GROUSE HUNTING TRIPS SINCE 2008

 

Frost Fire's Grouse Hunting
"Partridge Blog"

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ...
an account of grouse and woodcock hunting
in northern NH and the NEK of Vermont ...

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Final Point?
A couple more grouse hunting excursions last week for the pups and myself, with good results for Rosie on Thursday, and for both Rosie and Monty last Friday. Unfortunately, I neglected to hold up my end of the bargain either day, and there was at least one grouse on Thursday that should have been coming home with us. No excuses, just a flat out miss after a staunch point from Rosie. The grouse held surprisingly well for Rosie, but it perhaps had settled in to some sense of security after probably not being bothered too much through the deer hunting season.
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Winter in the Uplands
I have read that there are usually three different periods to the three-month grouse hunting season, and this depends upon the transformation of the cover due to changing weather. The "first season" is the early season, where the leaves are still on the trees, and the grouse are still enjoying the plethora of cover (vertical) and food sources that are available. They can be found anywhere and everywhere in the first couple weeks of October, making some of the flushes that we get particularly surprising.
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A First for Rosie
A crisp, cold day in Vermont's uplands today - finally some good weather for pursuing those crafty ruffed grouse! Temps were in the low 30's, and there were even a few flakes of snow … a harbinger of what is coming later this week. It's supposed to get down and dirty cold this weekend - ideal if you're chasing deer around on the first weekend of the season.
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VT Grouse Hunting Update: 11/5/2017
What a true microcosm of grouse and woodcock hunting the last three days in the uplands of Vermont! We had one of our best sessions of the season of grouse sighting and dog work on Friday, hunting in the rain and getting in to a boat load of grouse in the process. Not many woodcock, but I didn't expect many considering the area that we were in.
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VT Grouse Hunting Update: 11/3/2017
More rain over the last two days has transformed parts of our grouse woods from what seemed to be deserts to areas resembling swamps. The woods are wet right now, which is usually good for us hunters - we're not making as much noise as when the woods are dry, so we're usually able to get pretty close to birds prior to flushing.
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What About the Woodcock?
This has certainly been one of the strangest upland bird hunting seasons that I can remember, and the prime culprit for this has been our unpredictable weather. Don't get me wrong, autumn weather in northern New England is a chancy proposition at best, but this year it seems that it has been unusually abnormal. This weather has had some consequences for us, so we've had to try to adapt to what mother nature has thrown us.
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NH Grouse & Woodcock Hunting Update: 10/29/2017
Sometimes, it all comes together. Good conditions for us and the dogs, clients with unending (well, nearly unending) energy and solid shooting ability, and more than a few grouse and woodcock that hold and occasionally fly the wrong way for them. That's how the last two days went with long time clients of mine, Art and Craig, as we moved 49 birds (22 grouse, 27 woodcock) over this weekend.
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Ruffed grouse feather
NH Grouse & Woodcock Hunting Update: 10/24/2017
Two more warm days in the woods on Monday and Tuesday … and it seems like there's some woodcock making their way down from Canada. We have moved 39 woodcock in the last two days of hunting, in areas where we normally see some woodcock, but not that many. We have also been fortunate to have truly excellent dog work on the woodcock as well.
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Grouse Hunting Season Stats

2024:

2023: 222.5 Hours
VT Hours: 65.5
NH Hours: 157.0
VT Birds Moved: 143
NH Birds Moved: 430
Birds Taken:
14 Grouse (VT - 4, NH - 10)
43 Woodcock (VT - 7, NH - 36)

2022: 123.0 Hours
VT Hours: 49.5
NH Hours: 73.5
VT Birds Moved: 96
NH Birds Moved: 178
Birds Taken:
11 Grouse (VT - 5, NH - 6)
6 Woodcock (VT - 2, NH - 4)

2021: 193.5 Hours
VT Hours: 66.0
NH Hours: 127.5
VT Birds Moved: 226
NH Birds Moved: 427
Birds Taken:
36 Grouse
21 Woodcock

2020: 199.5 Hours
VT Hours: 36.0
NH Hours: 163.5
VT Birds Moved: 77
NH Birds Moved: 552
Birds Taken:
24 Grouse
21 Woodcock

2019: 184.5 Hours
VT Hours: 28.0
NH Hours: 156.5
VT Birds Moved: 65
NH Birds Moved: 509
Birds Taken:
14 Grouse
29 Woodcock

2018: 144.0 Hours
VT Hours: 32.0
NH Hours: 112.0
VT Birds Moved: 114
NH Birds Moved: 417
Birds Taken:
18 Grouse
12 Woodcock

2017: 180.5 Hours
VT Hours: 44
NH Hours: 136.5
VT Birds moved: 110
NH Birds moved: 407
Birds Taken:
23 Grouse
24 Woodcock

2016: 178 Hours
Birds moved: 563
Birds/Hr Avg.: 3.16

Birds Taken:
23 Grouse
30 Woodcock

2015: 202.0 Hours
Birds moved: 607
Birds/Hr Avg.: 3.0

Birds Taken:
18 grouse
26 woodcock

2014: 138.0 hours
Birds moved: 350
Birds/hr. Avg.: 2.53

Birds Taken:
17 grouse
17 woodcock

2013: 152 Hours
Birds moved: 480
Birds/hr. Avg.: 3.15

Birds Taken:
20 grouse
27 woodcock

2012: 114 Hours
Birds moved: 526
Birds /Hr Avg.: 4.61

Birds Taken:
22 grouse
4 woodcock

2011: 161 Hours
Birds moved: 522
Birds / Hr Avg.: 3.24

Birds Taken:
34 grouse
21 woodcock

2010: 139.5 Hours
Birds moved: 430
Birds / Hr Avg.: 3.08

Birds Taken:
26 grouse
21 woodcock

2009: 93.5 Hours
Birds moved: 307
Birds / Hr Avg.: 3.28

Birds Taken:
16 grouse
14 woodcock

2008: 82.5 Hours
Birds moved: 188
Birds / Hr Avg.: 2.27

Birds Taken:
10 grouse
5 woodcock

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