WHO SHOOTS GROUSE WITH A PISTOL?

[Dave Workman]

I've shown images before of me with dead grouse taken with a pistol. (See below) But I'm wondering if this is kind of a lost art.
 My dad always packed a .22-caliber revolver, an old H&R 922 9-shot double-action and he potted the occasional bird while deer hunting. Probably how I got into the habit of packing a sidearm during deer season.

Who else on this forum (there's GOT TO BE more than one or two of us!) carries a .22 pistol or revolver for conking grouse? I even do it during grouse season when I've got a decent shot.

How about sharing photos of your gun and the birds?   And do you practice ahead of time to make sure you can hit a grouse?  My prep involves shooting at quart-size plastic milk jugs or the quart cartons. I also have a resealable target that is shaped like a bird.

[hunter399]

I've done it.
I also use a 22 rifle sometimes.
But haven't used my 22 rifle or pistol in years.
I got an old browning,heritage rough rider,and a ruger wrangler.

But now I just let the kid have at them.
He uses a shotgun.
And when he isn't with me I just let them go for somebody eles.

[Dave Workman]

I've done it.
I also use a 22 rifle sometimes.
But haven't used my 22 rifle or pistol in years.
I got an old browning,heritage rough rider,and a ruger wrangler.

But now I just let the kid have at them.
He uses a shotgun.
And when he isn't with me I just let them go for somebody else.

 

Well, that's mighty sporting of you...I mean that seriously.  Maybe it's time to break out those .22s and do a bit of practicing!  Look for me this season. I'll be in the woods by the big tree. You know the place. 

[Stein]

I carry a pistol on me many times and in the truck when I'm driving in the woods.  I have a Ruger Bearcat in a leather holster, seems like the perfect old school mountain pistol.  It's surprisingly accurate for a 10-15 yard shot.

[Brotherman]

Been packin a Colt Woodsman for 20 years, and like you, my dad had a Ruger and would take their heads off. What got me started was shooting one with my 270 and forgetting about the drop between the scope and barrel. Aimed for the head, and hit center mass, All I could find was a foot and some feathers! 

[phildobaggins]

Been packin a Colt Woodsman for 20 years, and like you, my dad had a Ruger and would take their heads off. What got me started was shooting one with my 270 and forgetting about the drop between the scope and barrel. Aimed for the head, and hit center mass, All I could find was a foot and some feathers! 

HAHA! Reminds me of the last day of modern general season about 15 years ago. No deer and I was on my way out with my dad. Saw a grouse at about 75 yards. Laid down with my .270 and put the crosshair at the top of its chest and blew its head off. Walked up to it with no head, meat completely untouched  Good times.

I grew up shooting grouse with a .22LR, but in rifle form. Used a Remington Nylon 22, still have it! Might need to kill some rimfire birds this fall for kicks.

[2MANY]

Have run those chaps for years.
Those and a long PVC duster are bullet proof in the saddle.

Personally I run a stainless, Ruger 22 revolver in my saddle bags.
In a true wilderness setting where the birds are dumb a stick, rocks, and some clucking always works.
It adds some serious redneck story base for those that have never done it!!
So funny how a little clucking and slow moving will mesmerize those dumb things.
When they wake up they are in the frying pan.

[CP]

I tried for one last season with a Glock 26.  Half a mag later, I decided that I really didn’t need him.

[KFhunter]

I just picked up a PMR30 and gun fighter Kenai chest holster for this purpose.  I figure the .22wmr will serve as self defense against a cat or person, I plan to get those self defense pistol rounds Hornady and a couple other manufacturers make to try out.  I won't pack it in grizz country as a main weapon, but its so light I might just stack 10 rounds or so in the mag and pack it in the pack just for birds.

I lost way too many arrows shooting grouse and I don't need a 10mm in a lot of areas I hunt, so the PMR will tag along instead, and I won't loose arrows 

I do love coming back to camp with a bird or two in the pack and cook them up right there that evening.

I carry a sack to keep the pack clean and stuff them against my water bladder to cool a bit.

[wadu1]

  I do, my first grouse was with a Win MDL 37 with #5's and a full choke at 20 feet or less it was a mess. Changed to an old pump .22 things got better. Today when hunting I carry a .22 conversion slide on one of my 1911"s

[Platensek-po]

I use my grandfathers ruger mark 1. Still super accurate just a pita to clean. I prefer a .22 over a shotty for grouse as less meat damage. My kids love grouse nuggets and I love grouse pasta sauce. Saw a blue grouse with some pretty small chicks this last weekend. Had to keep my wife from snagging them and taking them home to raise with her chickens.

[JJB11B]

i hope our grouse population is better this year, last couple years I barely saw any, I have shot grouse with my ruger 22Lr revolver, a glock 26 my bow, shotgun, and many with my deer rifle. good camp meat there

[dewandgin]

We used to shot them with a 9 shot 22lr revolver that we have had for years but the last few years I bought a 410/45 barrel for my T/C Encore and use it almost everytime now.

[HighGrouseHunt]

Growing up in Minnesota, I was taught that it was sacrilegious to ground-swat a grouse, the same went for taking one from a tree. We only shot flushing birds and I thought everyone else did too. That was just how you were supposed to hunt. When I moved out to Montana for college and took my first grouse with a .22 I wasn't particularly proud of it, but it ate the same, and I realized that the .22 would put more meat in my freezer faster than my shotgun. I also realized that many of the things we think of as " hard and fast rules" of hunting are sometimes just aesthetic choices, or cultural norms in a particular area.

While I still prefer the aesthetics of grouse hunting with my dog and shotgun, I have come to love packing an old High Standard Supermatic .22 into the high country and head-shooting fat blue grouse up on those open ridgelines. I lean toward aiming high so the misses are clean, and if I empty my magazine or the grouse flies off, I count it same as a missed shot on a flushing bird.

[Dave Workman]

i hope our grouse population is better this year, last couple years I barely saw any, I have shot grouse with my ruger 22Lr revolver, a glock 26 my bow, shotgun, and many with my deer rifle. good camp meat there

As you probably know, grouse populations are cyclic, and my guess is that we've been in a down cycle for the past couple of years. We didn't have good hatch weather in May or early June, but maybe the birds can bring off a late hatch and start bringing things back up again.

GO GET 'EM!