If you're not using dogs, the birds would be flush from a little far, so Modified choke would be fine.

Tankercheif
 

JUst a little hint that may help you...I hunted and grew up in NY; hunted without a dog 4 ever...learned this by mistake >>>if you can approuch a Grouse from the UPHILL side they will hold much better for you. I hunted this one old apple orchard all the time and always started at the bottom. It was pretty steep for an orchard well One day I swung around and decided to hunt from the top down...what a difference. I could almost step on them before they busted..really made a big difference...also I hunted them as quiet as I could, not quite like I was still hunting deer but on that style. Hope this helps

Great content and very helpful thank and keep up the good work.

I would suggest an IC since the birds are smaller and it
won't take as much shot to knock them down. It really
depends how close the majority of your shots will be.
GoodLuck

So, you guys ground sluice 'em :action-smiley-099:

99.9% of flushed grouse will be flying away from you -- so you're not going to get any shot in the breast anyhow.



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When hunting them with out dogs the answer is yes we did.. We also never had the type of cuttings back then that we do today. With todays cuttings you can get some really decent shots off at them flying. Cuttings from yesteryear we never had that and I never had a dog. I did hunt a few times with another friend who did use an Irish Setter years ago. I guess having an Irish Setter as a youngster (never hunted) and hunting with a friend that once had one got me hunting with the Irish Setter from yesteryear.As well as the nature of them.

But to answer the guys question on walking and hunting for birds I keep it the same though I do not know the terrain he is hunting..

you are right.

i just got a FRANCHI AL48 20ga in 26 inch barrel for grouse.
my 12 ga beretta just is little heavy and with 28 inch barrel,little hard in woods.

i am using low brass 7 and 1/2 in this gun. but i have gone to full choke as leaves are off and shots are over 30 yds.
i plan on using the 1C choke in fall when leaves are on.

this shotgun is so light,it is a joy to carry.i may go to no.6 shot high brass in winter if the low brass 7 and 1/2 does not work.
high brass shells are going crazy on prices.
16 dollars a box.
i have shells i just looked at that are 4.95 for high brass,now 16 .

no wonder we are losing hunters ,lack of game and prices now are not good.

I've been hunting grouse for 20 years, and I am hard pressed to find a better choke than IC for grouse. If you are in tight quarters, you want it as open as possible. If it is a little more open, it doesn't take much to bring them down, so a wider pattern won't hurt (might even help). If its a wide open field where you might want a tighter choke, it won't matter, there's no grouse there!

you are right.
tests have shown that out to 35 yds IC choke puts like less than 30 bbs difference than FULL choke.this test was done with 7 and 1/2 shot.
most grouse if they are that far away you wont get them anyhow or you should let grouse go at 40 yds .
IC throws out nice wide pattern.
for grouse a low brass NORMAL load is fine because birds are not real hard to bring down if you hit head.
this also makes the SEMI-AUTO ,light one like FRANCHI AL48 ,20 GA with just a IC choke real contender vrs the famous o/u shotguns that have 2 different chokes.

i cant find test done with 3 chokes,IC/M/F .it opened my eyes on test.if you get say 300 bbs at 35 yds with IC and 320 with M and 335 with FULL ,i agree with you, go with IC .
i use IC all time for pheasants also.