I have to say I’ve been enjoying the weather this winter with the few nice days we’ve had before the snow and cold decided to return. Sure its winter and you expect snow and cold but it’s nice to have a day or two of mild weather in between. Last weekend Sammy and I decided to take advantage of a break in the snow and hit the brush in hopes to flush a few grouse.
At first we were questioning the weather man and our sanity with temperatures in the teens when we stepped out of the truck. It was supposed to warm up into the 40’s but it never did. I didn’t have enough clothes on so we started walking to warm up.
Sammy’s two English Setters Barker and Mady were eager to get started as well. We began the hunt in an old clear cut that we had hunted a month earlier and found a pile of grouse. There were 8 of them all together and they flushed in all directions so we figured they would still be around.
We walked to the top and worked it around without any sign of grouse but there were a few nice buck rubs from last fall I noticed. As we neared the end of the old cut we dropped down and hunted the lower side on the way back to the truck. It wasn’t long before we heard faint wing beats of a flushing grouse out in front of us. The leaves and what snow was left were still crunchy and it must have heard us coming and wasted no time in getting out of there.
We continued on hearing 3 more take-off but they were well out ahead of us.
At least we knew they were still there. After that the sun was well above the ridgetops and the temperature started to warm up. I shed a layer of clothes as we drove to another spot I wanted to try. I had never grouse hunted this particular place so it was all new to me. We drove until the road ended at another old clear cut that looked like perfect grouse habitat.
We’ve been finding the birds in the old cuts that have a mixture of sumac, greenbrier, grapevines, and a few hemlocks thrown in. Find a hollow with water draining out of it and all the better. We dropped the tailgate and let the dogs out of the box and started up an old logging road. We hadn’t made it 100 yards and were still in sight of the truck when all of a sudden Barker whirled around and went on point. “Get ready” Sammy said.
As I shouldered my 16 gauge and was admiring the beautiful point a grouse took off and flew straight away from me. I put the bead on the bird and squeezed the trigger but it kept on going. “Man you were all over that thing” Sammy said, “I don’t know how you missed”. “Me either” I replied with a puzzled look. Upon further investigation I noticed a 3 inch sapling that was dead centered with shot. I pointed at the tree and looked at Sammy and said “I missed because that dang tree got in the way”.
We continued on with the dogs searching intently for another bird. As we walked along the road the dogs were hunting the lower side when all of a sudden an eruption happened above us not 5 yards up the bank. Sammy quickly shouldered his shotgun and got 3 shots off at the fleeing grouse and dropped it. Not a split second later another one took off and he dropped it as well. I have to say I was impressed with his quick shooting and called him “Quick Draw McGraw”.
It was the perfect time to let Barker retrieve the downed birds as she is only 3 years old and still catching on. She did an awesome job pointing the grouse I missed and I really wish I would have connected for her hard work, but that dang tree jumped in the way. We took a break after that before hitting one last clear cut.
Sammy had eyeballed the cut while we were driving in so we decided to try it. While driving along I slowed down and noticed a good deer trail that looked like a good place to go up the hill into the cut. I parked the truck and Sammy let the dogs out and started up the road towards that deer trail. I was fiddling with putting my glove on when all of a sudden a grouse took off. Sammy yelled “grouse” as it flew right above me. “Did you not see it?” he asked. “No I wasn’t paying any attention” I replied. That grouse was sitting not 5 yards from that deer trail beside a small hemlock sapling. I had stopped and was looking right at it and didn’t even know. They sure do blend in well and have good camouflage. We started up the deer trail and no longer topped the bank and another grouse took off through the hemlocks. We continued through the old clear cut but that was enough action for the day. Barker and Mady were slowing down as well as Sammy and I so we decided to pack it up and call it a good day. I love grouse hunting with good company. Mady and Barker always hunt hard and that Sammy isn’t too bad of a feller either. Grouse season ends on February 28 and we’re hoping to get out again before it’s over.
