Huntin Grouse with a .22

[captkev]

22cal. bird shot, should be called mouse shot!

I was going to butcher some pen-raised Phesants for a game feed once, and the last 10 birds in a 100ft X 50ft flight pen were running circles around me. So I went to the house and got the 22. I had picked up some "bird shot" for shooting mice in the barn. That stuff would'nt kill a phesant at 15 feet.(shooting them in the head) I got the job done, but I had to switch to regular 22 bullets. That evening I decided to open one of those shells up, the bb's are about 1/2 the size of 6 shot bb's, or maybe smaller like 14 or 16 shot. It looked like dark sand. I'm shure it looses velocity realy fast. Works on mice at 15ft.

[riverrat56]

I believe that .22 bird shot is 12 shot, but I could be wrong, either way, on anything other than rats or mice, it is pretty much worthless.

[art]

Greenman, you say you would fail a kid just because he "say's" he's going to hunt grouse that way. I'm with the others, I won't be signing my kid up for your class. It's no different than hunting rabbits or squirrels. Heck as for stalking them, it's great sport and then actually getting the shot off right is tough. But it's ok to stalk deer and shoot them with a rifle. So it's just a different game species you're stalking. It's a harder target in my opinion. I do it once in awhile. It's tough and when you are able to sneak up on them or pick them out of all the brush and leaf litter for a shot, it's quite rewarding and just as tasty in the pot. Never shoot at one on the fly with a rifle, however. It's pretty pointless and dangerous.

[Rosalita]

Firearm safety instructors are crucial volunteers in Minnesota. However, it is not their place to instill their elitist views on our children concerning a perfectly legal activity. I would confront and/or seek to remove from his or her position such an instructor if they dared fail my child for following a legal and ethical activity – yes, ethical. Do we spook a deer into running before shooting it? Do we force a turkey to fly or run before shooting it? There is no difference between these simple answers to these questions and the issue of shooting grouse on the ground. There is absolutely nothing wrong with placing your sights of your 22 or bead of your shotgun on a grouse’s head as long as your background is safe. A clean quick kill (for you elitists out there, a “harvest”) is the goal once you decide to take an animal. There is nothing wrong with keeping your teeth fillings by avoiding chewing shot embedded in the breast.

If you like using your dog to hunt grouse and prefer to shoot them flying, there is nothing wrong with that either. Have a ball; no one has a problem with it. Of course, it is never wise to shoot anything on the ground with a dog involved. Developing an elitist attitude concerning others following a legal activity is fine as well; after all, it is a free country. Force-feeding such views unto the children of others is wrong.

Try to sneak up on a grouse through heavy aspen reproduction sometime to shoot it in the head. It is no easy task! I hunt in some of the best grouse country in this state, and absolutely everyone (from the small town I grew up in to people I have known from the cities) have no problems shooting them before they fly. In fact, it is rare to even see a hunting dog being used for grouse hunting. New hunters, watch out for people spewing their elitist propaganda at you; read and follow the regulations and develop your own techniques.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Applause.

[koochiching]

... Extended Applause!

kooch