GUNS Magazine March 1956 - Jeffersonian

grouse I ever shot at. Through the golden willow
thickets along Idaho's famous and remote Selway
River, I had spent many happy days in pursuit of quail
and the crafty ringnecks. When my partner flushed the
grouse through a mass of willows and berry vines and
shouted "bird coming out," I expected to be warned by
the whirr of hard-driven wings. This old boy was a fooler.
Ruffed grouse usually thunder up, but this one was trying
the silent exit. Listening for wing music, I caught a fleeting
glimpse of my quarry winging its way through the
willows silent as an owl and almost out of sight.
Swinging after him, I brought down a shower of leaves
and twigs a good two feet behind my speedy target. I
soon learned that a 30-inch full choke barrel does not
prescribe the right dose of ruffed grouse medicine even
with No. 7% or 8 shot. The birds are almost always
located in dense thickets with snap shots at close range
your only chance. I shot 8 or 10 times and scratched
down one bird.
A modified choke or improved cylinder or even the
cylinder bored shotgun, a very short range job, will perform
much better than a tight-bored gun. Ruffed grouse
are larger and harder to kill than quail, but the close
shooting calls for a quickly expanding pattern, although
you risk crippling birds unless you pass up the occasional
long range shot. The various devices, with which you may
instantly adjust your choke to any type the occasion
calls for, are rapidly gaining favor. These are mighty
handy for the guy who does a wide variety of shotgun
hunting but can only afford one gun.
Ruffed grouse are widely distributed. In some areas he
is affectionately known as the "Pat." In many parts of
the west the hunters refer to them as pheasants, native
pheasants, brush pheasants or ruffled grouse. British
Columbians have labeled this bird the willow grouse. One
thing they all agree on, however, Mr. Ruff is the king
of his tribe no matter where he is found or what name
he is tagged with.
Even in remote mountain areas (Continued on page 56)
End of successful grouse hunt is preparing bird first reported
by Lewis & Clark expedition for mighty fine eating.
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