South Central ontario Grouse

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Originally Posted by Waftrudnir

Are you taking about lead or steel shot here?
I'm someone who likes large lead shot, but I would never go with #4s for grouse if I had a choice.
Regarding the load: Well, I shoot 3.5" steel for geese, but never understood why people buy 3" lead other then for turkeys.

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Lead shot. Cannot shoot steel out of the Belgian A5s or you risk damaging the barrel. 3 inch #4s are overkill no doubt but it allows me to deal with any coyotes that cross my path and as stated earlier cuts through the early season foilage better.

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Originally Posted by Waftrudnir

the two Auto 5 I used to have were both chambered for 70mm (i.e. 2 3/4").
not a good idea to shoot 3" unless it has been properly modified

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I should have added "magnum" to the description. Designed, built and chambered for 3 inch shells. In fact unless I change the friction ring setup every time I want to shoot 2 3/4 it will not cycle them. If I leave the rings set for 2 3/4 it will cycle most 2 3/4 loads (but not light loads) and will also cycle 3 inch shells when set up this way. Problem is it kicks like a mule when firing 3 inch shells with rings set for 2 3/4 and you risk cracking the forestock if you fire 3 inch with the rings set that way.

The birds do behave differently and I hunt them differently.

I hunt in 3 general areas: North of North Bay. South of North Bay and Simcoe county. Part of it is just the pure quantity of birds/habitat out there. The more southernly the birds the more flushy they are (I won't say smarter since many of the birds around here flush when I never would have seen them anyway).

Up north, I walk clear trails/"roads" quickly, but somewhat quietly, it will put you in front of a lot of birds and give you lots of chances for shots. Down here I walk super slow and as quietly as possible and try to walk from one likely spot to another. As my confidence has increased from getting some birds this way down south, I do it sometimes up north and it is successful but because you do cover less ground a trail walker can still get about the same number of birds. Same way a guy on an atv can get a limit bunch of birds. Personal preference.

Up north I will sometimes follow a flush/miss depending on a number of factors but down here I will almost always follow a flush no matter what since I might only get a couple in a day.

The southern grouse feels like a different species and sometimes I think they should be lol. Them being hard to hunt is what makes it fun in my eyes. The anticipation of turning a corner and having a possible flush is what makes it fun. Stick to it and hunt with someone else to better your odds. Have your buddy walk on an angle and hopefully it puts a flush in your direction.

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Originally Posted by Species8472

Lead shot. Cannot shoot steel out of the Belgian A5s or you risk damaging the barrel. 3 inch #4s are overkill no doubt but it allows me to deal with any coyotes that cross my path and as stated earlier cuts through the early season foilage better.



I should have added "magnum" to the description. Designed, built and chambered for 3 inch shells. In fact unless I change the friction ring setup every time I want to shoot 2 3/4 it will not cycle them. If I leave the rings set for 2 3/4 it will cycle most 2 3/4 loads (but not light loads) and will also cycle 3 inch shells when set up this way. Problem is it kicks like a mule when firing 3 inch shells with rings set for 2 3/4 and you risk cracking the forestock if you fire 3 inch with the rings set that way.

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well, that explains a few things.
under the above circumstances you are certainly correct to increase the load drastically in order to be still efficient on grouse: #7 (just as an example) has more than double the pellets per oz. than #4

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Originally Posted by Waftrudnir

well, that explains a few things.
under the above circumstances you are certainly correct to increase the load drastically in order to be still efficient on grouse: #7 (just as an example) has more than double the pellets per oz. than #4

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But #7 doesn't have the killing power in long range or thicker cover that #4 or 5 has on grouse.

Southern grouse have high coyote density to deal with. The few birds that are left come October-November are the ones that managed to evade the coyotes. They'll flush if you even fart at 100 yards. I usually head to Timmins/Gogama if I want to give my poor dog a chance to actually pick up a limit of birds.

Coyote populations don't explain why southern grouse flush out of secure roosts in trees. It's hunting pressure.

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Originally Posted by welsh

Coyote populations don't explain why southern grouse flush out of secure roosts in trees. It's hunting pressure.

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I got to agree with that. I think there are as many predator in the North than in the South just too many two legged ones in the South.....

Thanks for the responses. I think i need to slow down my approach in the forests and be a little more quiet.

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Originally Posted by krawler

Thanks for the responses. I think i need to slow down my approach in the forests and be a little more quiet.

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Not necessarily. They will hear you whether you move slowly or not, what they do next is anyone's guess. Usually, they flush wild (i.e. long before you approach), but sometimes they hunker down and wait or walk away quietly. It depends on the location, weather and planet alignment. If you hunt public places where people often walk the trails or pick up mushrooms, the grouse there might be used to people passing by. If there's a lot of hunting pressure, they will flush wild. Private spots might be different. It all depends :)
I once stopped to pee in the bush and halfway through a grouse flushed few feet in front of me, I almost did #2. I was hunting dogless then, obviously.
I would try to find less pressured places and look for food sources.

BTW, some here coined a special term - Evil Southern Grouse (ESG).