reflexes

[Boo]

With turkeys you get about 2 to 3 seconds when they first make you but they don't stay very still. Their heads go up like a periscope and whey they figure out what you are, they're gone. I think the turkey has better reflexes but not by a whole lot but that's not saying much.
Can they be taken with a headshot? Yes, it is not uncommon but it's a really small target

[grousegrove]

Hmmm. Boo's reply makes sense, but all I can definitely say is that of the scores of grouse I've encountered (without a dog) all but one had better reflexes than I did! That one made me a pretty pleased hunter. Perhaps needless to say a crossbow bolt was not part of the equation there. They have usually erupted from about six feet away, going Mach 6, after I have sat still for a half hour and decide there are no critters nearby and that its time to move.

This year however it'll be different! Like fishing, hunting is often the story of hope's triumph over experience.

[grousegrove]

Occurs to me I should acknowledge an irony that my grousegrove moniker reflects my love for a patch of woods in PA where I have consistently run into grouse, vice my track record hunting them. I'd love to get my own good dog but it hasn't been in the cards for the grousegrove family yet.

[newbie]

I agree with Don. But I havent met a a turkey that can react faster then 2oz copper plated lead.

[Boo]

Some of the grouse here will stand around and not bust loose until you get close. In fact some people hunt them with .22s. In more northern areas they act like they're dumb.The further north you go the less reactive they are. May be the dumber they are? LOL! Dumb and dumber, I say that's a joke son!

[Cossack]

No comparison. Turkey, heads down. They can see - and hear - like no other bird I've hunted. Moreover, once they spot something suspicious they tend to move their heads and WALK simultaneously both to evade and see better. Head shot? Given the size of the target, try one of the guillotine heads for any kind of chance, .

[newbie]

Some of the grouse here will stand around and not bust loose until you get close. In fact some people hunt them with .22s. In more northern areas they act like they're dumb.The further north you go the less reactive they are. May be the dumber they are? LOL! Dumb and dumber, I say that's a joke son!

I had to kick some out of my way heading to truck after a northern deer hunt last fall.