Early Returns
It was a beautiful weekend to look for grouse in some of our Vermont coverts, this first Saturday and Sunday of the season. The weather was as good as it gets for this early on - starting in the 30's and topping off in the 50's. It rained Friday night as well, resulting in plenty of moisture which did wonders for the scenting conditions.
There is a unique dichotomy with opening days. The good side is that we are catching the birds, especially the young ones, on the first day of any hunting that they have seen. A two or three year old bird has been through it all before, but after a long period of not having to deal with humans, they might even be a little rusty at playing the game. The young of the year birds have never been hunted before, so they are the hunter's best chance for scoring an early season grouse.
On the reverse side of the ledger, the woods can be awfully thick and the weather can be less than optimal (too hot) for us and the dogs on opening day - shooting at a bird that you can barely get a glimpse of with sweat pouring in to your eyes is not my idea of a lot of fun. It still beats work, as they say. To be honest, we've had opening days that were on both sides of the sheet, but this weekend was memorable. Not only did we move lots of birds (31 grouse disturbed over the course of the two mornings), but Rosie really seemed to excel during her sessions.
If the bulb was flickering last October, it was definitely "on" by the end of last season. She picked up right where she left off this weekend, encountering 25 grouse over the two mornings, at least half of which she pointed. While she made her share of mistakes, she also had several points that were long in duration and a couple that were long in distance. She did well for not being quite 2-years old yet, and provided me with more than a few good opportunities for birds. Two fell to my gun - pure luck, thankfully. Monty and Bode also got some work in this weekend, and they both had grouse points of their own, but those birds lived to fly another day.
Those birds that hunkered down while being pointed were shot at, and the two that were taken were young of the year birds. Those birds that got out of Dodge after being pointed survived to be pursued in the future, and I expect more running grouse as the season goes along. The curious thing about this weekend is that we encountered zero woodcock - good cover for them as well, but we have traditionally not seen many timberdoodles where we were.
Tomorrow's the opener for New Hampshire and then a very full guiding season starts for me - it has started out great and I hope it goes well for you too.
There is a unique dichotomy with opening days. The good side is that we are catching the birds, especially the young ones, on the first day of any hunting that they have seen. A two or three year old bird has been through it all before, but after a long period of not having to deal with humans, they might even be a little rusty at playing the game. The young of the year birds have never been hunted before, so they are the hunter's best chance for scoring an early season grouse.
On the reverse side of the ledger, the woods can be awfully thick and the weather can be less than optimal (too hot) for us and the dogs on opening day - shooting at a bird that you can barely get a glimpse of with sweat pouring in to your eyes is not my idea of a lot of fun. It still beats work, as they say. To be honest, we've had opening days that were on both sides of the sheet, but this weekend was memorable. Not only did we move lots of birds (31 grouse disturbed over the course of the two mornings), but Rosie really seemed to excel during her sessions.
If the bulb was flickering last October, it was definitely "on" by the end of last season. She picked up right where she left off this weekend, encountering 25 grouse over the two mornings, at least half of which she pointed. While she made her share of mistakes, she also had several points that were long in duration and a couple that were long in distance. She did well for not being quite 2-years old yet, and provided me with more than a few good opportunities for birds. Two fell to my gun - pure luck, thankfully. Monty and Bode also got some work in this weekend, and they both had grouse points of their own, but those birds lived to fly another day.
Those birds that hunkered down while being pointed were shot at, and the two that were taken were young of the year birds. Those birds that got out of Dodge after being pointed survived to be pursued in the future, and I expect more running grouse as the season goes along. The curious thing about this weekend is that we encountered zero woodcock - good cover for them as well, but we have traditionally not seen many timberdoodles where we were.
Tomorrow's the opener for New Hampshire and then a very full guiding season starts for me - it has started out great and I hope it goes well for you too.
