Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Recommended Posts

I am heading that way in 2 weeks for some walleye fishing and grouse hunting. I hunt pheasants a lot but have never hunted grouse. What kind of chokes should I be bringing and what shotgun loads work best. I will be shooting a Beretta 391 12 gauge. I also have a black lab will she work for grouse or are they more of a pointing dog type of bird. She is an awesome pheasant dog but not sure if I should take her grouse hunting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At this time of year with the brush still up, I recommend spreading out the shot as much as possible for a quick shot. I hunt with a springer spaniel (flushing dog) and think flushers are good. I have seen different types of flushes. I hunt an area with a lot of wolves, so I see (hear) a lot of wild flushes, so any dog doesn't help much in that case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a short youth model 20 gauge single shot as this gives you much quicker shots and it goes through the brush better. You won't need multiple shot capability as the leaves will be thick enough that you will only get one shot if that. Any dog will help cover more ground. Should have good fishing even if the birds are a little tough because of the leaf on conditions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

I am heading that way in 2 weeks for some walleye fishing and grouse hunting. I hunt pheasants a lot but have never hunted grouse. What kind of chokes should I be bringing and what shotgun loads work best. I will be shooting a Beretta 391 12 gauge. I also have a black lab will she work for grouse or are they more of a pointing dog type of bird. She is an awesome pheasant dog but not sure if I should take her grouse hunting.


Take your dog hunting for sure. She will put up way more birds for you than you would on your own. Grouse are harder to hunt than pheasants because you have a very short time to get a good shot at a grouse because the woods are really thick up here.

Everybody on here will tell you something different about using a dog and the type. But I would never leave my most reliable hunter partner at home while I am out hunting.

I have got grouse over flushing and pointing dogs. I use pointers now because you have some time to get ready for the shot. But it takes a lot of work to get a pointer to hold grouse.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as shot type I use 1 1/4 ounce 6 shot.(mod choke) But I am hunting grouse in thick woods and only shot at birds on the fly.

Lots of people drive around on dirt roads (or right off the highway) and shot grouse while the bird is standing on the road with its back turned. I dont call that hunting but if you do want to try that a 1 once 8 shot will be sure to blow them away. frown.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grouse numbers are WAY up this year. The birds are everywhere. Me and my 9 year old will be out chasin' em around.

I bring along my browing gold hunter 12 ga. with mod choke.

My son uses a 20 ga.remington 870 youth model with a mod choke.

fg1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bring your dog for sure!

I have hunted grouse for years with my flushing Labs.

You will get many more shots at birds and will not lose as many downed birds.

I use a modified or Improved cylinder choke with #7 or #71/2 shot in my 12 ga. early in the season. It usually only takes a couple of b-b to bring down a grouse,(if you can hit them)! grin.gif

Get your gun up as soon as your dog get birdy!

Cliff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.