too_pointer Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 This is my main bird here in Michigan. If anyone has had the chance to hunt them, you know how challenging they are. Besides flying at mach speeds, you put up with heavy cover. I don't think there is a better bird to challenge your shooting too_pointer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) they are my main bird here too. you are right! they are really challenging birds to hunt. it seems like just as you eyeball one, the bugger takes off then they fly like they are following giant zig-zag! they can be really smart, and REALLY dumb birds you can see them in the truck when your driving down the road and literally hit them sure is a challenging bird to hunt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherguy Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) Shaun that is because you live in the south. lol Ours see little hunting pressure and most times you can't get them to fly. I hunt with a .22 since most stay on the ground or fly into a tree 10 feet away. Sometimes late in the season they are a bit skittish and i switch to the 12 guage, but i don't hit too many then. A tasty bird for sure, and fun to hunt. I can't make em fly, but a .22 makes it a bit of a challenge on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WILD_BILL Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) We pert much just walk down the logging roads here to get them. They just sit there and commit suicide. The big old Blues are even dumber. Not too much of a challenge as it's too thick to truly "hunt" them. However, when we do have a spot where we can chase them like pheasants they are fun. If you like hunting them you ought to come out west for a Hun, Quail, Pheasant, Chukar hunt. Now that's really fun. I have to say though, that those grouse are REALLY tasty. Please don't think I'm knocking you either. Out here grouse get no respect. Just depends where you live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) [ QUOTE ] Shaun that is because you live in the south. lol Ours see little hunting pressure and most times you can't get them to fly. I hunt with a .22 since most stay on the ground or fly into a tree 10 feet away. Sometimes late in the season they are a bit skittish and i switch to the 12 guage, but i don't hit too many then. A tasty bird for sure, and fun to hunt. I can't make em fly, but a .22 makes it a bit of a challenge on the ground. [/ QUOTE ] its funny when we are deer hunting... if we see a partridge at the end of the chase, we'll shoot them in the head with the rifle. ya gotta make sure ya hit them in the head though!! if ya hit them in the body ya better be ready for a feather explosion if they're sittin up on a log its real easy to pick them off .300 Mag, .308, .270, .30-06, whatever deer rifle ya have it does the job! ya dont have to worry about spitting birdshot out when you are eating them either! they sure are one tasty bird. i dip them in flour and fry them in butter. a bit of seasoning goes good with them too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WILD_BILL Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) [ QUOTE ] if they're sittin up on a log its real easy to pick them off .300 Mag, .308, .270, .30-06 [/ QUOTE ] You got that right. I head shoot them with the 06 all the time. Bought a .410 fro them so I don't blow them up and I also shoot them with My Ruger .44 mag loaded with bird shot. Life would be a little less satisfying without Grouse to shoot! You guys are making me wish it were fall again! I just got over it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) LOL definetly, WILD_BILL one time one of the guys missed one by a hair with a .308, the poor bugger did a backflip or two and headed for the hills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13littleones Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) I see them from time to time turkey hunting.... never tried hunting grouse.....man can they take off fast (mach speed!).... think you would almost need a dog to have a chance..... Short Story.... I grew up in MO. and we dont have all that many grouse there.. My first encounter with a grouse was here in IN. My first turkey season here i climbed a tall steep hill, around 200'. As you may guess my heart was pounding as i reached the top, when i stopped at the top of the hill, i heard this very loud pounding noise and i swear i thaught it was my heart that i was hearing, I turned and got a good look down the hill and said to myself outloud... "I'm going to be a dead man on top of this hill".......As it turned out to be a grouse doing its mating call on a big stump 10 yards away lol.....boy i sure thaught i was dead though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) Yep, tough hunting that bird for sure Mike, but they are a "blast" when they rocket from under your feet. I don't hunt them too seriously anymore. My uncle used to take me to a state park called Mohican and Woodbury where we used to flush a fair amount of them. Funny, we never did get any of them. The one and only grouse I ever shot was in Pennsylvania when I was in the service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
