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

While pretty cool, and certainly an option in a deer stand, I can't fathom hauling that thing up an elk mountain.

And no, I don't carry a sidearm when elk hunting here in Montana - when I'm elk hunting, that's what I'm doing. Nothing else.

Yeah, wouldn’t want to lug all that up and down hills. Works OK headed to a stand.

DF

I've killed a couple of grouse with a rock while elk hunting, the extent of my small game hunting while chasing elk.

I always take a good pellet gun and have used it for grouse, squirrels and rabbits in CO while elk hunting.

Yep , mountain chickens "grouse" with blunt tipped arrow or thrown rock. Always brought some foil and seasoning to cook in the coals.

While out scouting before the season, I occasionally kill a grouse or two for dinner, but once the season is open, I don't want to mess with them while elk hunting.

Another thing that I come to understand as I got older is that I didn't need to kill everything I came across while I hunted elk.

Early years, the grouse I shot were too darn tough unless you happen to run across a young bird. Pine squirrels tasted like pine cones and ,were tougher than the grouse, and too hard to skim. Usually the rabbits were snowshoes and the ranked right up there with eating jack rabbits.

I think I only bought two bear tags in my whole life. If I had deer tag in my pocket I didn't hunt them until I had an elk hanging. I enjoyed catching a few brook trout and frying them up while I waited for others to fill their tags/

The grouse in CO are dumber than dumb. They will sit on a tree branch 7 yards in front of you thinking they are invisible. They taste delicious. Just don’t over cook them. Bacon is a good match with them on the grill. To your question, I’m still searching for the perfect grouse gun for elk season. Tried all sorts of .22s. I prefer revolvers as they can shoot shorts and CB rounds with almost pellet gun quietness. Thought the NAA little revolver would be great but the sights are crude and the POA/POI was 6” off at 9 yards. Still managed to kill a few. Picked up a SW 317 thinking it would be the Holy Grail. It’s 11oz or so, holds 8 shots and has adjustable sights. The pros: it’s ultra light weight. Cons: everything else. I’ve tried just about every .22 ammo out there including Olympic match Eley. Best 8 shot group at 10 yards is about 2.5”. Most are 3-3.5”. Front sight is horrible. No idea on a currently manufactured better option under 16oz.

Grouse vs. Rock or stick if handy= dinner. Foolish to pass up free meal.

Its called elk 'hunting' for a reason... Sometimes little distractions are good.....and tasty.

I carry enough weight, a pistol is not in the daily gear, while elk hunting. On another note, the black squirrel he observed might be a whiskey jack.

Grouse season, “around here” is waaaay to long to fuuck up a elk hunt. 👊🏻

No extraneous rounds as I don't want to risk spooking that yet unseen elk.

Whether or not you want to smoke small game or a grouse this is still entertaining.

We archery hunt elk and all of us have one arrow with a judo point in our quiver . It only takes about 15 minutes to catch several trout from a stream where we set up camp. Grilled trout and grouse go together pretty well

x2,

I love ruffed grouse, it is my favourite of all wild game meat. When I am hunting big game I like being as silent and invisible as possible. Lots of expense goes into hunting elk or moose, they live in their environment 24/7 365 days a year and I believe can recognise the slightest variance in their area, which makes them skittish.

Every time I see a Ruffie, I say to them "You are one very lucky bird today" lol

Cheers ~

They are tasty are tasty and wonderful birds. This one was up on a ridgeline.

I am not afraid.

Nice job Judging the grouse.😀

We killed them with rocks and sticks when I was younger. When I used to archery hunt I carried a judo to shoot them with. They made a welcome meal addition a few times. I try to have my own decent food now without shooting birds.

I don’t know that I ever didn’t get an elk because I shot a grouse, but I do know I won’t get a grouse if I don’t shoot it…

Never spooked an elk while hunting grouse, have shot grouse and had elk bugling right near us.
Judos points with the bow or we have a 22 in the truck for road hunting birds.
Elk hear all kinds of noises during Fall, rifle shots only spook the very close elk, they don't spook out of an area due to small caliber shots. At least in my experience.

Not so much the shooting, it is not watching for elk while chasing grouse. Seems every time I think there isn't an elk around for miles, I busted one out of a blow down 20 yards away that I should have seen if I was paying more attention.

I killed two grouse with one arrow.

This right here.


Focus on the task at hand. Pick up the shotgun and cut loose the English Pointer when the elk tags are filled and do it proper, the gentleman’s way.

So every time you shoot a grouse, you get an elk the same day?

I don’t understand your logic. Gun shots carry for a long ways. No way to know if you spooked elk out of the area or not.

There is no way to know if you did spook an elk when you shoot a grouse. I may have spooked a few elk, but I have killed quite a few grouse. The old "Bird in the hand" theory...

I've gotten distracted on many an elk hunt by shooting grouse. Keeps the blood flowing on slow days.