Have been using my old Winchester Model 12 28 gauge for the few times I have been able to get out for a hunt in the uplands this season.Bagged two partridge(ruffed grouse) with the gun so far.The gun works great,but the full choke is a bit on the tight side, in my opinion ,for use in the uplands. Especially with so many leaves still on the trees.Sight distance is not that great.Sure wish I had a Model 12 28 gauge with a modified choke.
The open chokes sure seem to help me with grouse. Like your self, I always seem to find the grouse in the heaviest of cover and quick snap shots are usually what is offered. I have a couple model 12’s I use religiously on grouse, A 20 ga. choked IC and a very early Black Diamond 16 ga. that was originally choked full but at some point it was opened up to IC. Grouse are my favorite bird for table fare, hard to beat! Best of luck on the remainder of your season…..
Erin
Good luck with your season as well,Erin.How has your season been so far?
Hope to get out this afternoon for another partridge(ruffed grouse) hunt.Out this morning for a duck hunt.
Partridge are my favourite table fare as well.Here of late, my wife has been cutting them up into small pieces,along with bacon cut into small pieces.She then cooks them and adds a sauce to them .That along with a plate full of mashed potatoes is hard to beat.
I’m at 17 for the year so far. I’ve been lucky with the bird numbers. Flushed several nice coveys of 3-5 birds and got lucky a few times with doubles. My Chesapeake pup has been a benefit, he has been working very well staying within 20 yards. No doubt when he is getting birdy so that helps a bit also.
My wife makes schnitzel with them. Flattens them with a tenderizing hammer, lightly breads and pan fries them. She then makes a white wine cream sauce and serves it over egg noodles. Mighty tasty! I don’t believe you can go wrong with any way they are fried, baking them—-not so much. The meat is just too lean, kind of like wild turkey in that respect.
We only have a couple weeks until deer season starts and that puts an end to our bird season. They do reopen it in Dec. but I don’t care to hunt grouse in the snow.
Erin
Out this afternoon for a partridge hunt.Hunted hard and checked a lot of my usually good spots.Never scared or saw a bird.They seem to be scare in my area.Have bagged only 2 so far.
The season opens on October 1 and stays open until December 31.
Sounds like a nice meal your wife makes with your birds.
I used to hunt Ruffed Grouse with a 28 O/U and Rem 1100 , both skeet choked. Probably The best ga. for Grouse etc. Being as effective as any other gauge in the forest for up to medium range, it is much more potent and humane than the popular .410 , that with skimpy patterns of too few pellets , the 410 is handicapped, and limited to very close shots
For me The 28 is actually best for the close range game of skeet with the benefit of very low recoil , less chance to flinch,effective patterns are adequate , but the 410 needs more precise hits than other gauges and is more challenging
Phil
Right on,25-20.Back in the mid 1980’s I used a Winchester Model 42 in the uplands.Beautiful little gun,but I must say that over all I found the 410 wanting for use in the uplands.I then went back to my 28 gauges for upland use.For 28 gauge Winchesters I have a Model 101 ,Model 23 and a Winchester/Cooey Model 84 as well.
Still have a Model 42 and there is no doubt that at some point I will have it in the field .Just not as effective as the 28 gauge in my opinion.
Out this afternoon for a hunt,but never saw or scared a thing.
What do you use for a 28 gauge these days?
I have a Model 53 in 25-20.
Out this afternoon with the Winchester Model 12 28 gauge.Saw three rabbits(snowshoe hare) and came home with one.
Hard to believe that no one else is not using a Winchester 28 gauge in the fieldNo one using a Model 21,Model 23,Model 101,Model 37,Model 370 or Model 37A in 28 gauge?
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