Is this accurate enough for grouses?

[u/Whispersfine]

Little to no wind @ 50 yards.

Thinking about grouse hunting this fall. Is this good enough to do a bit head snipping?

[u/Dependent_Account603]

It'll work for headshots. But I wouldn't recommend Norma tac-22 for hunting. Sometimes the headshot plan doesn't work out and you need to body shoot them. Have some hollow points. I use the CCI subsonic hollow points.

[u/Whispersfine → u/Dependent_Account603]

Thanks for the tips. I’ll buy some hollow points.

Can you kill the bird fast with body shots? I try to harvest them ethically.

[u/Dependent_Account603 → u/Whispersfine]

After I shot grouse with high velocity hollow points I didn't like the meat damage so I switched to CCI standard velocity target (same as tac22). Then I had grouse fly off on me after body shotting them. So I switched to standard velocity hollow points (think they're 1050fps).

I to was thinking I'd just headshot them but it's really tricky with the curve of 22 rounds. If you're sighted at 50y, you'll be 1" below target at 10y, you'll on target at 25y, 1" above target at 35y and on target again at 50y. Trying to remember this while a grouse is moving in front of you can be tricky.

[u/Whispersfine → u/Dependent_Account603]

Hmmmm that’s an interesting trajectory. I have didn’t know it would be lower. Thanks, I will probably zero in on 25 before the season starts. People have been telling me grouse hunting does not go beyond 25 yards a lot

[u/Dependent_Account603 → u/Whispersfine]

Zero at 25 usually matches zero at 50 with scoped .22s. Depending on your scope and bullet. There's always two zeros. One when your bullet comes up to line of sight, then the bullet goes up above line of sight, and then down to line of sight again. No matter your zero it can be hard to judge in the heat of the moment. Iron sights are closer to the barrel and better for close up headshots within 5 to 10y.