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I've never hunted ruffs but I imagine my quail gun would do a fine job. 28ga sxs, choked cyl/ic, 26" barrels throwing 3/4oz of 7.5s. Would that work?
When I hunted ruffies back in the 70's I had a 20 ga. Browning BSS with 26" barrels choked IC/Mod. It was a great ruffed grouse gun. Then I got stupid in the mid 80's and sold it for $285.
The best one is the one youre carrying.
That 16 sounds like a winner to me.My perfect grouse gun is my Browning Citori Lightning O/U 16 with 24" barrels. It's very light, short so that you don't hit as many saplings when pulling on a bird, and the 16 ga has a few extra pellets over a 20 when all the leaves are still up in the early season. I've got plenty of other guns in 20-28 ga in my safe, but far and away this is my favorite and best shooting ruffed grouse gun I've ever shot.
Brett
Duppy, it sure is a winner for me in the grouse woods. It's a great snap shooting gun, which, as I'm sure you're aware, is essential to knocking down birds in the thick stuff. As far as using it in the pheasant fields or trap club......no way. Too light to swing through a bird.That 16 sounds like a winner to me.
This thread has opened my eyes. I need a grouse gun.
Have never hunted grouse, never even seen one, but I don't have a dedicated grouse gun.
Cheesy.......grouse hunting is nothing like hunting any other bird. You're tromping around thick poplar/alder thickets where you usually can't see any more than 15-20 yds ahead of you. Climbing over downed trees, ducking under low branches, getting slapped in the face or poked in the eye with sappling branches. You hear your dogs vs watching them. You train them to work back and forth to you, checking in often. Beepers or bells are an absolute must, or you'll lose your dog. Probably half of the grouse flush wild and you only hear them......or catch a glimpse of a shadow through the trees. When you get a point, they don't hold long......or they run 10 yds and flush Or you'll get a stiff point and walk all around and.......nothing. So you let the dog loose and the bird takes off from a branch 15' in the air to his freedom. And if you get a close flush, it scares the shit outta youThis thread has opened my eyes. I need a grouse gun.
Have never hunted grouse, never even seen one, but I don't have a dedicated grouse gun.
Cheesy.......grouse hunting is nothing like hunting any other bird. You're tromping around thick poplar/alder thickets where you usually can't see any more than 15-20 yds ahead of you. Climbing over downed trees, ducking under low branches, getting slapped in the face or poked in the eye with sappling branches. You hear your dogs vs watching them. You train them to work back and forth to you, checking in often. Beepers or bells are an absolute must, or you'll lose your dog. Probably half of the grouse flush wild and you only hear them......or catch a glimpse of a shadow through the trees. When you get a point, they don't hold long......or they run 10 yds and flush Or you'll get a stiff point and walk all around and.......nothing. So you let the dog loose and the bird takes off from a branch 15' in the air to his freedom. And if you get a close flush, it scares the shit outta you
I've hunted all over our great country for pheasant, sharptails and chickens, quail, and huns. No other bird stymies me like the King.....the ruffed grouse. And that's what makes them so fun. So when you're in the thickest shit you can think of and a bird goes up, you want the quickest snap shooting gun you can find. And you rarely get a second shot on that fastball.
Brett