Stan,
It isn't a meat trip for me. Early in the season grouse and woodcock hunting is largely a spectator sport. I get a few shot at birds, but, it isn't terribly important to shoot at every bird, and won't happen anyway. Bringing one gun is a very good idea, it lessens the chance of theft, either from the vehicle, or the tin shack I stay at, which, is a possiblility in the neighborhood. My Dad taught me that bringing only one gauge of gun was a great idea, I've just taken it to the next level with but one gun.
The 20 is a recent gun, comfortable and easy to carry. As I said, I got some birds, missed some others. I could have done worse.
I'll use a gun with more open chokes this year, but, a little secret between you and I is I doubt I'll bring a bunch more birds home, and, I'm OK with that. I haven't killed more than a brace of grouse in a day in a long time, more than enough for me. Catching dinner with Lloyd, and the time spent afield with him, and the pooch and sometimes, our kids, is maybe just a bit more important to me than how many I got. It isn't that I'm lazy, I just enjoy the whole trip, and I honestly could make it work without a gun if I had to.
Best,
Ted
. Exactly Ted.....it's the Indian and not the arrow. You already told us you harvest just as many grouse with this gun as your other guns. What are your other guns?? Cylinder bore?? BTW, you have told us you hunt grouse with a slinged gun. Well, as a seasoned grouse hunter I have a hard time wrapping myself around that since most grouse hunters are at the ready the majority of the time, and you hunt with a sling. How do you dismount that slinged gun after the flush and still need a cylinder choked gun?? I'm confused on that for sure! Back to your 23 yard pattern, you did not draw a circle around the densest part of your pattern and present us with the given diameter. It is mere speculation as to what choke your gun has without more data. I still would recommend you pattern your gun at 40 yards, draw a 30" circle around the most dense portion of the shot charge and then calculate the efficiency. You can pattern at 23 yards, but you really need to tell us more (i.e., densest diameter at that yardage keeping in mind that ic has close to 100% efficiency at 20 yards). So, maybe cylinder choke is best for early season grouse, but I'm not convinced of that. If your gun is slinged all the time and you are shooting birds on the wing with a slinged gun, then I'm guessing cylinder choke is not the ticket for you since it takes quite a long time to get ready for the shot from the slinged shotgun attitude. On the other hand and if the birds are shot out of trees or on the timber trails/roads, then a full choke might be your best friend (that is, if that's how you hunt grouse)?????
