VT Grouse Hunting Update: 11/8/2018
When one has been grouse hunting behind dogs for nearly two decades, the belief that one has "seen it all" is inevitable. Of course, that's not the case, since grouse hunting always seems to provide a constantly changing palette of conditions (weather, dogs, birds, and otherwise) when we venture forth day to day and season to season. While there have been many retrieves of wounded and crippled birds through the years by all of the dogs at one point or another, today's retrieve by Rosie ranks up there with the best that I've ever seen, not just because of the setting where it took place, but also the sheer determination shown by Rosie in doggedly hunting this bird down.
To set this up a little bit, my client and I were strolling up a logging road when Rosie flushed a fast flying grouse that crossed the road in front of us. She had shown quite a bit of birdiness just prior to the flush, so Matt was ready with his offering. His first shot was errant, but we thought that he may have hit the bird with his second shot, as it glided in to the woods to our right. A short time later, Rosie went on point again and Matt could see the bird, apparently hit badly enough where it couldn't fly but still could run. Not wanting to "Arkansas" the bird on the ground, I released Rosie to pursue it and bring it back to us, which was a good plan ... in theory.
Grouse can move terrifically fast on the ground when the need arises, and this one seemed to disappear in to thin air. Rosie scoured the mix of evergreens, hardwoods and blowdowns to no effect when she cycled back where we were and went on a staunch point near the root system of a large overturned tree. Looking down, there was just enough of a gap in the roots there for a desperate bird to seek refuge, and Rosie apparently saw the same thing when she was released from her point. That's when she started digging feverishly in and under the root system (yes, I helped her, but she did the vast majority of the work), but even after ten minutes or so of excavation that Rosie accomplished, it still wasn't looking like we would recover the grouse.
To set this up a little bit, my client and I were strolling up a logging road when Rosie flushed a fast flying grouse that crossed the road in front of us. She had shown quite a bit of birdiness just prior to the flush, so Matt was ready with his offering. His first shot was errant, but we thought that he may have hit the bird with his second shot, as it glided in to the woods to our right. A short time later, Rosie went on point again and Matt could see the bird, apparently hit badly enough where it couldn't fly but still could run. Not wanting to "Arkansas" the bird on the ground, I released Rosie to pursue it and bring it back to us, which was a good plan ... in theory.
Grouse can move terrifically fast on the ground when the need arises, and this one seemed to disappear in to thin air. Rosie scoured the mix of evergreens, hardwoods and blowdowns to no effect when she cycled back where we were and went on a staunch point near the root system of a large overturned tree. Looking down, there was just enough of a gap in the roots there for a desperate bird to seek refuge, and Rosie apparently saw the same thing when she was released from her point. That's when she started digging feverishly in and under the root system (yes, I helped her, but she did the vast majority of the work), but even after ten minutes or so of excavation that Rosie accomplished, it still wasn't looking like we would recover the grouse.
Deliberation ensued between Matt and I on where the bird could be and how much longer we would look for it, when Rosie suddenly emerged from underneath the root system with the bird in her mouth. Truly amazing, and her determination alone is what brought that bird to our vest, and it is further proof that good bird dogs help conserve many wounded birds that would otherwise go wasted if not found ...
That remarkable moment was the highlight of a solid day of grouse hunting, where all three dogs had good moments out there. Matt's young pointer Brutus had several points on grouse, but either the birds had just moved on or offered no chance of a shot upon the flush.
The first bird that Matt took today (pictured at right) was on a great point by Rosie where everything worked perfectly (unless you're the grouse):
That remarkable moment was the highlight of a solid day of grouse hunting, where all three dogs had good moments out there. Matt's young pointer Brutus had several points on grouse, but either the birds had just moved on or offered no chance of a shot upon the flush.
The first bird that Matt took today (pictured at right) was on a great point by Rosie where everything worked perfectly (unless you're the grouse):
- Solid point from close working dog;
- Hunter aggressively moves in to an area to take a clear shot;
- Bird goes up close by;
- Hunter makes nice shot.
Rosie had several other points today as well, but none worked out as well as that one. Of course, we had challenging moments as well, primarily when Matt remarked that his lower back was sore from the weight of the birds in his vest - a problem more of us wish we had more often.
The final cover that we hunted, Brutus and Bode ran together and did a good job covering the edge cover along another logging road. We moved several birds in this area, and those birds were not apparently going to play the game with us, getting out ahead before we could get in to position for a shot. The highlight of this cover was a staunch point from Brutus, honored beautifully by Bode - how we wished a bird would have flushed when we moved in on the dogs, but it wasn't to be. Just another bird that got away from us before we could get there ...
