Would you shoot a grouse while deer hunting?

[Smoke4320]

I would carry a Crossman pcp pistol airgun to pick off he grouse

[Rapier]

Snowshoe rabbits and grouse are traditional in most north woods camps, the option is bring them in or keep your mouth shut about even seeing them. Most folks carry a pistol, where it is legal to do so, for such an event. Head shots only, unless you want to be laughed out of camp.

[brass410]

I've shot lots of grouse while hunting only to have a moose or deer stand up from their beds to see whats going on, they did not seem too nervous until I started shooting their direction. But I know a lot of guy's who have had track soup because they passed up a grouse dinner. Theres a lot of heavy equipment in the bush here so I dont think the animals are quite so leary of loud noises.

[dverna]

It has been an interesting thread. Some good adult discussion on both sides of the question.

Like mentioned, it is not legal to do during firearms season where I hunt but I was curious about the practice. One thing for sure, the grouse we have here are so dumb I do not know how they manage to survive. If it was legal to shoot them, there is plenty of time to load a low powered load to take a bird.

We had one bird we named Gertrude. She would come up on the front porch when we were sipping adult beverages. I could have killed her with a bat. One time I was loading cases of shells in the trunk to go to a trap shoot and she landed on the bumper and sat there until I got a broom to shoo her away. She kept coming back to "harass" me and then followed me out of the drive. She got in the way of the Jeep and got crushed a few weeks later. Dumbest critter I have ever seen.

[onceabull]

I've shot my share with rifle and pistol while big game hunting.BUT,more than once while in the Selway/bitteroot backcountry I've taken dinner with stick ,or simple hand capture...

[quilbilly]

Depends on the time of day. Not until 2 hours after sunrise or an hour before sunset. I carry my 10" barrel Contender 45/410 just for that.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Never have but saw quite a few. I have shot them while land surveying though with a .22 pistol.

[missionary5155]

Why sure I would.
My recurve makes very little noise and if there is no corn cruncher within the 50 yards of visibility in the bottoms we hunt then I will gladly take home whatever God kindly gives us.
Deer hunting I ave stuck shafts through groundhogs, fox, beaver and numerous other critters and never bothered one bean eater.

[reddhawkk]

I have and I would!

[MT Gianni]

This is an interesting perspective. It seems that for many of you shooting a deer is an infrequent event, rather than 3 or 4 a year thing. There is a lot of focus on deer if you are hunting deer. In Montana, where most deer, elk and bear seasons run concurrently, we would not shoot a deer when hunting elk. The reason being that it is too small to mess with and yet large enough to disrupt an elk hunt. From what I see here, many couldn't decide if they were hunting deer and saw and elk what to do as they were deer hunting. It all appears to be a mindset based on local laws and conditions.

[dverna]

This is an interesting perspective. It seems that for many of you shooting a deer is an infrequent event, rather than 3 or 4 a year thing. There is a lot of focus on deer if you are hunting deer. In Montana, where most deer, elk and bear seasons run concurrently, we would not shoot a deer when hunting elk. The reason being that it is too small to mess with and yet large enough to disrupt an elk hunt. From what I see here, many couldn't decide if they were hunting deer and saw and elk what to do as they were deer hunting. It all appears to be a mindset based on local laws and conditions.

Shooting a meat deer is not a big deal where I hunt. I will not even shoot a doe with a fawn as there is no need to and I am not dependent on game to eat. But if disturbing a 10 or 12 pt occurs, that risk is not worth it.

Even if I could shoot a grouse, it seems a poor trade off if doing so spoils the deer hunt. The “camp meat” reason does not apply at our camp as we have five hunters. A couple of grouse are not going to be more than a snack, and I would not be invited back for screwing up the hunt.

You are right about local conditions. Grouse are not rare here, so it would look pretty foolish carrying one back to camp when deer are the reason we are there.

[NEKVT]

Where I hunt in the NE part of VT the grouse are no pushover. Most flush well before you know they are there. The area is known for it's grouse hunting and the beautiful fall scenery that goes with it early on. I have taken four while deer hunting with the Krag set up pictured on the previous page which at that point in the season is after the foliage has dropped. I haven't gone out specifically for grouse with the round ball load because I'd rather take a bow for that but would probably take the 32 Special as with that rifle it would have to be a single shot affair anyway. I used to load 0 buck (.320) with 3.5gr 700x but when those got hard to find I went to a Lee .319 RB mold with a hardened alloy to increase the ball diameter a thousand or so with the same results as the 0 buck.

