Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game 22 For Grouse OK?

No, I'm not really going out grouse hunting with a 22. A group of us are heading to Southern Ohio next weekend for a squirrel hunt. Grouse also happens to be in season as well. Would a bird hunter get his panties in a wad if I was carrying out a bird with a 22 on my shoulder?

I know the probability of getting a shot at one is fairly low but I have intentionally passed them up in the same area over the years since I didn't know the specific rules on grouse hunting. Wing shooting with a 22, of course, is out of the question.

Hell, I've not shot a grouse with a shotgun. Either CF rifle or handgun.

.22s work great on grouse. Check your regs. They may not be legal in places.

Allowed in Ohio for squirrel, rabbit, grouse, pheasant and several others:

Longbow or bow: This includes compound bows and recurve bows.
Crossbow

Handgun: Any caliber.

Rifle: Any caliber.

Shotgun: 10 gauge or smaller.

Airgun


Supper on Saturday includes whatever is bagged by then. A bird or two sure would be a nice addition.

Who cares what anyone else thinks of the way you kill grouse, as long as it's legal.

Cool that you can use a .22 on pheasant.....

Elitist shotgunners.....

I always said that if I ever lived in pheasant country I'd have a scoped 22 in the pickup to take care of them. Had no idea it was legal in some places!

Several states allow the use of rifles on upland game.. making a good shot with a rifle on birds is far, far more difficult than shooting them with a shotgun... I always have to laugh when the turkey hunters make such a big deal about calling them close and using a shotgun.. They want the heaviest loads they can get to swat a bird on the ground... Sporting????? If they used a rifle, far fewer turkeys would be killed each year.. Use your rifle and enjoy!!!!!!

What he said!


We have a law in Montucky that upland birds must be killed with a shotgun, while grouse( Blue, Spruce, and Ruffed) can be taken with a variety of weapons.

I always wondered how the upland birds knew they were being killed by a shotgun....


A BIG +P+ on the turkey guys ground sluicing them with a shotgun in their mating season....

Gosh Poobs, that almost sounds as bad as allowing rifle hunting during the elk rut when the boys are pretty "unwary"

OP, don't worry who get's their panties in a wad, if it's legal and you want to, why not.

Geno

Agree with you on elk rut hunting with a rifle....


Aint legal in most places in Montana, but theres still a couple wilderness areas...

States I've hunted them in the rut is "saved" for archers and some muzzle loaders. I know on my archery cow hunts I'd have much rather had a bull tag in my pocket.

Hope all is well with the pooches. Our youngest ( 2yo)ate an oxygen absorber packet yesterday. Fun time for my wife as I'm still over here working for 2 more weeks.

Geno

I haven't shot a grouse with a 22 in years but would in a heartbeat if it would irk a "purist". I often allow tyros to ground sluice their first grouse with a shotgun, providing it is safe for my dogs. These types do not get out in the field much and their skills are such that they do not pose much threat to the populations of any animal. Getting something in the game bag is an accomplishment to them and the highlight of their time in the field. For myself I have a different standard for the most part but that is just for me.

It is quite an accomplishment to get within rifle range of a grouse and not flush it, most tend to take flight long before it is seen. I wouldn't think poorly of a person who took a bird with a rifle but I might think lesser of him to having more "luck" in that regard than me!!!

A comment on hunting turkeys with a rifle or shotgun: In the spring it would be a LOT easier to kill a gobbler with a rifle, rather than having to get within 50 yards or so with shotgun, because big gobblers are far more likely to be seen out in the open at that time of year, strutting their stuff.
But in fall it's much tougher to shoot one with a rifle. Hens and younger gobblers not so much, but big gobblers, no. This is even true in Montana, where they're not nearly as tough to hunt as east of the Mississippi.

I know this partly because Montana allowed rifles for spring turkey hunting for many years--and still do in fall, when any turkey is legal. Have killed them at ranges up to 250-300 yards with a rifle, in both spring and fall.

Have killed mountain grouse in Montana with .22 and centerfire handguns, plus centerfire rifles (shoot 'em in the head), and arrows. The ruffed grouse we have here aren't nearly as spooky as they are in the East, and blues and especially spruce grouse (the original "fool hen") are even less likely to flush. Have also killed blue grouse in western Canada with a stick, and ptarmigan in Nunvaut Territory with a rock, but doubt either is strictly legal. Though a rock just might be in Nunavut.

Using a rock was illegal only if you do not replace the rock back to where you found it. And that only applied if you were not a resident of the Northwest Territories.

It must have been near a coast where you found a rock, when and where I was up there had no rocks unless right next to the river or Hudson's Bay. But that was when that area was still called Northwest Territories and the main town was called Eskimo Point. I guess global warming has changed things some.

By coincidence, I was traveling by ATV from the coast to a river a little inland, and I left from was what used to be called Eskimo Point and is now Arviat.