Chuck, partridge/grouse are good-sized birds with as much meat as most ducks we see around here except for eiders and scoters. We stand on both wings and pull by the legs to deliver a skinned and gutted bird to the bag within 30 seconds. No. 6 or 7 1/2, doesn't make much difference. I usually take 7 1/2 to build my confidence.

Grouse are cunning birds, it seems. In years of good numbers, I've seen all the fancy-dancing and sometimes after the leaves are gone up to 10 flush into a young maple. My 91-year-old buddy once shot eight from a tree with a .22 (he was rabbit hunting) dropping those on the lower limbs first. Mostly though, partridge flushes scare the devil out of me.