Using a size larger in the second barrel can be a good idea. I’ve done that often but not on grouse. My coverts are so tight that the bird is only in sight for a few seconds and a “longer” shot doesn’t often present itself.
I went to #8’s during the winter because the shots tended to be longer. It had nothing to do with feathers being thicker, an old wives tale.
I’ve used 6’s on grouse in Saskatchewan but only because grouse woods bordered my sharptail and hun areas and I hunted them at times just for the hell of it. I could get grouse back home, I focused my bird hunting on the sharptails and huns.
I have never used 7 ½’s on grouse.
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