Grouse shot?

[Biggerfish]

What do you all use for grouse hunting in your 12 ga?

2 3/4", 3", 3 1/2"?

#3,4,5,6?

Thanks

[TProGuy]

I generally use 2 3/4" shells with either a 7 1/2 or 8 shot for grouse. I will always have a few 6's with, just in case. Now, with my 20 ga. it is almost always 2 3/4" 6's, sometimes 8's. If the birds are jumpy and getting up a bit further out, my 20 ga. will be loaded with 3" 6's.

I'm sure everyone will be different, but this is what works for me.

[Harmonica Bear]

20 ga. #6 or #8 shot for me. I usually switch to all #6 once the leaves are down and some longer shots might be possible.

[tybo]

I use a SxS and use a spreader load of #8 in the right barrel with the same or 7 1/2 in the left barrel. This is for both grouse and woodcock and either the 12 or 20 SxS that I may use.

[Matt Breuer]

I use 4 guns for grouse and woodcock, and I shoot the following...

12 gauge O/U or 12 gauge pump. 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz. #7 1/2.

20 gauge SxS. 2 3/4" 1 oz. #6.

410 gauge O/U. 3" 7/8 oz. #6.

[kobear]

Rem. 1100 LT-20

2 3/4" 6's

[uplander]

2 3/4" 7 1/2 high brass. all day!

[WaveWacker]

Yep 7 1/2's in 12 guage (don't own a 20 or I'd probably be using one).

[2thepointsetters]

I use 4 shot 1 1/4 ounce copper-plated high velocity lead. I only shot pointed birds that are flushed and that usaully means a quick shot through really quick cover. No ground pounding here.

[uplander]

4 shot!!!! you are a better man than me I need all the help I can get...The more shot the better

[Shack]

2 3/4"

Depending on cover (I like thick and tight), 6 in the chamber and a 6 or 4 right behind it.

[2thepointsetters]

4 shot!!!! you are a better man than me I need all the help I can get...The more shot the better

yeah same shell for grouse and pheasant. They are not cheap but they seem to be very deadly when used correctly....

[fishuhalik]

I second the 4 shot. Early season I'll throw 6's, this time of year I usually have a 6 for the chamber and 4s in the tube for follow-ups. Late in the season it's all 4s though

[Scott M]

I'm another one of those aristocratic, dyed-in-the-wool 7 1/2 in a 12 gauge.

I see plenty of spent casings of this variety while walking my favorite trails, so I'm surely not the only one.

[Matt Breuer]

It seems as though some people are confusing prairie grouse with ruffed grouse maybe?

4 shot seems ridiculous for ruffs, all you need is one 7 1/5 shot pellet in the neck area to kill one. 4 shot is overkill, and expensive to boot...

[2thepointsetters]

It seems as though some people are confusing prairie grouse with ruffed grouse maybe?

4 shot seems ridiculous for ruffs, all you need is one 7 1/5 shot pellet in the neck area to kill one. 4 shot is overkill, and expensive to boot...

Nope I use for 4 shot for ruffed grouse. If you saw the cover I hunt in, you would understand. Its alot different to put a pellet in the neck area of grouse that is pointed then flushed compared to guys that are ground pounding them in the middle of a dirt road. If I was doing that then yes 4 shot would be over kill and I could probably use a sling shot and save some cash.

[Matt Breuer]

I work over 2 pointers, and I shoot fast, and I know if I used 4 shot I wouldn't get a lot of meat off of some birds. I hunt them for that tasty white meat, and I want to savor every last bit of each bird I can!

Are you hunting clear cuts where the birds flush wild on the other side of the cut?

I guess I'm confused, shooting a bird that you know is there (because of the point) that you have to shoot so close (skeet chokes work wonders for ruffs) why would a guy use such a heavy load?

Also, for the ground pounders, I would think 4 would be great, you could hit 'em from much farther distances!

[fishuhalik]

That's why I use 4s this time of year. I'm not ashamed to admit it, i'll hit one on the ground any chance I get since I don't hunt over dogs. And it's to save meat, the wide spread and number of shot you get out of a smaller will get alot more bbs in the meat, head shots are alot easier with a bigger load.

[2thepointsetters]

why would a guy use such a heavy load?

I hunt woods that are so thick you can hardly walk through them. I dont hunt trails I just make my way through the woods following the dogs. Anything less than high velocity 4's dont have the take down power through the trees. I am lucky if I see the grouse for a second before it is gone in thick woods.

I am not going to argue over shot size. I use what works for me.

[dakotakid31]

I like 6. i hunt thick stuff and it works great and it takes down sky high crows very well. I would never ground pound a bird dont see the point takes the fun right out of it but have hunted with guys that have no problem doing it just not my thing.

[Shack]

I have never had the luck of seeing a grouse on the ground that I have the privilege of shooting on the ground. Most times it is a quick burst of grey on the ground and then flight. So, I can not say shooting a grouse on the ground is a bad thing. If one gets a clean shot of a ruffed grouse on the ground, I can not blame them for taking the shot. Very rare shot in my book. Ground or air, the grouse is down. We are not talking about other birds here. It is a grouse .

Now for the 4 shot issue.

