Grouse with a 12 gauge?

It depends how I feel and time of year..... no snow on ground it is 12 gauge o/u with number 6.... I hunt some thick stuff so they are usually in the air....

If there is snow on teh ground I like the savage .410/.22 over under combo..... try and pick 'em off long distance but have an option when they flush on me...
 
South sask I'll use a 6 in the early fall with a mod choke. A little rough on the close ones. Later on in the season I'll switch to 4's with the mod choke. Some years (when their extra jumpy) I've had to use 3.5 inch steel 2 shot to get the range on them in the open prairie. Learn to adapt I guess. There is nothing more frustrating then watching a bird shake off a hit.
 
A bit of a stretch, but one year I used 0 buckshot. :eek:
Here in Alberta this is legal. I actually was deer hunting and my slug shooter was stoked with fosters and I was seated within a decent groundblind in one of my hunting spots. The day was lean on deer and I always had buckshot available for coyotes/wolves. Decided I was not going home empty handed that day. Buckshot works fine @45 yards on ruffies. Only two pellets hit him, one in the wing, one in the neck and he crash landed like an airplane struck by AA artillery. High entertainment & dinner. :D

Edit: But when I choose to hunt grouse the 20 gauge O/U using lead #6 or 7.5 is most often the tool of choice. And this year for the first time, a muzzleloading smoothore also. (10 gauge)
 
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with 12 gauge and 20 gauge i use full choke with shot #4 or #6, while aiming a bit higher than the head. i like and recomend it since there fewer bb's than #7.5 shot so theres alot less chance of getting bb's in the breast, and any that might go in the breast are easy to find and remove since there bigger in size. all you have to remember is to aim little higher than normal (head or just above the head) and you will be ok, i rarely get any bb's in the meat doing that.
 
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I use #8 target loads - Win AA. My sxs is choked IC and IM and I hunt over a dog.

That comment about counting to 5 made me chuckle. In these parts if you can count to one it's already too late.
 
12d for upland birdies

12 gauge is an all around gun, load er up for waterfowl, or load down for small birds, i use both black powder loads and smokeless in a variety of guns, for black powder i load 75gr of 2f black and 1oz of #6 perfect for grouse, easy on shoulder as well, for smokeless ill use factory gambore 2.5" english game loads, 1 oz #6, if you arent a handloader, the winchester ammo from wally world in the bulk packs works great, 2 3/4" 3 dram 1 1/8 oz# 5 or 6, hope this helps! as far as chokes, modified and imp cyl are fine

happy huntin!
 
Cheap birdshot outta whoevers gun I'm ridin with at the time, Out of my 12 guage #4 or #6 Federal speed shok Or remington sportsmans In 3" shells.

Going green Is the thing these days we better get used to using non toxic on everything we hunt now, rather then when we're forced to switch to it:D
 
canvasback said:
Would I be correct in assuming you mostly run across sharpies?
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No answer from the OP, but in BC I'd expect they're either Spruce Grouse or Blue Grouse (unless the hunting zone is in the south, where they could also be ruffed grouse).

My experiences with Blues and Spruce grouse are that they aren't generally accustomed to humans. As a result, their survival strategies are usually to sit still on the ground, or to fly to a nearly perch in a tree. In both situations, you're talking about shooting at stationary birds. For this reason, I'd recommend the lightest available loads with small shot, M/F chokes.

  • Light loads because lots of pellets aren't needed and heavy loads are just heavier to carry and produce more recoil for no incremental benefit.
  • 7 1/2 or smaller shot because it's adequate for a head shot and offers more dense patterns if a wing shot is presented.
  • M/F chokes so you can fire the full choked barrel at the head of a stationary grouse and take it cleanly, without damage to the body. This leaves you with the modified barrel loaded in case you miss and the bird takes to the air (Note: Double triggers required to take full advantage of this approach).

When hunting ruffed grouse, my preferences change according to the time of year and the environmental conditions:

Early season ruffies - I use 20 ga., 7/8 ounce of 7 1/2-shot in the open-choked barrel, 6-shot in the tighter choked barrel. Chokes are more open (say M/IC) due to closer shots dictated by thick cover.

Mid-season ruffies - Frost has opened up much of the cover and, in the zone where we hunt, the birds will flush at the least provocation. I move up to 1.0 ounce of 16 ga. through M/F chokes. This offers better patterns at the 15 to 40 yard range of most of the wing shots.

Late season ruffies - By now, I'm usually carrying a 12 ga. with 6-shot in both barrels, choked M/F (unless we're hunting a sector in our zone that offers mixed ruffed/sharptail, in which case I'll have 5 or 4 shot in the full choked barrel).
 
Viper989 said:
Anyone know of good areas in durham region to hunt grouse.....new hunter in this area and don't really know where to go....thanks
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I doubt there are any in Duham (maybe odd ones). The Southern boundary of their habitat starts further North. Maybe passed Huntsville.
 
hesher66 said:
Hey Guys, what load, choke, and shot size do you prefer or recommend for shooting grouse with a 12 gauge.
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Are you talking about ground sluicing them while they sit there looking at you in goggle-eyed stupidity, or are you planning on taking them on the wing?

I was a ground sluicer when I was a youngster. I haven't done that in nearly fifty years, but as I recall a little single shot .410 with a tight full choke and loaded with #6's was just about perfect. Not very often you got a pellet into the body when ground sluicing them with that setup. Can do the same thing with a 12, but I don't think it will do it as neatly as a .410

I've moved on to hunting them behind wirehaired pointing Griffons. And for that, in my opinion, the answer is... "it depends".

When they're close, it's more open, and they're holding for the dogs, I use 7/8 oz of #7's and IC over skeet. When they're getting spooky and/or there's lots of leaves and stuff, then it's 1 oz of #6's with modified over IC. If they're really nutzo, like wild flushing sharpies on the grasslands, then it is 1 1/8 oz of 6's with full over modified. I've even been known to have 1 1/4 oz of #5's in the top barrel.

My brother is showing up with his Chessie this year which has been trained to work like a flushing spaniel on upland birds. Seen the video from the breeder/professional trainer - pretty impressive. Not sure how we're going to hunt him beside our Griffons ( probably better not to at all), but I suspect those shot charges might go up an eighth of an ounce and maybe up one size as well.
 
Straightshooter, my question was directed towards struff55 who I believe is based in SK. The OP being in BC suggests to me few sharpies and lots of ruffed and spruce.
 
Ive seen what a 410 does to a grouse, especially up close; me, Id rather have dinner for the shell Im firing, not hamburger-bird or lead in whats left of my teeth. That said, I do note I am at a severe disadvantage when they take off; hence why I prefer engaging at as max range as possible, why I put the scope on the Tula in fact.
 
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