Grouse Guns
 

As October approaches the quest for the "perfect" Grouse gun intensifies. Let me say right off there is NO perfect Grouse gun. This is a myth perpetrated by the gun writers, advertisers and manufacturers who tout sleek small bore guns with straight grips, slender splinter forearms and short open choked barrels.

There is a benefit to the myth of the perfect Grouse gun and that is that the quest will never end and the result is more Grouse guns in the safe.

I'll be heading to the Upper Peninsula next week for the month of October and I'll be taking 9 Grouse guns. The guns of Autumn will include 2 16's, 2 28's and 5 20's. There should be at least one "perfect" gun in the bunch:whistle:

Nine guns; wow! I thought it was a lot when I take three: the one I'll use, one back up in case of a failure, and my trusty old crappy weather gun. You oughta find a good one outa nine!.

You have to be prepared when your gonna be gone a month:)

Rich

the "perfect" one for any given day will be one of the ones left back in the house

The perfect grouse gun is my VH 28 straight grip gun bored cylinder and full or my 10 gauge 26" Sauer bored a bit tighter. The Sauer is about five ounces heavier than the Parker, so it may not be "as perfect". I hope Rich has a good car alarm.

For us heathens in the Pacific Northwest --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...sj9caq7qz.jpeg

For the locals in the U.P. the perfect gun is whatever they can use with a 4 wheeler:rotf:

Perfect example Dave - It even has "Pa'tridge Sights"





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Another unsuspecting neophyte sucked into the maelstrom of the "Myth" of the 'perfect grouse gun.' ;)





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I'll be headed out to SD in a few weeks and right now there are 7 shotguns going (Parkers and Foxes along with a varmint rifle for coyotes) but unlike Rich I need to take all these guns. You see I have 2 Labs, Fox and Parker, and it is just not politically correct to shoot a Fox gun over Parker dog and vice versa.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!:whistle:

You guys are hard core. I'm headed to Maine in three weeks for ten days of hunting and plan on bringing a 20 gauge Fox and a 16 gauge Merkel O/U with 2 triggers. If the weather is right the Fox will get everyday duty. Merkel is my rainy day gun.

Wow, Rich! Nine grouse guns??? So much for dialin' it in! In New England they'd call that : "A trunk load of excuses!!" :banghead: Good hunting!

Back in the day when I was eaten up with the bird hunting thing I had a pair of guns for everything . Nope they weren't Parker's or SxS's they were a pair of Browning Citori's in 16 gauge . Here in VA grouse coverts are in the mountains and a Browning Citori Upland Special 16 gauge with 24" barrels C/IC or M screwed in worked for me . If I were dove shooting or preserve hunting a Browning Citori Lightning with 28" barrels and chokes of IC/M or F worked well for me . I am sure if I were inclined these two would cover any upland stuff I wanted to do now . And quite possibly that Lightning could cover the goose stuff I've been doing . Back then I had Parker's Fox's and Smith's as well as guns from the Continent and the U.K. And liked them but when I was seriouse I used the Brownings .

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Simple----The gun you feel most comfortable with !! I prefer my 28 PHE with 24' barrels. Quick and lite !!

WOW a 24" PHE in 28 ga.:whistle: What a gun!




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The Hell you say:shock: I'm neither a neophyte nor unsuspecting I know there is NO perfect Grouse gun BUT there are MANY Grouse guns. I have added a 10th, a nice GHE 20 with 26 inch Damascus barrels......because it just might be.....well perfect:)

in the picture of the pistol what is the hammer for in the picture..i could not make out the small wording...charlie

I think this pistol featured an early "transfer bar" hammer safety, meaning you could strike the hammer with a "hammer" and the pistol wouldn't fire unless the trigger was pulled all the way to rear. I couldn't make out the wording either, but that's what I gathered from it.

Yes, "Hammer the Hammer" was tooting the Iver Johnson safety horn...

I always carry a hand gun with me Grouse hunting but it's NOT for the Grouse and it's a lot bigger than a 22:whistle:

Well ,Right or wrong :whistle: ,this is the latest addition to the " Grouse Arsenal " and I am going to make it my Go To Grouse gun this season ,a 16 Ga. VH Grade IC and IM ! It is going to be tough leaving the OO Frame 28 at home but this has been my decision for this season ! Now if I stick to it :rotf: ,which I doubt !!!!!!!!

good looking gun russ...now if you can just stick to your convictions....bet shes a grouse gun for sure...you will know by the end of the season if she is the perfect grouse gun.. now i aint got kno grouse gun but i got the perfect squirl gun the old 8 ga..ha charlie

Charlie ,that little 20 would make a nice Grouser For Sure , all you would need are the Grouse !!!!!!!!

