Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Grouse Load and Choke ?

Let's just say western style grouse hunting while hunting deer or elk. I'll reload and use bismuth shot for my 12 gauge. What size of shot,what load, and which choke should I screw in ?

Fool hens? Anything, IC or less choke.

Improved cylinder and an ounce of #6 Bismuth should get it done. It's what I use for waterfowl, I can still use lead for upland.

If not toxic is required I'd find some 20 gauge or 12 gauge steel loads designed for dove hunting and the most open choke I could find. Steel 7 seem to be common in these parts about dove season.

Haven’t you guys read Burton Spiller? Filling out my library with his books. From Portland ME like me. I believe he used Skeet in right barrel and Modified in left barrel with 6 or 8.

I've read most of his books. He hunted over setters if I recall correctly. I think this is about potshots while deer hunting. I would use a 410 with a full choke, and #6 shot for that if it was something I chose to do.

I’m not sure what “western style” is, but I prefer modified choke or IC/Mod if 2 barrels available. I am also sort of a renegade with regard to shot size, liking nothing smaller than 6’s and preferring 5’s, okay with 4’s. I like big enough shot to break bones which the 7 1/2’s and 8’s favored by the pattern density crowd don’t tend to do. This is especially imwhen you don’t have a dog to run down cripples which I’m assuming is the case if you’re deer hunting.

cci mini mags

Grouse in the forest, 1oz of AA 7.5 or 8's and anything from Cyl to no more constriction than IC.

Grouse on the prairie, whatever you're also using for pheasants. 1oz - 1 3/8oz of #4, 5, or 6 shot. IC to maybe Mod choke. Honestly I haven't shot anything tighter than IC for 30yrs other than Full for turkeys.

IC and a stout trap load, think 3-3 1/4 dram, of 7.5's will work fine. Dos not take much to kill them, don't over think it.

So, you're carrying around a 12 gauge shotgun AND a centerfire rifle?

I ride a quad between clearcuts. There is still a lot of logging roads still in the province. A lot of them are now deactivated but are still passable on a quad. At my age with my knees, I can't do that much walking. I don't think in the lower 48 there is very much similar country as what's in BC.

I see said the blind man . . .

This

I chuckled with that one ,too. If I get on Blues, a scatter gun will give me more of a chance. The ones I've seen, very briefly I might add, have been pretty wary. I've ordered #6 bismuth shot .

Used to hunt scaled quail on BLM land in SE NM. No. 6

I have killed them with everything from 410's and 6's to 12 gauge black powder shotguns with 9's.
Basically pick what you want and go with it.
Chokes don't matter much.
Cat

While elk and deer hunting? I’ve always used a 270 grain bullet from my .375. Head shots only….some mighty fine eat’n! 😁 memtb

Have taken "mountain grouse" here in Montana (which includes ruffed, spruce and what used to be known as "blues" and are now "dusky" grouse) with a variety of cartridges, including shotguns from 28 to 12 gauge, and rifles from the .257 Weatherby to .338 Winchester Magnums. (Shooting 'em with rifles is legal here, due to an old Western tradition. Have also taken quite a few with various .22 rimfire handguns....)

But probably the "best" woods-grouse shotgun I've used was a cheap Savage pump 20-gauge purchased for $80 from part of my first check for a magazine article in the mid-1970s. It had a 26" barrel with a fixed full choke, but sawed it off to 21" for a "cylinder" choke. Found out it not only worked very well on "mountain grouse" but September Huns and sharptails, using #6 shot.....

When I did my hunter training which is required here before getting a hunting licence , grouse were Ruffed, Franklin and Blue. Now they are Ruffed, Spruce and Dusty(blue). I came to hunting late, I was 31 at the time.

An Amusing Tale. My hunting partner asked if we could take his buddy's step-son along. His buddy was the head conservation officer for that area. The kid brought his single shot 410. He did well, so well in fact I said hold on ,we better check the regs . It was 10 daily per species. he already had 10 Ruffed, so he could only shoot Franklins. He got 7 of those. It could have been a little awkward. His Dad out hunting deer got skunked.