Number 10 birdshot

[Tom Flanigan]

The old grouse gunners that I have been told about and known knew nothing of ballistics, penetration or anything technical. They didn’t use small shot for pattern density but in an effort to get some shot through very thick cover to the bird. That is all there was to it. Remember, their birds were not in relatively open coverts. They were snap shooting at often nothing more than a blur of a bird that would be gone in a few short seconds.

Not all grouse hunting involves snap shooting at distances better measured in feet rather than yards. I believe that the grouse hunting I did in Saskatchewan might be typical of many areas of the country where grouse are hunted, even in the northeast. Longer shots and a lot of walking for each shot. Just the opposite of my Pawling coverts where the birds are concentrated in relatively small areas due to especially thick cover and abundant feed which equates to bayberries, fox grapes and other types of berries.

I have never used 10’s but only because I couldn’t buy the shot. If I could have, I would have loaded 10’s and been happy to do so. So I can’t attest to the average number of shot in the body of a bird shot with those loads. But I can tell you categorically, from hundreds brought to bag since I was 13, that the average number of #9 shot in the body of my birds was three, sometimes four and rarely more than that.

I can only speak from the perspective of my own experience and those of the old time grouse hunters I have known. Others gunning other types of grouse coverts may have different experiences and will tend to gravitate to what works for them.

I can also in all honesty and good conscience, say that I have lost relatively few birds that carried shot and flown on to be lost. My pockets of covert are concentrated and I scour them week after week. I don’t hunt birds without a dog. If I was wounding a number of birds, I am confident I would see evidence of it.

I am not trying to convince anyone of anything. I just know what I have experienced and what worked for me and those who came before me. This has been a great discussion and I enjoyed all of the input.