VT Grouse Hunting Update: 11/4/2018
It is unusual for me to post two consecutive days on the Partridge Blog, but Sunday's conditions were so different from Saturday that an update is warranted. The fast moving and chilly front that drove us from the grouse woods the day before left the Vermont highlands with a coating of several inches of snow overnight, immersing our hunting areas back in to winter, at least temporarily. Grouse hunting in winter conditions can be challenging. The walking alone is a chore for us, but my experience is that as long as it isn't too cold the dogs usually are able to operate as they normally would. Too much snow (6"+) often masks bird scent and cold temperatures also seem to affect the amount of scent the dogs are contacting, but yesterday was in the 30's for the most part (with a chilly north wind at times) and Brian Fradette's brittany spaniels were on.
It took a little while for us to get going, as the grouse were not entirely in the places where we thought they should be - edge cover with lots of spruce and blowdowns. Running Brian's two year old Floyd first through an area that screamed "GROUSE!", we only contacted two birds, neither of which offered an opportunity for a shot. Floyd is growing as a bird dog - a ton of energy as you would imagine at his age, but it seems that he is beginning to harness his exuberance. More grouse and woodcock exposure should help him become a bird hunter.
The next area we hunted was a large area of mixed cover, dominated by large fir and islands of small spruce. The hardwoods nearby provide plenty of buds throughout winter, while the abundant spruce are perfect wintertime cover for the grouse. We had some great work on the ten grouse that we encountered in this area, many of which were pointed by Brian's ten year old brit, Kiya. She's an old pro at this thing and provided several good chances for her hunters, and Brian's son Mike took his first grouse of the day (and ever). The cover was thick, wet (we were on the edge of a cedar, spruce swamp as well, so rubber boots were really great yesterday ...) and snowy, but it held plenty of birds. These are the areas that we will likely be hunting over the course of the season, as the grouse now seem to be looking for birch buds for sustenance. Many of the early "fall" foods have disappeared or are about to, so they are shifting to their "winter" diet of buds now.
The final cover of the day was a small one as daylight waned, and Brian's third brit, Pink, got the call. I've watched her work several times now and she's a good one - great range, nose, and cooperation - and at only two years old, she will be delighting Brian for many years to come. It didn't take long as she established a point in heavy regenerating hardwood cover (the grouse tracks were so numerous here that we thought there might be more birds in this spot) and Mike made a great shot on a fleeing male grouse. Pink got right back to business and continued to scour the cover in search of birds, establishing point a little while later. While nothing would flush right there, we walked probably fifty yards down a trail when a bird flushed close by off our right. Brian, ever the ready bird hunter, made a nice crossing shot on that escaping grouse, likely the one that Pink had pointed just a few moments earlier.
It was a good day and a microcosm of grouse hunting - challenging at times, but rewarding for sure ...
It was a good day and a microcosm of grouse hunting - challenging at times, but rewarding for sure ...