too_pointer Posted March 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) It's funny when you hear how grouse act so much differently in certain areas. Here, you hear them flush and probably only see half of them. I have been to Canada and seen how stupid they can act. Sure not like that around here too_pointer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaCoyote Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) [ QUOTE ] It's funny when you hear how grouse act so much differently in certain areas. [/ QUOTE ] Wild_Bill sat and watched me shoot at a grouse 15 times at about 20 ft. with my .22. I couldn't hit it. It just kept walking around in circles. I put another round in when I emptied and hit it on the 16th. I love shooting grouse. Not very sporting, but fun none the less! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WILD_BILL Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) Geez WACO, You couldn't hit water if you fell out of a boat. I'll shoot them for you this fall!!!LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] It's funny when you hear how grouse act so much differently in certain areas. [/ QUOTE ] Wild_Bill sat and watched me shoot at a grouse 15 times at about 20 ft. with my .22. I couldn't hit it. It just kept walking around in circles. I put another round in when I emptied and hit it on the 16th. I love shooting grouse. Not very sporting, but fun none the less! [/ QUOTE ] LOL, are we talking about the same bird? Geez, I can flat guarantee you they don't act like that around here. Like Mike said, you probably hear them more than see them around here, they're extremely tough birds to hunt around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaCoyote Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) Same bird indeed! People around here shoot them on the forest service roads as they are out wood cutting or deer hunting. Can't really "hunt" them in the traditional sense. Northeastern WA is waaayyy to thick. Wld Bill and I have hunted them in northcentral WA though. It's not as thick. Actually they are quite quick, but nothing like a hun, chukar, or quail. When I bear hunt I pack my .44 and pop them with bird shot. Early in the season they stand nice and still for you. I have read articals about grouse hunting before and kind of rolled my eyes. Would sit and wonder why anyone would need advice on how to road hunt. I get it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) [ QUOTE ] LOL, are we talking about the same bird? Geez, I can flat guarantee you they don't act like that around here. Like Mike said, you probably hear them more than see them around here, they're extremely tough birds to hunt around here. [/ QUOTE ] LOL yep! you're talking about the same grouse as here, Chris! little buggers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longislandhunter Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) I don't get to hunt them to much but our property in Upstate NY has a fairly good population on it and whenever I'm up there during the season I'll usually give them a try. I'll admit I'm not that good at hitting them, but I sure try hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterfowler_gal Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) We religiously hunt pheasants (Ruff-necked Roosters) in the fall in Minnesota. I kicked one up once that smacked into my chest about knocked the wind out of me. We get some grouse but not a lot and game farm's raise chuckers here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaCoyote Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) Waderfowler gal, I'd think that Minnesota is loaded with grouse! Probably tons of Pheasants. Never heard them called (Ruff-necked Roosters). My youngest always calls them chickens. Drives me nuts when she tells her friends parents I'm chicken hunting. We've got everything out here except for those nasty old pigs that ryanh shoots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonhunter Posted March 17, 2005 Report Share Posted March 17, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) I'd love to hunt grouse in the north parts of Minnesota, I used to go to a cabin around Leach Lake every year. Kicked up tons of grouse walking the swamps and thickets around the place. In the last three years of grouse hunting here in Ohio I've shot 1 turkey and 0 grouse. Kinda makes it hard to motivate yourself to go out beat yourself to death in the brambles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterfowler_gal Posted March 17, 2005 Report Share Posted March 17, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) LEECH LAKE, MINNESOTA?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
too_pointer Posted March 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) I feel better that I'm not the only one having problems nocking them down. I think I have shot my daily limit of 5 once in alot of hunting years LOL. too_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonhunter Posted March 17, 2005 Report Share Posted March 17, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) [ QUOTE ] I feel better that I'm not the only one having problems nocking them down. I think I have shot my daily limit of 5 once in alot of hunting years LOL. too_ [/ QUOTE ] The limit here in is three........with our numbers i feel as though it should be 1, but its not deer or turkey so the DNR dosnt care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modillo Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) well i have to say the blue grouse are better and i have both here in oregon. they have a nick name in our family we call them road chickens lol.i use my 12ga and my grandpas 410 and he uses his 410 and .06 lol.now dont think that he cant shoot because you would be full of ballongia. he was a sniper for the 101st air born. lol when he used his .06 last fall i was like dont use the bigg a$$ thing on the little bird, i was the one who was driveing at the time. he just shot the throut out of its neck. my step dad uses his 22 hornet lol. i dont reccommend useing a 45gr hollowpoint on a ruff grouse. does some damage. half the bird will disapper. ill just stick to the tradittional methods. my step dad would not let me try useing my 7mm on a pair of blue grouse that where fighting lol. where where deer hunting atm so it was a good thing that i did not. evan though we did not get anything last yearprobly would have helped. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDNKHNTR77 Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Re: Hunting ruffed grouse ( pats) around here i am lucky to flush one a yr. i have gone out with a dog and kicked up a few on some land in central Ohio but i dont see em often in northeastern OH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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