Grouse with a 22

[Billy74]

Still new to hunting but wanted to take advantage of my time in the woods scouting in sept.  I’m going to take along my boys 22 and know there’ll be opportunity to take some grouse.  Any tips for grouse with a 22.  I’m planning on just walking roads and being opportunistic to and from my truck.  I took the cheap (but reasonably accurate) scope off earlier and never put it back on thinking I would be plenty close. 


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[Stein]

I usually carry a 22 revolver for grouse.  Take your time and try to avoid the broadside body shot.


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[hunter399]

Neck,head,nick them very top of the back.Go for it,i used 22 many times.

[jrebel]

We kill most of our grouse with .22's  Wait till they turn their back to you and shoot them between the wings at the base of the neck.  If they are broadside hit them right where the wing attaches to the body.  If I have my 10-22 I will head shot them with the scope but do miss more often than when I use the pistol as mentioned above. 

Obviously no flying shots and I will not shoot when they are in a tree unless I have the trunk of the tree as a backstop. If they are out on a branch and there is no backstop I will not shoot them.  Safety first.   

[jstone]

I bow hunt in September have taken some with my bow but the arrows are getting expensive. I was thinking on getting a sling shot to be quiet and cheaper 

[Buckmark]

Grouse with an open sighted .22, can't be done 
Sometimes i get lucky and they hang out on my property 

[Sitka_Blacktail]

.22 mag with birdshot in my Ruger single six revolver. Works great for the ones that jump up on a branch or just stand there when you walk up to them.

[dreamunelk]

Lost count of the number of grouse I have shot with a .22.  Both rifle and pistol.

Billy74, take you son scouting with you!

[outdooraddict]

is the birdshot powerfull enough and from what dstance, i have a cheap 22 revolver that also has the 22 mag cylinder, id like to use this for grouse, and wanted to try the birdshot but didnt know how close or if it would be powerful enough

[jrebel]

is the birdshot powerfull enough and from what dstance, i have a cheap 22 revolver that also has the 22 mag cylinder, id like to use this for grouse, and wanted to try the birdshot but didnt know how close or if it would be powerful enough

In my opinion....it sucks.  I would just stay with standard 22 lr rounds. 

[Katmai Guy]

Open sighted Ruger 10/22 and headshots are the way to go.  Hate picking birdshot out of my mouth.

[Okanagan]

Open sighted Ruger 10/22 and headshots are the way to go.  Hate picking birdshot out of my mouth.

Agreed.  I'd start a kid on open sights.  Grouse are the best eating in the woods and I wish that they weighed 50 lbs.

FWIW some factors and options below.

As my eyes have aged, I have more trouble with open sights, even though that is the best for close shots on grouse, and many shots are very close.  Last year I went to a red dot sight, a low cost Center Point, and once I got the hang of it, killed 11 grouse with 12 shots, seven in a row I think it was.  Then I missed four shots at a grouse at my feet.  That one was so close that the difference between bullet path and sight picture was enough to miss the grouse.  I need to mentally adjust where I aim on close shots.

The down side of the red dot, and of most scopes to a lesser extend, is that the height of the sight above the bore puts the bullet 1 1/2 to 2 1/2  inches below the sight picture on very close shots, say inside of 10 feet.  That is enough to miss a grouse neck and miss the grouse if the neck is not positioned directly above the body at the shot.

 I wish someone would make a red dot with the sight as close to bore as possible and the battery, mounting body etc. are to one side or above the sight picture, so that the red dot (or scope crosshairs) is as close to bore/bullet path as possible. 

Leapers makes air rifle scopes with parallax focus down to within 6 feet or something like that.  People started shooting insects with them and calling them Bug Busters and the name stuck.  I'd get one for grouse if they made a lower powered variable.  The lowest power is 3-9 in a variable, and 4 power fixed.  For my eyes, messed up by multiple surgeries I will admit, I'd like a 1-4 scope for grouse no larger than 33mm objective with parallax focus to within 6 feet.  For years I shot grouse with open sights, then went to a 3-9 variable scope for many more years.  Now my eyes won't focus on close shots with regular scopes.  Hence the red dot.

[Igor]

is the birdshot powerfull enough and from what dstance, i have a cheap 22 revolver that also has the 22 mag cylinder, id like to use this for grouse, and wanted to try the birdshot but didnt know how close or if it would be powerful enough

Just do a little pattern test of your .22 mag birdshot on a piece of plywood or cardboard.  Try it at about, say, 18 feet, that's 6 yards......you will not be impressed !!

[hunter399]

is the birdshot powerfull enough and from what dstance, i have a cheap 22 revolver that also has the 22 mag cylinder, id like to use this for grouse, and wanted to try the birdshot but didnt know how close or if it would be powerful enough

Just do a little pattern test of your .22 mag birdshot on a piece of plywood or cardboard.  Try it at about, say, 18 feet, that's 6 yards......you will not be impressed !!

I know when I was younger, birdshot for pistol,22lr came out .The 22 birdshot was so weak you almost would have to hold the muzzle right on its head to kill anything.I thought I read somewhere it was for mice and rats.maybe the 22mag birdshot is better  , but never buy that 22lr birdshot is not very good .

[Katmai Guy]

Grouse with an open sighted .22, can't be done 
Sometimes i get lucky and they hang out on my property 

That's a really cool photo.