You fellows must be talking about those little grouse.

Here is one 36" wingspan. When they take off fast from 30 to 40 yards out you need a little more than a 28ga with open chokes .

Bruce ,exactly what type of Grouse is that ????????? Grouzzilla !!!!!!!:rotf: That would be a perfect Grouse Charlie for the OLD 8 !!!!!!

That is a one year old male sage grouse. They get bigger.

They are in small flocks, post sentries and outliers and take off fast like any grouse. They will fly for a mile or so before settling back down.

You don't want to be undergunned but because the typical sage grouse hunt day is 8 to 10 miles of walking in rolling terrain you don't want to be lugging a heavy gun either. You need to be able to make a 40 yard or more kill shot because they can absorb lead, set their wings and drift for hundreds of yards . By that time a golden eagle could be on the bird and they will not back off for a dog or you.

As I remember one had to really be into wild game when the old boomer here was on the dinner table!! The two younger birds weren't too bad. Outdoor Life did an article on Sage Grouse in 1970 and stated that probably the best Sage Grouse hunting in the country was around Craig, Colorado. After reading the article I was there the next weekend.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...sdoejmfp7.jpeg

Didn't see another bird hunter.

are these big grouse sometimes called praire chickens or is the chicken a differant bird...like to get a shot at one of those grouse with the old 8 ga...charlie

Dave: Nice job including the late sixty's El Camino I take. I'm guessing 69 Thomas

Nope. It was a 1970 El Camino. From the front --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...70Colorado.jpg

Traded the El Camino off in San Diego in the fall of 1973 for a 1973 Alfa Romeo and within a month got orders to Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska.

Saw quite a few of these along the Stewart - Cassiar Highway coming down from Alaska last week --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps2spz1qvr.jpg

I need to go to this golden land! Where is it?

I will be taking 4 guns with me to the UP for my 2 week trip. They will all be 20 ga. this year to simplify things, although I have many fine, light 16 ga grouse guns.
1. VHE 20 w/cut 26 1/2' cyl/cyl
2. Ugartechea 20 grade 2, w 27" IC/M, st. grip , 5 3/4 lb
3. Lefever Durston Special 20 26" IC/M
4. Fox A 20 w/ 26" cyl/cyl(factory)--I have been so busy lately that I have not even been able to get out and shoot this gun yet, it will get its baptism under fire in the UP.
Hope to see Rich, Eric, etc up there.

All of the above mentioned guns will work on Ruffs. An oz. of 7s at 1100 fps is my load. Sage grouse is a whole nuther thing. 12 ga. tight chokes, and number six shot gets it done, where we hunt.
We used to always schedule a couple of days out of our deer hunt to chase sage grouse, aka camp meat. Goes great with some fine Scotch, or Canadian Whisky around a camp fire.

My goal in life is to own a Parker 28 gauge. Of course, my other goal is to win the lotto

Go ahead and buy the 28 Parker Mills. You'll feel like you hit the lottery.:)

I just want to point out that I think all you Grouse hunters have way to many guns on your hands and that I would gladly lighten your load of any guns you wish to send my way.

I would be most willing to bear ya'lls overflow, especially if ya'll have any 32inch 12 gauge 3 frames you don't need :)

Just trying to make it easier to pick.

First trip up to northern Michigan last weekend. It was green, hot and the hunting was tuff. I took up the 28 ga repro, but my 16 ga Trojan with 28" tubes choked about .007 and .020 got the call this weekend with rst 10 shot woodcock loads in the right and rst 7 shot in the left. This may be my new favorite grouse/woodcock gun. I did not get a chance to pull the trigger on a grouse, but I can proudly say I have never missed a woodcock with this gun, I am now 1 for 1...:rotf:

Todd, I will be shooting #7's this year thru my 20's. I have a thousand 3/4 oz #8's on hand, but picked up a bag of straight 7's a couple years ago, and will use them on this trip. Loaded up 200 7/8 oz of 7's this weekend using 20/28 powder @ 1150 fps. Increased the payload to 7/8 due to the larger shot size, and will expect there to be fewer cripples and more dead in the air birds with this load--probably adequate for early season released pheasants also

Hey Harold...I hope you all have a great time chasing the KING!.....You will have to post pictures of your adventure, the dog work and birds. I also have some big plans this October. A new CSMC Fox grouse and rooster gun will arrive in the next week. It will also be my first time to hunt Wisconsin....me and Ruby are chomping at the lead...(-: SXS ohio

Heff, I was up in Mid Michigan last weekend, man it got hot fast and I won't run dogs in that temp. I think I was out of the woods by 9:30 ..... But it was fun...!