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rsterne · Moderator

For the second weekend in a row, I shot my limit of five grouse in one day with my .22 PCP Carbine.... Twisted Evil

In the center is a Franklin's (Spruce) Grouse, flanked by a pair of Blues (Male on the left), and on the outside are a pair of Ruffed grouse.... The one on the right had a wingspan of 2 feet, and was the biggest grouse I had ever shot until I got the two Blue grouse.... The female was bigger than the Ruffie, and the male was huge.... His wingspan was greater than the length of my Carbine, so at least 30 inches.... what a monster.... The grouse on the left has me puzzled.... I figured it was a large Ruffie, but looking at the tailfeathers they almost look like a Blue.... but the rest of the plumage is definitely that of a Ruffed Grouse.... Is it possible for them to interbreed?.... Shocked

All five fell to single head shots, two of them (including the big male Blue) didn't even twitch.... The "crossbreed" flipped all over the place and ended up going over a bank.... My darling wife volunteered to go down after it (I have a bad knee).... She slid down on her bum on the loose rocks and couldn't stop until she grabbed a wild rose bush.... Rolling Eyes

.... Meanwhile, the grouse is way down the hill, still flopping around and getting closer to an even bigger drop off, so I had to anchor it with another (body) shot, and it didn't even flinch after that.... When we recovered it, the first shot went clear through right below the eye.... it still amazes me how these guys can keep flipping around for so long when they don't know they are dead.... Crying or Very sad

Kudos to my better half.... she scrambled back up the bank by another route, clutching the grouse and rubbing her bum and telling me how I owed her big time.... God I love that woman.... and talk about good luck.... She has been with me both times when I got my limit.... Cool

Bob

Slavia · Moderator

Buy, sell, or trade any of your airguns as you will, but keep the girl. You'll never find another one like her.

kanyon · Silver Status Member

Great shooting....Like the gun.. a nicely
moded shooter......

Pete

scroller99 · Veteran Member

They are huge, the ruffed grouse we have aound here look like doves compared to those things Shocked

Yeas this may be a situation to sell the dog and keep the wife

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

Nice kills. I never see people shooting grouse. How do you hunt them? (Considering they are supposed to be shot on the wing.)

scroller99 · Veteran Member

I don't know if the law states that they must be shot on the wing or that it is more sporting to shoot them on the wing? but then shooting them with a shotgun after flushing them is a lot different than shooting them with an AG

EricH61 · Member

Nice job. Are you stalking them or working from a blind?

In Wisconsin, you can't take grouse with rifles, must be taken with scatterguns.

rsterne · Moderator

Hunting along the edge of the roads, particularly in the evening when they are eating gravel.... In BC you are allowed to hunt Grouse with rifles or shotguns....

Bob

yourdaddyjoe · Supporting Member

It sure seems like you are happy with the results of your new Grouse Gun...

EricH61 · Member

That's cool. I know if I could use a rifle, I'd get a lot more grouse, I suk with a shotgun. Walking up on them on the roads usually leaves you with a pretty long shot doesn't it?

rsterne · Moderator

If I'm driving, I can often get within 10-15 yards, hop out and take the shot.... if walking typical distance is more like 20-25 yards if they stay on the road.... but often they will just walk a few feet into the bush and you get a close shot....

On one Spruce grouse I was so close that even with the scope set at minimum focus distance (7 yards @ 4X) he was totally blurry.... I backed up until I could see him.... Rolling Eyes

.... that's why they call spruce grouse "fool's hens".... Ruffies and Blues are a lot tougher....

Bob

EricH61 · Member

That's great. How do you clean them? Do you do the stand-on-the-wings-pull-the-legs-till-the-breast-pops-out deal? Cool

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

I've heard of a spruce goose before....

Btw, if you ever have to stand on a bird's wings, you're doing it wrong.

Doc Sharptail · Member

I've had more than my share of shot-up birds- enough to last me a life-time. Throwing an 18-24" pattern of 5-600 #7 1/2's @ +1300 fps at a flying bird gets old pretty fast. Not much of a challenge when I can almost do it with my eyes closed. That doesn't really meet my definition of "Sporting".
I much prefer to take them in the head/neck with a rimfire rifle, or a/g, both of which are perfectly legal here. My wife used tp practically cry over the scatter-gun mangled birds- She was the one stuck figuring out how to cook them. The ruffies and sharptails are mighty fine eatin when you don't have to worry about biting into a piece of lead shot. I'm more likely to pass on a questionable shot with the air rifle- something that's easier on both me and the birds.

Congrats on some nice shootin, Bob.

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

fritz · Silver Status Member

Doc, that's one thing I never understood about using a shotgun to kill birds... all those damned BBs in your meat!

Has anyone seen the hunting shows on TV where they are standing there shooting HUNDREDS of birds a person in a day. That's not hunting to me, it's slaughter. Those birds often twitch quite a bit if you ever see a shot of them on the ground. Birds don't twitch when you deliver a single kill shot.

Hunt humanely people...