VT Grouse Hunting Update: 11/8
Frankly speaking, we have been spoiled this grouse hunting season. Not only have we witnessed solid work by the dogs in their quest to find birds, there have been good numbers of grouse as well, and the weather? For the most part, it has been amazing this fall, and we've been very fortunate to enjoy some beautiful and sunny days in the woods, especially this November.
Weather and its effects play a huge role in grouse hunting, no matter what part of the season you're hunting in, but it seems especially important during the late season. The habits of grouse change when the weather turns cold or snowy - usually it involves hunting them in thick evergreen cover, and that has its own challenges ... Yes, I've gotten a dumping of snow down my neck quite a few times trying to navigate the thick cover where they are often found.
However, we'll save those worries for another day, as we're enjoying a particularly dry and sunny stretch of weather this November. It has been cold (low 20's) to start each morning, but we've been warming up to the lower 40's most days, and the last two days have risen to the low 50's - simply spectacular weather for grouse hunting. As a matter of fact, the only adverse shooting conditions that my client Art had to frequently deal with was the high sun affecting his sightline on the birds.
Weather and its effects play a huge role in grouse hunting, no matter what part of the season you're hunting in, but it seems especially important during the late season. The habits of grouse change when the weather turns cold or snowy - usually it involves hunting them in thick evergreen cover, and that has its own challenges ... Yes, I've gotten a dumping of snow down my neck quite a few times trying to navigate the thick cover where they are often found.
However, we'll save those worries for another day, as we're enjoying a particularly dry and sunny stretch of weather this November. It has been cold (low 20's) to start each morning, but we've been warming up to the lower 40's most days, and the last two days have risen to the low 50's - simply spectacular weather for grouse hunting. As a matter of fact, the only adverse shooting conditions that my client Art had to frequently deal with was the high sun affecting his sightline on the birds.
The dogs have also enjoyed the beneficial circumstances for pursuing grouse as well. Rosie was her typical self on Saturday morning, pointing the majority of birds she encountered. A few held well for Art, but quite a few ran out ahead of us or simply flushed behind trees or escaped in to thick cover amazingly fast. In other words, they were doing all of the things that grouse do.
Monty had a nice afternoon run on Saturday, and the old boy pointed four of the six grouse that he encountered, and one in particular gave Art a good chance. Monty pointed to our left in the woods beside a trail we were walking and as we moved up the trail, the grouse flushed, coming out to the trail and flying directly away from Art. Two shots later, no bird.
That was the way it went for Art that day, but there were only four opportunities at decent shots out of the twenty-five grouse we encountered. We walked nearly 9 and one half miles, so we worked hard, but the grouse won that day ...
Monty had a nice afternoon run on Saturday, and the old boy pointed four of the six grouse that he encountered, and one in particular gave Art a good chance. Monty pointed to our left in the woods beside a trail we were walking and as we moved up the trail, the grouse flushed, coming out to the trail and flying directly away from Art. Two shots later, no bird.
That was the way it went for Art that day, but there were only four opportunities at decent shots out of the twenty-five grouse we encountered. We walked nearly 9 and one half miles, so we worked hard, but the grouse won that day ...
Monty can't run the grouse woods all day like he used to, but he loves to get out there for an hour or two and points well when given the chance. The legs may tire, but the nose never does.
Bode had a good run on Sunday morning, pointing several grouse and helping my client take the first bird we saw that day. He'll get plenty more work this week as our Vermont swing wraps up.
Yesterday Bode got his chance and he did a nice job in his morning of work. He encountered ten grouse during his run, but the highlight was a group of four that he worked on the edge of a road just prior to slowing in to a point. The birds bounded out, and Art made a good shot on the first bird that went up. Bode retrieved it for us, and we had one in the vest early on.
We walked nearly five and one half miles yesterday morning, through some amazing "grousey" looking cover, but managed to find only six more single grouse in our travels. Bode hunted hard and thoroughly, and had another great point on a bird trapped in some roadside evergreens between him and us on the road. We were surprised when it went up and flew at us on the road, and the bird was terrifically fast in escaping Art's shot. Just another instance where you can only appreciate the acrobatics of these amazing birds.
Rosie took over in the afternoon, checking out some new cover early on. She had a couple of points on grouse in there, and this spot shows some potential for future hunts. Then we went back in to an old favorite cover that I've been hunting for over twenty years. Somehow it still holds grouse, and in good numbers too. It is thick with spruce, which is probably why it harbors birds, especially this late in the season.
Rosie had a number of points in this covert, but much like her father Bode, her highlight was on a group of grouse (four of them) that had been feeding on the right side of the trail prior to our arrival. Rosie worked the area hard on the right, soaking up the scent that was so prevalent here. Then she hit the trail and quickly went on point on the left side. That's when they started flying, and Art connected on his second grouse of the day. We walked a lot of miles (20?) in our two days out there, but we enjoyed the weather, the birds, and the work of the dogs.
We walked nearly five and one half miles yesterday morning, through some amazing "grousey" looking cover, but managed to find only six more single grouse in our travels. Bode hunted hard and thoroughly, and had another great point on a bird trapped in some roadside evergreens between him and us on the road. We were surprised when it went up and flew at us on the road, and the bird was terrifically fast in escaping Art's shot. Just another instance where you can only appreciate the acrobatics of these amazing birds.
Rosie took over in the afternoon, checking out some new cover early on. She had a couple of points on grouse in there, and this spot shows some potential for future hunts. Then we went back in to an old favorite cover that I've been hunting for over twenty years. Somehow it still holds grouse, and in good numbers too. It is thick with spruce, which is probably why it harbors birds, especially this late in the season.
Rosie had a number of points in this covert, but much like her father Bode, her highlight was on a group of grouse (four of them) that had been feeding on the right side of the trail prior to our arrival. Rosie worked the area hard on the right, soaking up the scent that was so prevalent here. Then she hit the trail and quickly went on point on the left side. That's when they started flying, and Art connected on his second grouse of the day. We walked a lot of miles (20?) in our two days out there, but we enjoyed the weather, the birds, and the work of the dogs.
Our final trips of the season in Vermont resume tomorrow until Friday. On Saturday, the Vermont rifle season for deer begins and they can have the woods for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, the snow doesn't pile up too much between now and then so that we can enjoy the remainder of the bird hunting season ...
