Practicing with a grouse gun
 

How do you grouse hunters usually practice for the coming season with your grouse hunting guns ?

Do you take a short barreled ( 26" or so ) shotgun to a trap range and shoot at 20+ yards ?

Do you work with one other shooter to throw clay birds at closer ranges typical of a grouse covert ?

Either go to the skeet field or set up a hand cocked trap, the kind someone sits on to load and throw the clays. and shoot straight always and different angles. Of course you will need a friend to run the trap. Station 7 on a skeet field is good for straight aways and station 2 and 6 give good angling away shots. A few rounds of sporting clays doesn't hurt either if the field is set up to mimic grouse hunting.

I and my hunting partner each bought one of these back in early 1970 since we lived some distance apart.
We would invite some friends and make a day of throwing pigeons from different angles and even set the thrower behind a building so you could not see how the bird was going to come out.
Wasn't uncommon to shoot 600 birds in a day.





I had mine mounted on a flat plate of steel so I could load it and trip it my self to shoot.

But as time went by friends passed and moved so today I shoot a sporting clays course at 3 different sports men's clubs around the area.
All practice HELPS.

:D Al

I've never shot a sporting clays course. A short barreled grouse gun will work there ?

Yes, I often use my 26" barrel sxs 12 ga when I am not using my .28 ga.

Well then - I better find some 20 ga target loads and check this out.

I use a Beretta 20ga silver snipe OU with 24 inch barrels choked mod and IPC.
My son uses a 20ga Stevens SXS choked cy and Cy. I think his barrels are 26 inch.
Brother in law uses a 20ga Remington 870 with changeable chokes but uses mod mostly.

:D Al

Most importantly when shooting clays................ shoot low gun (as you would carry your gun in the field), not from a mounted position.

Second, tell the "puller" that you are ready and let them pull anytime after that (I never had a bird get up in the field because I yelled PULL) !!!