Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Anybody shoot small game while hunting elk?

Me and the guys are going for our third elk hunt in the Bitterroots this November. Applying for the MT licenses we have prerequisites that allow us to shoot small game. Do any of you guys carry a sidearm or something along those lines for small game to add to the camp protein pot while y’all are backpacking/hunting for elk? What do y’all shoot? While we have been out I have seen black squirrels (not familiar with the species) and rabbits/hares. I’m thinking of packing my buckmark along for the possibility of killing the occasional small game animal to supplement our diet. What say the campfire elk crowd?

Suppressors rock, for such pursuits.....

A lot of grouse get killed during ek season. Agree suppressor’s shine while hunting both.

Those are western red squirrels and there's no much meat on them and while we have squirrel seasons in Idaho I don't mess with them. Grouse on the other hand are an target of opportunity and I often go after them exclusively with the Marlin Papoose or winchester M12 20ga. I think the folks who mentioned an 22lr with suppressors are far ahead in the game and very smart.

I’ve got a 30 cal can in the pipeline but that’s not for a hunting rifle. A suppressor for a 22 handgun like a buckmark, or a takedown 10/22 is on the wishlist. I’ll need to familiarize myself with MT game laws more, but it sounds like anything goes on grouse as far as weapons are concerned.

Never, I believe that "any" or unusual disturbance can move your target animal, and they may not come back into that area for a day or so. I did shoot a wolf in Wyoming a few years ago, thought it was worth the chance.

I would kill an occasional Blue Grouse with my MKII, mostly before the season started when we were packing in supplies, and have also killed a few with the canon of an arm I used to have with a small pine knot or a small stone!

My boys have taken air rifles for the grouse.

The pine squirrels we have in Eastern Oregon are not legal game and reportedly taste bad. Grouse and hares rabbits are both excellent table fare. Rimfires are allowed here for grouse. I sometimes pack a rimfire , usually on my bike and and have taken grouse when the opportunity arises during deer season. I won't do that during elk season unless it is right around camp.

I had a .22/45 MKIII I gave my youngest boy and he put a can on it. Shooting it on sage rats has convinced me to get a can for my TX-22 Target that has a red dot on it. It isn't likely to get packed much though.

We just shoot coyotes on the gut piles.

Since everyone is using a 6.5 whatever on elk, the exercise is to see just how far out you can reach using the same rifle.

Yes….mostly grouse with head shots! It took a fried of mine a few lost grouse by “not” adjusting for the distance between scope crosshairs and rifle bore at close range. A body shot on a grouse with a 210 NP at over 3K fps….doesn’t leave much for dinner! 😉

Carrying the extra weight of a sidearm (unless quite light) when elk hunting is just too much added weight when there are potentially many miles to cover daily! memtb

I'm not about to shoot a 30-06 at a grouse while there could be elk around. A folding slingshot can work very well on grouse but with my aim, I have to carry 2lb of ball bearings to have even a slight chance of getting one. Most of them don't have the patience to wait around while I shoot 20 ball bearings at them.

No chance. I'm not going to risk scaring off the elk. Priorities. I'm also not packing the extra weight of a second gun. Also priorities.

Heading back to camp after not seeing any elk all day, I came across some grouse. I shot two in the head and they helped make a nice supper. That was on my first elk hunt and near the Selway river.

When I go elk hunting, I hunt elk. I don't shoot at anything else. I wait all year to go and I am not about to spook an elk with a shot at something when an elk might be 50-100yards away that I don't see..

Of course all the archery hunters complain about muzzle loader hunters shooting during archery season. I might, at times, shoot a grouse with .357 shot loads just to hear then whine more.

You don't need a license to hunt squirrels and such in MT unless they are protected which I can't think of any that are. Grouse are nice for the pot, but I haven't shot any while big game hunting unless it is well away from my hunting area and not disturbing other hunters chances.

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THIS

Exactly^^^^^^^ Sometimes it's frustrating as hell to not see any elk, but that doesn't mean you shoot a barking tree squirrel with your 300wby or defenseless rabbit with your 338wm........ Or stupid azzed yote that walks by you at 10 yards.. Does a 9.3x62mm take the head off of a grey digger at 10 yards? Well, you tell me.. Now I see why I never shot elk when I was younger...

I don't know how it is now, but many years ago in NM, if you had special tag form a certain species,you could be find for shooting something else.

I took a newbie with me one time javelina hunting down in the boot heel of NM.The guy shot a feral hog (yea, he thought it was a javelina)
Game warden happen to pass by an wrote him up. He took it to court and beat it because the feral hog was not a big game species and the ranch owner that he contacted wanted them shot off.

He had to do that long round trip from Albuquerque to Lordsburg for the court though.

This goes in my deer hunting pack. Shooting sub-sonic HP's, it kills squirrels messing with me while in the stand and raccoons that walk by. Sometimes I have to shoot a coon more than once, if not head shot, But it does kill them, just not real far. Doesn't seem to bother deer. I've had them come into a food plot right after shooting this thing. I guess if they were close, it may spook them, have never seen it happen.

BTW, I re-worked the trigger using Volquartsen and Clark parts. It's about as good as I've seen; I was lucky. Cheap red dot sight, but it works pretty well, holds zero. sorta bulky, but is OK for now.

DF