Great to be back

[todd allen]

Originally Posted by Tom Flanigan

I'm glad you asked Todd. The areas I hunt grouse, the same areas that my grandfather and also Dee Slocum hunted for the market in the 1800's, is very tight cover. Shots over 20 yards were rare back in the day and still are. The old overgrown apple orchards have dissappeared but the fox grape vines are still there along with a lot of bay berry bushes. Perfect grouse feed and cover.

Grouse are not tenacious birds and small shot brings them down. Small shot was used because of the thickness of the cover. You hope for some of the pellets to get through to the bird. You rarely get a clear shot. Thus small shot equaled more birds in the bag. It was that simple. And it worked.

Rare was the bird with a lot of shot in it, even using 10's. Dee sold for the market in NY city and birds with a lot of shot in them would never be bought. I used to pick my birds and my grandmother then washed them out in the sink. Many times she said to me "you must have scared that bird to death" noting the absence of shot. Very rare was the bird with more than three #9 pellets in the body and many is the bird I took with only one shot in the body.

I only use #9's on grouse and would use 10's if I could buy that size shot. I don't use them on quail preferring 8's so I have less shot in the bird.

I agree with your opinion for most birds but it doesn't hold for gunning grouse in thick coverts. I appreciate your response to my post.

Thanks for the explanation, Tom. The vast majority of my bird hunting has been out West, with a little bit in the Northeast. I would agree that the Northeast grouse hunting is a whole lot different. What I've experienced, I would stay with the bigger shot myself, but I can't argue with what works for others. Wisdom has a way of transcending generations, and I won't argue with the wisdom of the old timers.