gun to carry on long trail walks for grouse.
 
Browning BPS upland special in 20 gauge. Being a lefty I love the tang safety and bottom eject. I wasn't too sure about the 22" barrel at first but now I love it. The gun is balanced well enough that I can swing it reasonably well. Most of my grouse hunting is in pretty thick stuff anyway and shots are usually close and often running or walking grounders. A handful of snowshoe hares have fallen to this gun too.
 
Rob F said:
Browning BPS upland special in 20 gauge. Being a lefty I love the tang safety and bottom eject. I wasn't too sure about the 22" barrel at first but now I love it. The gun is balanced well enough that I can swing it reasonably well. Most of my grouse hunting is in pretty thick stuff anyway and shots are usually close and often running or walking grounders. A handful of snowshoe hares have fallen to this gun too.
Click to expand...

Agreed, around here 95% or more of my grouse shots are on the ground or in a tree. My 20" barrel is more than adequate to take them out, it's externally threaded for chokes so add another couple inches depending on the choke used. They're always on the ground along the road or on overgrown trails, I don't have to go into the thicker bush to find them. A shorter barrel with the appropriate choke, patterned at distances is all that's needed most times. If I can't sneak in close enough I don't take the shot, there will be another a little further down the trail usually.

The last two seasons have been good for grouse population numbers in my area.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom