More September Scouting
Suddenly, fall is here in northern New Hampshire and Vermont, and final preparations for the upcoming grouse and woodcock seasons are ongoing. Walking in the woods is getting a bit easier now, and it is simply beautiful out there. Everyone probably understands that the visual stimuli at this time of year is intoxicating, but only a grouse hunter understands the olfactory sensations that the woods bring. Decaying leaves, the occasional blast of evergreen scent, the wisp of gunpowder … it is quite wonderful and a reminder of why we love this sport.
Some beautiful weather to run dogs in over the last two mornings too, with yesterday starting off at a frosty 29 degrees. Monty, Bode and Rosie are all getting their runs in as we have been visiting some old haunts, some new spots that we have needed to check out, and even some old favorites that we haven’t prowled in many moons.
The results were much the same in this year of plenty – we saw grouse, sometimes good numbers of them, in each area, and while not all of the spots would be deemed “guide client necessary”, a few of them will be part of our rotation this fall. Monday’s tally was fourteen grouse and three woodcock encountered in three hours, while Tuesday brought an impressive number of twenty-two grouse moved in just four hours.
The dogs have worked well for the most part, though they have all had their moments of exuberance – hopefully that gets worked out of them before the season. Many points though, and some shootable chances for sure, would it have been legal. While we have seen quite a few singles and pairs, there have also been some broods that we have stumbled upon as well – usually groups of four, but sometimes more than that.
We noticed that we moved few woodcock on Monday and none at all yesterday. The woods are tremendously dry right now, and perhaps the woodcock are staying at lower elevations, where the woods are liable to be more moist. The grouse, getting most of their water needs met from vegetation, don’t seem to mind these conditions at all. It looks like we’re going to have great weather for the remainder of September to train in as well. We will be getting plenty more woods time in until the opener in Vermont ten days from now, and the NH opener in fifteen days.
Some beautiful weather to run dogs in over the last two mornings too, with yesterday starting off at a frosty 29 degrees. Monty, Bode and Rosie are all getting their runs in as we have been visiting some old haunts, some new spots that we have needed to check out, and even some old favorites that we haven’t prowled in many moons.
The results were much the same in this year of plenty – we saw grouse, sometimes good numbers of them, in each area, and while not all of the spots would be deemed “guide client necessary”, a few of them will be part of our rotation this fall. Monday’s tally was fourteen grouse and three woodcock encountered in three hours, while Tuesday brought an impressive number of twenty-two grouse moved in just four hours.
The dogs have worked well for the most part, though they have all had their moments of exuberance – hopefully that gets worked out of them before the season. Many points though, and some shootable chances for sure, would it have been legal. While we have seen quite a few singles and pairs, there have also been some broods that we have stumbled upon as well – usually groups of four, but sometimes more than that.
We noticed that we moved few woodcock on Monday and none at all yesterday. The woods are tremendously dry right now, and perhaps the woodcock are staying at lower elevations, where the woods are liable to be more moist. The grouse, getting most of their water needs met from vegetation, don’t seem to mind these conditions at all. It looks like we’re going to have great weather for the remainder of September to train in as well. We will be getting plenty more woods time in until the opener in Vermont ten days from now, and the NH opener in fifteen days.
