Thick As A Brick
The dichotomy of early season grouse hunting has never been more apparent than the last couple of days. We have encountered more than our share of grouse and woodcock in northern New Hampshire's uplands, but it has been very difficult to get good glimpses of them, let alone get an accurate shot off. The dog work has been good for the most part - a few slip ups here and there from Monty, Bode and Rosie, but quite a few points on grouse and woodcock, with unfortunately nothing to show for their efforts.
In short, the current level of foliage has hampered our chances of getting good looks at our prey. Don't get me wrong ... the grouse woods are absolutely beautiful right now with the kaleidoscope of colors, but a few less leaves would help immensely. Conditions are very good for hunting besides the abundant foliage. The woods are "quiet" right now, after all the rain we've had. It's almost exactly the opposite of what we faced last year, with the warm dry early October conditions that were all too common. While yesterday went a little overboard with the rain and the wind, it is these kind of conditions that are good for dog and hunter alike - cool and wet is always good in my book.
It looks like we will have more of the same for the next few days and then maybe a bit of warming next week. Nothing too serious hopefully, but make sure to carry extra water for your four legged friends just in case. Even with all of the rain and wind of yesterday, we still moved 17 birds (9 grouse and 8 woodcock), and today was great, as we encountered 34 birds total (22 grouse and 12 woodcock), but very few of them offered realistic opportunities for shots. Some held well for points from the dogs, but others apparently had decided not to play along with our game - they went out well before we could get there to offer our salutations ...
Help is on the way, fellow grouse hunters. Our coverts will look totally different in 2-3 weeks and maybe the grouse and woodcock will get their comeuppance then ...
In short, the current level of foliage has hampered our chances of getting good looks at our prey. Don't get me wrong ... the grouse woods are absolutely beautiful right now with the kaleidoscope of colors, but a few less leaves would help immensely. Conditions are very good for hunting besides the abundant foliage. The woods are "quiet" right now, after all the rain we've had. It's almost exactly the opposite of what we faced last year, with the warm dry early October conditions that were all too common. While yesterday went a little overboard with the rain and the wind, it is these kind of conditions that are good for dog and hunter alike - cool and wet is always good in my book.
It looks like we will have more of the same for the next few days and then maybe a bit of warming next week. Nothing too serious hopefully, but make sure to carry extra water for your four legged friends just in case. Even with all of the rain and wind of yesterday, we still moved 17 birds (9 grouse and 8 woodcock), and today was great, as we encountered 34 birds total (22 grouse and 12 woodcock), but very few of them offered realistic opportunities for shots. Some held well for points from the dogs, but others apparently had decided not to play along with our game - they went out well before we could get there to offer our salutations ...
Help is on the way, fellow grouse hunters. Our coverts will look totally different in 2-3 weeks and maybe the grouse and woodcock will get their comeuppance then ...