I (like others) hunt very think cover. One of my most memorable shots and getting the grouse down was with 4 shot. It was in extremely tight poplar stand. 1.5” to 2” poplar tree’s. I am working my way threw, with my dog. It was like a grey wall in front of me. I am walking around the sprouts like people at a rock concert. Sure enough, a FLUDDDDDD! goes off and I get sight of the bird right off of take off. Mind you I had put the 4 in prior because of the situation I was hunting. Like I have trained my self for many times over, up went the barrel, switch the safety, lead the bird and pull the trigger with in a second. I kid you not, that load went threw a small poplar and got the bird. I still have the mental mind image of the poplar falling to the right as the load passed right threw it. I sent the dog in and we found the bird still slightly alive, under a large oak log that had fallen many years ago. I rung it's neck and it was in the back of my hunting vest..

Good times !

[uplander]

Use what u like but here is why I use the high brass 7 1/2 copper plated lead.. It's a simple mathmatic game.. I have a much greater chance of taking that bird down with 280 pellets in the sky than I do with 160 pellets..That may not be the exact number but you get the point..copper plated lead kills and patterns much better than regular lead. It may be $15 a box but with all the money you spend on gear don't skimp on the shells..

In the high brass shells I shoot The 4's And 7's push the same amount of lead with the same amount of powder. So with the 4's your only gaining a little umph at impact. That is of coarse if you are lucky enough to sneek one of those pellets through the foliage to the target.. So I'll use the mathmatic factor to gain an edge. Other than my dog it's the only one I'll get...good hunting...uplander

[varmithtr]

Another vote for 7 1/2 shot. I like the federal 3/4 base, upland load. Maybe go to a 6 heavy base later in the year. I have no trouble taking a ground bird when not hunting with the dog. Far too delicious to let a runner escape.

[Shack]

Quote:

high brass 7 1/2 copper plated lead..

Well, I am going to bite. I will pick a box up.

I still say hunt with what ever you feel the most comfortable hunting with, but I am always open to trying new things out.

[Ferny]

I use 2-3/4" the cheapest #7.5 or #8"s in my first Improved cylinder barrel followed by a high brass #6 in my modified barrel for the follow up shot.

This is the first time I have ever heard of anyone using #4 on grouse. Doesn't it do tremendous damage to the meat? I've seen birds drop dead out of the air with one 7.5 or 8 pellet when cleaned!

I usually only get 25% of the birds I flush without a dog.

Maybe I need to increase my firepower?

Ferny.

[Shack]

Quote:

Doesn't it do tremendous damage to the meat?

Nope, not for the couple times I have taken down grouse with #4 shot. Same thing also, maybe one pellet when cleaning bird found.

[Matt Breuer]

I know I've thrown my opinion around a bit, and there are some very valid points. However, no matter what you shoot, it's getting the shot off accurately that counts.

The mathematical advantage is exactly why I use 7 1/2. I do use 6 later in the season, and for ground birds. I have found that the oz. of shot you use is VERY important for brush busting!

Speaking of ground birds, it's odd that you never see them on the ground and have a chance to take them. I see them on the ground all of the time on the way out to a lot of my stomping grounds. Sometime's I'll take 'em, sometimes I'll do the old "1,2,3" and if they haven't flushed, the ony thing they deserve is to be laid on a plate next to some wild rice. Other times I'll drive up to them and flush them, and chase 'em down with the dogs. If I do a 3 hour walk and get into my truck empty-handed, only to see a ruffie sitting on the trail on the way out, he's surely getting lead tossed his way!

[Shack]

One word Matt "Bemidji"

I hunt down this way and if I am lucky, get up as far as Effie.

Seems as you get further south, the birds do not act like birds from up north. I have seen them on the ground, but by the time my eye figures out what it is (not a squirrel), the bird see’s me and flushes. Plus I hunt with dogs (as I am sure you do also) and they are pretty much on anything in and around the front of me with in 10-30’ before I can get my eye on it.

I also will say I have never had the privilege of seeing grouse up on the dirt road in the afternoon eating gravel yet

Could just the person also . They could be all around me

[Matt Breuer]

It'll happen for you shackbash...

I used to live near Mille Lacs, toward Aitkin, and had a lot of the little buggers around our yard, on our road, and on the roads I hunted. It's all about timing I suppose. I remember hunting around Farm Island one day, dead of winter, and I walked with my pup nearly all darn day. I shot a ruffie that sailed and landed on the ice of a slough. My dog wouldn't walk out to get it, and I should've known why. I went in hip-high through the ice, walked back roughly a mile to the truck, freezing cold, pants frozen stiff... On the way out, there stood a ruffie, he stayed, watched me get out, load the gun, walk 60 feet straight at him, and boom, in the bag...

I miss hunting around Aitkin/Mille Lacs. I had some very good days down there! The 3rd best year I ever had was in that area!

[fishuhalik]

If I shot more birds in the air i might switch to a smaller load, but alot of the hunting we do is off a wheeler or truck. We drive till we see a little head up behind a downed log or something like that. Some of you might scoff, but I think that's harder than seeing your dog go on point, getting ready, and flushing 'em up. I'm extremely proud when all I spot is a grouse's eye when it's hiding in tall grass and am able to uncase, load up, and pop him. It's just a different kinda game