In Alberta, you need a game bird licence in addition to your big game tag. (or just a game bird licence if not hunting anything else) Lead shot is still ok for grouse in Alberta in most cases. Check the regs for exclusions. Not sure about pinning your 22's mag as I hunt them with a 20g 6 shot or 12 g with 6 shot or 7 1/2 shot. Loads of fun to hunt and great eatin! Do them in a "chicken pot pie" style.
What kind of gun do I need for grouse?
- Thread starter Fallenrock2
- Start date
"...is it good for birds too?..." No. You need an upland game bird licence for grouse in Alberta. You don't need to worry about the mag capacity of a .22 either. The 3 round rule is for shotguns. Read your hunting regs. http://www.albertaoutdoorsmen.ca/huntingregs/
"...don't know of a stupid grouse that you can hunt with a .22..." Some of 'em, in Ontario, will sit and look at you(just like our politicians when asked why they did something) while you shoot them with a .22. The rest of 'em sit in hiding and explode from under your feet, usually two at a time with one going North and the other South. Just like Covey Ridge says.
Get a short barreled 12 or 20 guage for upland hunting.
"...don't know of a stupid grouse that you can hunt with a .22..." Some of 'em, in Ontario, will sit and look at you(just like our politicians when asked why they did something) while you shoot them with a .22. The rest of 'em sit in hiding and explode from under your feet, usually two at a time with one going North and the other South. Just like Covey Ridge says.
Get a short barreled 12 or 20 guage for upland hunting.
For Huns and Sharptails a shot gun may be prefered, but Ruffed Grouse and Spruce Grouse that havn't been hunted often seem stupid in that they often just stand there and don't fly. It's one of the reasons that they are called fool hens. Many wing shooters equate ground shooting with a shot gun to shooting ducks in the water. Using a .22 a head shot grouse is a bragger and a body shot bird and may have too much damaged meat and is worse than a miss
. Another reason Ruffies are called fool hens is that when they are pushed to flight they can often make the best wing shots look incompetent
When I am in good ruff cover, I can put more in the bag with a .22.
Ok, but when do calibers of opportunity arise in real situations? When I get in the truck and pick "A" gun to go grouse hunting, it's a shotgun, not a .22. When I get in the truck and pick "A" gun to go gopher hunting, it's a .22 not a shotgun. I usually....no, never carry two guns. But hey, that's just me and I wear my baseball cap with the brim forward too....
No need to link the regs bud...."I" read them inside out, there's several copies in the house, one by each ####ter.
Ok, but when do calibers of opportunity arise in real situations? When I get in the truck and pick "A" gun to go grouse hunting, it's a shotgun, not a .22. When I get in the truck and pick "A" gun to go gopher hunting, it's a .22 not a shotgun. I usually....no, never carry two guns. But hey, that's just me and I wear my baseball cap with the brim forward too....
What you do is fine, but when you say "but I don't know of a stupid grouse that you can hunt with a .22." tells me you havn't seen Mr. Ruff at his best. Sharptail and huns seldom overlap into real good ruff cover and to choose a .22 is reasonable and often preferable and doesn't make the choice of one stupid and in no way makes the ruff stupid.
I hope that I haven't broken CGN rules by calling Mr. Ruff stupid. Your point is well made Covey, but even if Ruffies are to be the table fare of the day, a small bore shotgun is still preferable over a .22, just in case you come up on one that either is a bit smarter or feels more energetic.
I think it depends on what kind of grouse, and how spooky they are. If it's windy or they've been shot at before they can get awfully nervous and won't usually stay still. For still shot's a rimfire is fine but otherwise I use 7 1/2 or 8 shot for ruffies and 6 shot for sharptails. I prefer a 20 gauge or smaller for ruffies and a 20 gauge or bigger for sharpies. It's hard to know what gun is right to have on hand at the time. I thought a 20 gauge/.22 combo would be good but I'm not too sure the .22 part of it would be accurate enough for my liking.
- Location
- St. Joe's Island, Ont
Maybe, I'll have to think about it.
I use a Savage model 430 20 ga O/U and I've got a neat little Zabala SXS 410 that folds right in half and fits under the front compartment on my Polaris 500.
Republic of Alberta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- ,location, location
Hey, I live in Whitecourt too.
Your 10-22 is a dam fine grouse gun. The best shot is at the base of the neck, you may want to get a scope for that. If you have a quad the folding stocks you can get from Buttler Creek will make it easy to fit in the quad box.
Get a licence and hunting regs form the Petro- Canada up the hill, Crappy Tire sells licences too but they don't have a clue what they are doing 1/2 the time.
Your 10-22 is a dam fine grouse gun. The best shot is at the base of the neck, you may want to get a scope for that. If you have a quad the folding stocks you can get from Buttler Creek will make it easy to fit in the quad box.
Get a licence and hunting regs form the Petro- Canada up the hill, Crappy Tire sells licences too but they don't have a clue what they are doing 1/2 the time.
I hope that I haven't broken CGN rules by calling Mr. Ruff stupid. Your point is well made Covey, but even if Ruffies are to be the table fare of the day, a small bore shotgun is still preferable over a .22, just in case you come up on one that either is a bit smarter or feels more energetic.
What do you do with the ones that stand there motionless? Shoot em with the big 12? I prefer my table fare not to involve dodging lead shot.
Someone should do a poll about actual bagged ruffies in Canada. I would put my money on a .22 or more ground shot birds than those shot in flight. I would put my money on more ruffs shot by big game hunters than actual ruffed grouse hunters.
I agree with R of Ab, that a scoped 10/22 would make a fine grouse gun for most, exception being those enegetic kind.
Haven't shot a ruffie with a shotgun since I was a kid in the early 60's. Always use a .22, either they get shot in the head or they get away. If I was in coveys poll I would say over 90% are shot with .22 the next 8% with .410 and 2% for other.
That way, if you can not get the pine sap taste out you will not starve. You still have pork or bacon
Just kidding! I will try it next time I accidently shoot one. Yes I said accident. It happened once when all I saw was the head and thought it was a ruff. Actually I didn't notice the difference til I pulled its feet and noticed the flesh was very dark.
Republic of Alberta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- ,location, location
I like to cut them into nuggets, flower and fry. Dip in some kind of sauce, BBQ, plum, honey mustard ect. I find they have an enjoyable tangyness to them.
