Hunting grouse 22lr or 410?

I prefer shotguns but I usually bring a rimfire as well. I really love using my 17mh2 but my next grouse trip will be with the 410. Figured $500+ on fuel for the week ammo costs are the least of my concern
I prefer to shoot them on the wing and I'm hoping my new pup will be able to flush them for me
6 birds a day for 6 days even factoring in way more misses than I've ever had that's only 2 boxes of ammo a week
 
hoytcanon said:
If I could only have one gun for grouse it would be a 20 gauge. The cost of .410 shells is stupid, 20 gauge is much cheaper and more readily available. Also, a 20 gauge is also a good wingshooting gun... good luck wingshooting with a .410, it can be done, but with the cost of the shells, you could buy a side of beef for every bird you bring home. Sniping with a .22 is also fun, and when head shooting you don't have to worry about pellets in the meat. But I would go with the 20 gauge over the .22 if you could only choose one.
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Pretty much on the money.
A-5 20 gauge.
More feathers, less beans.
 
Any shotgun will do, I prefer them to have a full choke, as I usually blow the heads off. I'm in Northern Ontario, wing shots are rare. I've used the .22 lots too, but I have had a fair amount of wounded birds with the .22, and especially early in the season when the leaves and bushes are thick, they can often escape, which doesn't sit well with me. I like the 410, it's light to carry when you are walking. My main gun at the moment is an O/U 28 gauge, but I think I'll go back to the 410 this year, I stacked the shells high when the prices were good.
 
I absolutely love wing shooting grouse with my lever 410...sure the ammo is pricey and I miss a few that I probably would have got with the 12 ga. But hunting isn't about economy or efficiency for me. I can afford the shells and I can afford to eat a few less grouse :) . I just love carrying that Henry and when I connect on a flushing grouse it's like poetry in motion.1000002701.jpg
 
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If I was shooting the dumb variety of grouse with a .410, I wouldn't get any because in recent years I haven't seen the shells being sold for less than the price of quite a few good home grilled steak dinners. Also, a .410 is almost guaranteed to merely cripple on a typical wing shot, which are what I normally get here (and what I really want). I don't go out to feed the local fox and coyote populations.
 
Big Bad said:
Also, a .410 is almost guaranteed to merely cripple on a typical wing shot, which are what I normally get here (and what I really want). I don't go out to feed the local fox and coyote populations.
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Almost guaranteed to merely cripple? In my experience the opposite is true and wing shots are all I typically get as well. Like any hunting you have to know the limits of your abilities and gear.
 
Runningfool said:
Almost guaranteed to merely cripple? In my experience the opposite is true and wing shots are all I typically get as well. Like any hunting you have to know the limits of your abilities and gear.
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Ok, glad to hear it. You talked about missing a few and those are my thoughts on the matter. I'm quite sure 12 gauges cripple enough grouse as it is.
 
quinnjoblow said:
What do you prefer for Ontario grouse hunting, 22lr or 410? I have never used a 410 on grouse. With the cost of 410 shells these days is it cost effective to use? 22lr is a clean dispatch with a well aimed shot and no biting the odd #7 shot. And ammo is cheap.
Others in the group are insisting on taking their 410s. Should I stay with the 22? Or go with the flow?
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I have always used the 22lr my dad always used the 410 whatever your comfortable with I just like the skill the 22lr takes
 
Swamp said:
I prefer the best of both worlds my old Savage 24 22./.410 over under.
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Absolutely. I looked for one, forever. That particular flavour of M24 is the most popular and very expensive. $6-800. They're very effective but crude.

PS: some years ago I bought the modern synthetic version, now called M42. Biggest pile of dog excrement in the shape of a gun.
 
I got a good deal on a savage 24 and was really excited - 300 bucks. The barrels were not regulated at all. The .22 shot 6 inches to the left of the 410 and quite a bit higher. It was really a turd pile. Thought about getting the Chiappa double badger too, but just gonna stick to shotguns now. Think I'll take one of the 20 gauges out today, been a while.
 
shotgun of any type... 410 does have fewer pellets to pick out of the meat if it isn't a head shot, but that's why I've gone to .410 and 28 gauge for all of my upland hunting for the past decade +

I really think there are more cripple losses with the .22, based on my own experience (shooting and watching). A lot of those 'clean misses' are birds flying away with a busted leg or no beak or other injury that doesn't prevent them from flying off, but which are inevitably fatal. For that reason I only take the shotgun for grouse hunting... and also for the wing shooting, which is essentially a non-option with a .22!
 
quinnjoblow said:
What do you prefer for Ontario grouse hunting, 22lr or 410? I have never used a 410 on grouse. With the cost of 410 shells these days is it cost effective to use? 22lr is a clean dispatch with a well aimed shot and no biting the odd #7 shot. And ammo is cheap.
Others in the group are insisting on taking their 410s. Should I stay with the 22? Or go with the flow?
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If you can shoot well enough to get head shots with a 22, that's the way to go. 410 is great, but expensive. Most guys I know are just using 12g sporting ammo now. The birds don;t mind.

I understand the impulse though. I hunt grouse with 28gauge, and I'm spending $30 a box for ammo - whatever though, I like it.
 
Me I use a 22. I also found that if I can hit em in the head, the others that are right there on the ground with them will generally stick around and watch each other get shot.

I have even been known to take two in one shot, yes with the 22.

I look at it this way: 22lr round = 12 cents; 410 round = $3.10 or more, don't even know any more the price as I don't really follow it. I'll gladly use the 22.

That said, on last weeks hunt I got to see a total of 3 birds, and heard a 4th in the trees/brush and no way to get to it. My 22 has not fired at a grouse this year yet. It was a wet spring this year around here, so the grouse are a tuff go this year, unfortunately.
 
brybenn said:
I prefer shotguns but I usually bring a rimfire as well. I really love using my 17mh2 but my next grouse trip will be with the 410. Figured $500+ on fuel for the week ammo costs are the least of my concern
I prefer to shoot them on the wing and I'm hoping my new pup will be able to flush them for me
6 birds a day for 6 days even factoring in way more misses than I've ever had that's only 2 boxes of ammo a week
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New pup?
 
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