Go-To Guns

[Rod N. Gunn]

I too am heading for MN in October to grouse hunt with my go-to Parker gun (20 ga Repro). I would suggest the following training regime: Get on a tread mill at about 2 mph and have your wife repeatedly smack you in the face with a 1/2" thick willow switch for several hours per day. To cool down, sit under a tick infested cedar tree until 30 or 40 ticks have had a chance to set up shop. To practice shooting... try hitting some bottle rockets. Truth be known I love to grouse hunt, they are the king of all game birds, but the training is hell. Have fun Bruce and everyone else who is headed to the grouse woods soon.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Dave Fuller

Get on a tread mill at about 2 mph and have your wife repeatedly smack you in the face with a 1/2" thick willow switch for several hours per day. To cool down, sit under a tick infested cedar tree until 30 or 40 ticks have had a chance to set up shop. To practice shooting... try hitting some bottle rockets. .

Truer words were never spoken!

But you will need someone to toss a log or branch in your way every ten steps to simulate some of the slash and blowdowns we encounter. Also, alternating with the willow switch should be some healthy blackberry vives and hawthorne branches. We need to get accustomed to bleeding a bit.

Wow- I haven't hunted grouse here in MI for years, forget the heavy cover and the branches- I do some "boondock" sneak shooting for mallards, and the mud and muck and possible rainy weather are a factor, but I'll tip my L.L. Bean camo duck cap I bought new in 1977 to you die-hard grouse guys.

I can't really mention my favorite "go-to" shotguns on this forum, because neither is a Parker. Let me just say my favorite duck gun was built in New Haven (same State as holds Meriden in its boundaries) and my favorite pheasant gun has two barrels, two triggers and was made in Fulton NY--

But- as I have just gotten the 12 GHE project gun "in hand" and have been crunching area barn pigeons with it, I plan to use it for river and farm pond decoying ducks with the Hevi_Shot for Classic Doubles loads, and also for the "pick-up" pheasant hunts after the Tower release shoots, so by next year, that resurected GHE 12 may well be my "Numero-Uno"- Good luck to all of you hunting "Sir Ruffs" anywhere this Fall- grouse and flighting doves, and I am sure, box bird pigeons- toughest targets awing- IMO of course--

[Blind Dog]

My most effective grouse gun is one the Market Hunter might approve of if he were inclined to indulge; a 108 year old VH #2 frame 12ga with barrels sawed off at less than 26". A few years ago, before I paid attention to anything as important as barrel wall thickness, I put a couple of #5 shot Win 1&1/2 oz mags through it to "fill out the pattern" for pheasant and blew out the left barrel at the end of the forend. I took a count and still reached five. Kirk Merrington sleeved in a couple of tubes of the same length, choked skeet in and skeet out and it was back in business, though it cost me about twice what I paid for the gun. I can even use steel in it if needed. It's a little heavy for the Michigan guys (aside from Destry), but it does take out a fair amount of foliage and a bird if it happens to be in the pattern.