GROUSE HUNTING TRIPS SINCE 2008

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What About the Woodcock?
This has certainly been one of the strangest upland bird hunting seasons that I can remember, and the prime culprit for this has been our unpredictable weather. Don't get me wrong, autumn weather in northern New England is a chancy proposition at best, but this year it seems that it has been unusually abnormal. This weather has had some consequences for us, so we've had to try to adapt to what mother nature has thrown us.

First off, we had over three weeks of unseasonably warm weather - anytime that it is routinely reaching seventy degrees or more, it is very difficult for both dog and hunter alike, and it becomes quite a hindrance in our search for birds. Unfortunately, we had to deal with an extended period of conditions like this, where scenting was very difficult.

Another unwanted byproduct of the warm weather has been the apparent stalling of the annual woodcock flights from Canada, as they pass through our area to points south. Fortunately, we have a solid resident population of woodcock here in northern New Hampshire, so we were still seeing our share of timberdoodles, but the lack of flight birds in some of our more productive woodcock covers seems to indicate that the majority of the flight birds have yet to reach our area.

So … we wait. However, perhaps we won't be waiting too much longer. On this Halloween night, the temp will dip to 29 degrees in Pittsburg (undoubtedly colder in Quebec), and a clear night sky, perfect for travelling woodcock, is gracing us this evening. We will also have a full moon on Saturday night, so this could be the weekend where all of us that pursue woodcock could have our day. We shall see …

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We spent our first day in Vermont in quite a while and had a good morning, moving 6 grouse and 5 woodcock in our travels. My client took one wild flushing grouse and two beautifully pointed and retrieved woodcock by Bode. Though he bumped a couple of the grouse, he worked close and had a good morning with the woodcock. Our afternoon, though we were in a couple of good looking covers, was mostly uneventful - a couple of distantly flushing grouse was all that we were able to contact.

More updates to come …
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2024: 183.0 Hours
VT Hours: 62.5
NH Hours: 120.5
VT Birds Moved: 160
NH Birds Moved: 389
Birds Taken:
23 Grouse (VT - 6, NH - 17)
41 Woodcock (VT - 12, NH - 29)

2023: 222.5 Hours
VT Hours: 65.5
NH Hours: 157.0
VT Birds Moved: 143
NH Birds Moved: 430
Birds Taken:
14 Grouse (VT - 4, NH - 10)
43 Woodcock (VT - 7, NH - 36)

2022: 123.0 Hours
VT Hours: 49.5
NH Hours: 73.5
VT Birds Moved: 96
NH Birds Moved: 178
Birds Taken:
11 Grouse (VT - 5, NH - 6)
6 Woodcock (VT - 2, NH - 4)

2021: 193.5 Hours
VT Hours: 66.0
NH Hours: 127.5
VT Birds Moved: 226
NH Birds Moved: 427
Birds Taken:
36 Grouse
21 Woodcock

2020: 199.5 Hours
VT Hours: 36.0
NH Hours: 163.5
VT Birds Moved: 77
NH Birds Moved: 552
Birds Taken:
24 Grouse
21 Woodcock

2019: 184.5 Hours
VT Hours: 28.0
NH Hours: 156.5
VT Birds Moved: 65
NH Birds Moved: 509
Birds Taken:
14 Grouse
29 Woodcock

2018: 144.0 Hours
VT Hours: 32.0
NH Hours: 112.0
VT Birds Moved: 114
NH Birds Moved: 417
Birds Taken:
18 Grouse
12 Woodcock

2017: 180.5 Hours
VT Hours: 44
NH Hours: 136.5
VT Birds moved: 110
NH Birds moved: 407
Birds Taken:
23 Grouse
24 Woodcock

2016: 178 Hours
Birds moved: 563
Birds/Hr Avg.: 3.16

Birds Taken:
23 Grouse
30 Woodcock

2015: 202.0 Hours
Birds moved: 607
Birds/Hr Avg.: 3.0

Birds Taken:
18 grouse
26 woodcock

2014: 138.0 hours
Birds moved: 350
Birds/hr. Avg.: 2.53

Birds Taken:
17 grouse
17 woodcock

2013: 152 Hours
Birds moved: 480
Birds/hr. Avg.: 3.15

Birds Taken:
20 grouse
27 woodcock

2012: 114 Hours
Birds moved: 526
Birds /Hr Avg.: 4.61

Birds Taken:
22 grouse
4 woodcock

2011: 161 Hours
Birds moved: 522
Birds / Hr Avg.: 3.24

Birds Taken:
34 grouse
21 woodcock

2010: 139.5 Hours
Birds moved: 430
Birds / Hr Avg.: 3.08

Birds Taken:
26 grouse
21 woodcock

2009: 93.5 Hours
Birds moved: 307
Birds / Hr Avg.: 3.28

Birds Taken:
16 grouse
14 woodcock

2008: 82.5 Hours
Birds moved: 188
Birds / Hr Avg.: 2.27

Birds Taken:
10 grouse
5 woodcock

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