NH Grouse Hunting Update: 10/7
Sometimes everything falls right - the conditions are perfect, the dog work is spot on, and the birds are flying, sometimes cooperatively for my clients. Every now and then we have a special day, and today falls in to the "memorable" category. My victim today was Guy, one of my frequent flyers, and we've had some good days over the years. Guy took the first bird, a woodcock, over Rosie four years ago in her first hunting season, so it was appropriate that he would witness her best day in the grouse woods in her guiding career today.
It started off slowly enough, as we moved only five birds or so in our first two coverts, none of which offered a realistic chance for my client. Rosie had several points on these birds however, so it certainly wasn't all bad. When we moved to our third covert of the day, shortly before noon, Rosie established point on another elusive grouse. This one got away, with Guy saluting it twice as it escaped, but we were getting closer it seemed.
It started off slowly enough, as we moved only five birds or so in our first two coverts, none of which offered a realistic chance for my client. Rosie had several points on these birds however, so it certainly wasn't all bad. When we moved to our third covert of the day, shortly before noon, Rosie established point on another elusive grouse. This one got away, with Guy saluting it twice as it escaped, but we were getting closer it seemed.
Finally, on our way back to the truck, Rosie went on point again, relocating on a moving bird, undoubtedly a grouse. This one held a bit too long, going up quickly, but well within Guy's sight range. It went down after one shot and we had our first bird in the bag. Just a short time after this, Rosie went on a staunch point, and Guy moved in quickly, snapping off an impressive shot on a fleeing woodcock. Rosie tracked it down and we quickly had a second bird in the vest.
Flush with our success, we moved through the thick spruce cover (a challenge in itself), and were delighted to hear Rosie's beeper going off again. One at a time, a group of five grouse emerged on the edge of the cover, flushing from a thick stand of alders, with Guy emptying his gun at one of them. He didn't hit it, and watched in agony as the others escaped, unscathed. Shortly after that, Rosie had another point, and Guy took this one as it tried to escape from the edge of a ditch. Two grouse and a woodcock in the vest by lunchtime - quite a day already.
Flush with our success, we moved through the thick spruce cover (a challenge in itself), and were delighted to hear Rosie's beeper going off again. One at a time, a group of five grouse emerged on the edge of the cover, flushing from a thick stand of alders, with Guy emptying his gun at one of them. He didn't hit it, and watched in agony as the others escaped, unscathed. Shortly after that, Rosie had another point, and Guy took this one as it tried to escape from the edge of a ditch. Two grouse and a woodcock in the vest by lunchtime - quite a day already.
Rosie helps Guy take his first woodcock of the day.
We ate our lunch from the comfort of the truck, watching the rain pick up in intensity, and regaling ourselves with Rosie's exploits that we had just witnessed. She's worked hard this first week of the season and deserved a day like this. After our short lunch break, we hit another covert that I hadn't hunted in a long time, but the time seemed right. Thick cover, preferably with spruce cover nearby, seemed to be what the birds were looking for today, with inclement weather coming in.
Thankfully, it paid off as Guy made an amazing shot on a wild flushing grouse that was somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 - 50 yards away when it went down on the second shot. Rosie brought the bird back, and we had a third grouse for the day. Almost instantly, Rosie had a point and relocation on a grouse that ran a long way away from us, finally flushing across an opening that Guy had no shot on. It was amazing work again from her, and she pointed another bird almost instantly. This one flushed in to Guy's view and one shot later, he had his first limit on grouse (in NH) since he's been hunting here, and it was only the second time that one of my clients had limited out.
With his bag limit of grouse filled, we made a more committed approach to finding woodcock, and while we found more grouse than woodcock throughout the remainder of the afternoon, Rosie pointed the vast majority of them. The highlight was the group of five grouse that Rosie pointed, holding staunchly after each flush, with a straggling woodcock flushing last. Guy took two shots on the woodcock, but he had one of his rare misses for the day. He finally took his second woodcock of the day on another staunch point by Rosie. We were initially unsure if he had hit it, but our suspicions were confirmed when Rosie backtracked from the area we were searching to emerge with the bird in mouth. A great recovery of the bird that we never would have made without her.
My unofficial total was 24 grouse and 5 woodcock encountered for the day. Amazing dog work from Rosie and shooting from Guy ... and we get to do it all over again tomorrow.
