Agree with you Dean.
I really enjoy carrying and shooting a nice lively small bore when hunting and 99% of the time that is what I am grabbing when shooting upland style hunting. Can only really remember one time that I felt really under gunned and that was grouse hunting in MN carrying a 20 ga. Got into an area that was maybe timbered 5 to 7 years before and new growth was thick with 12 to 15 foot tall tree saplings about wrist thick and in some places spaced about the same distance as jail cell bars. It was so tight in there and most still had leaves on em and every 75 yards we beat thru that grouse maze we would hear or see a flush. Most of the time never saw dog but if did not hear his bell would move to last position we heard him and sure enough he would be on a bird. They would flush about 25 yards from us or further. Lost count of flushes but it must have been 30 to 40.
I don't know how many actual birds or reflushes we got but I only saw 15 of them. Had quick fleeting shots on 10 of them and scratched down 3 and felt damn good about it due to some incredible dog work. Only got those because they flew like pheasant or woodcock flying straight up to break cover then flattening out. I thinned the tops of a lot trees. We zigg zagged all through that just trying to follow dog. That was first time in my life I actually felt I had a legitimate chance to daily limit out on grouse and thought some extra shot would have been helpful. That is also first time in my life where I got so turned around somewhere with no landmarks that I needed my compass to orient out of some place.
Having a 12 gauge with open chokes and more shot in the pattern might of helped. In the immortal words of Jack Elam after John Wayne tells him his splatter gun is useless. "Don't mind if I shoot do ya? It makes me feel better."
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