The last grouse taken during deer season was an adventure in itself. On the way out at dusk I flushed one that flew toward the recently set sun and landed high up in a bare hardwood tree clearly silhouetted against the brightest part of the sky. I knew the balls were on out to about 35yds but it looked more like 50 so I held on the neck and squeezed one off. The bird nosedived straight down. When l finally worked over to the tree there were feathers blowing around on the snow but no bird. Circling the area no bird or tracks were found. Dumbfounded and over a mile from the car I walked out in the dark envisioning that shot over and over.

We decided to hunt the same area in the morning so I walked in directly to that spot and began looking again. Circled further around and nothing just feathers that blew around during the night. So I went back to where the bird dove down and looking around found a moss covered rock sticking above the snow with a cavity under it and in there was my bird. The ball nicked the neck just where I aimed and it died where it landed. It was actually about 35 yds but the 3/4 grown bird from that year looked further away. I only hunt grouse during deer season with the Krag because of the cut off feature allowing use of the low powered RB load.

[missionary5155]

I should have added our East ILL-nois bow season is 3 months. I could easily "slice and dice 10 during that time but usually only zip 4 as that will fill the needs of those who need and/or want it. We normally return to Peru in November so our needs are not much.

[smkummer]

I remember a buddy of mine doing that with his 6mm Remington. It was in a tree and it blew 1/2 of the breast/bird away.

[Geezer in NH]

Dude shoot them in the head, screw the neck!

[Astocks2622]

Absolutely. I've taken many grouse while hunting moose and black bear here in Alaska, both with firearms and archery. My primary rifle is a Mauser rebarreled to 35 Whelen. 250gr Partition at 2650 for moose, or a 158gr cast swc over 5 grains of green dot for grouse.
I finally bit the bullet and am waiting for ATF approval for a 22 suppressor to go on my Buckmark pistol, specifically for the purpose of taking grouse while bear hunting. Black bear here tend to turn and run at the sound of a gunshot. Moose, not so much.

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk

[Charlie Horse]

I have shot deer within minutes of people walking by me in the woods so yes I would shoot a grouse if we had them around here.

[Charlie Horse]

Where I hunt in the NE part of VT the grouse are no pushover. Most flush well before you know they are there. The area is known for it's grouse hunting and the beautiful fall scenery that goes with it early on. I have taken four while deer hunting with the Krag set up pictured on the previous page which at that point in the season is after the foliage has dropped. I haven't gone out specifically for grouse with the round ball load because I'd rather take a bow for that but would probably take the 32 Special as with that rifle it would have to be a single shot affair anyway. I used to load 0 buck (.320) with 3.5gr 700x but when those got hard to find I went to a Lee .319 RB mold with a hardened alloy to increase the ball diameter a thousand or so with the same results as the 0 buck.

The last grouse taken during deer season was an adventure in itself. On the way out at dusk I flushed one that flew toward the recently set sun and landed high up in a bare hardwood tree clearly silhouetted against the brightest part of the sky. I knew the balls were on out to about 35yds but it looked more like 50 so I held on the neck and squeezed one off. The bird nosedived straight down. When l finally worked over to the tree there were feathers blowing around on the snow but no bird. Circling the area no bird or tracks were found. Dumbfounded and over a mile from the car I walked out in the dark envisioning that shot over and over.

We decided to hunt the same area in the morning so I walked in directly to that spot and began looking again. Circled further around and nothing just feathers that blew around during the night. So I went back to where the bird dove down and looking around found a moss covered rock sticking above the snow with a cavity under it and in there was my bird. The ball nicked the neck just where I aimed and it died where it landed. It was actually about 35 yds but the 3/4 grown bird from that year looked further away. I only hunt grouse during deer season with the Krag because of the cut off feature allowing use of the low powered RB load.

I once shot a quail and watched it fall. I walked to the spot it fell but didn't see it. I dropped my hat to mark the spot then started searching in ever widening circles. Bet I spent a good half hour searching for that bird but couldn't find it. So I gave up.

When I reached down to pick up my hat and there it was.

[bandanaman]

When we are on a meat hunt that's what we hunt morning and evening mostly. We are there to have fun also, we still make the youngsters wait till after 10:00 before they can shoot chickens. If our "spidey senses" tell us there's deer or elk close by all bets are off on the grouse. Drives the kids nuts to pass on a big Blue Grouse but they get it ......We'll do a trail walk afternoons for grouse and small game or to go fishing. Even then there is always a centerfire close by for deer and protection.

[tuckerdog]

At one time yes. Now however there are not enough around in this area for me to feel right about killing one.