NH Grouse Hunting Update: 10/25
A very eventful last few days in the northern New Hampshire grouse and woodcock woods lately. We have had some decent weather, with some moisture and cool mornings for the dogs to run in, and the birds have been somewhat cooperative for the hunters. Thankfully, the woodcock are still around and are providing good action for us as we move towards the end of the month.
Todd makes his way through some of the most beautiful grouse cover you'll ever see on our hunt in Vermont.
The first woodcock that Jon bagged on our first morning out, in the snow, and staunchly pointed by Rosie.
Bella, on one of her woodcock points. Next year is going to be amazing for her, and my clients.
Steve admires his magnificent cock bird, taken in the New Hampshire uplands.
Prior to the deluge of rain we had on Sunday, we closed out our guiding last week across the river in Vermont. Todd, Dave and Derek trekked through the Vermont uplands behind Rosie and then Bella that afternoon. Rosie was her usual steady self, pointing quite a few migrating woodcock as well as a few grouse.
The guys took a grouse and two woodcock with her help, and then Bella got her chance. While we only contacted four grouse with her that afternoon, she did have a staunch point on one of them that offered no safe shot (flew towards one of the other hunters), but it was great to see her have a legitimate grouse point.
Monday and Tuesday were spent with Jon and Steve in New Hampshire, and they are two of the better hunters I've ever gone out with. Always hunting "ready" and watching the dogs work, they perpetually seem to be a second away from loosing a shot at an escaping bird. Their focus while we hunt is impressive, and it always seems to pay off in the number of birds bagged at the end of the day.
In the snowy uplands (yes, it had snowed a few inches where we started on Monday morning) Rosie began pointing grouse and woodcock, quite a few of them, as it turned out. Jon and Steve harvested four woodcock and a grouse over her points, and she ran impressively that day. Millie did the afternoon duty, and she was pretty good as well, pointing several woodcock (two taken) and a grouse (not taken). She had a good run, under control, and it paid off for her and my clients.
A grouse and six woodcock ended up in the vest that day, and it was, again, another limit of woodcock for Jon. As it turns out, this has been a common occurrence for Jon, as he had come in to that day with twenty-two ("22") straight days of limits on woodcock. Amazing shooting and incredible focus in hunting that hard, day after day.
The next morning, we started with Bella, and she had many good moments as the guys took a few woodcock over her points. She is holding her points longer and they are becoming more staunch, but she still breaks on occasion, something I can overlook from a seven-month old pup. She hunted pretty well for the most part, providing chances for the hunters and generally letting us know when birds were in the area.
Rosie was up next and was pretty tough on the birds. She immediately had a point on a woodcock that Jon connected on, to once again limit out (Steve had already limited on woodcock by this time), and then she had the first of several amazing grouse points. First pointing, then slinking and pointing again (indicative of a grouse running ahead of us) until it finally flushed, is what we witnessed from a grouse dog in her prime.
The first two times, the birds got away (shot at and missed, while the other got away without a shot), but not the third time. By now, Jon and Steve had seen how this movie ends and they alertly moved with Rosie as she relocated on the running grouse. When it went up, the tension was released in two perfect shots (one from each hunter) that brought the grouse down. Needless to say, we all agreed that we had witnessed something pretty special out of a great grouse dog, in perhaps her best hunting season yet.
In two days of hunting with Steve and Jon, we contacted approximately sixty birds, an almost even split between grouse and woodcock, too. The dogs worked exceptionally hard, and we were fortunate with the weather, as it was mostly cold during our two days. Grouse need to feed to stay warm, and this feeding activity usually means lots of fresh scent for the dogs to work with. More importantly, the woodcock have not left our covers yet, so they are providing plenty of action for the dogs and hunters as well.
Also, the amount of birds we saw was a testament to Jon and Steve themselves - we walked (trudged) nearly twenty miles in two days, and covered a lot of ground. They were always willing to go over a ridge or drop down in to a wetland - wherever I asked them to go, they went, so we went places to find more birds. It didn't always work, either.
We were in some beautiful looking grouse woods at times, even with plenty of grouse sign in them, but, no birds were there. We may have just missed them, but it was a microcosm of what's so special about grouse hunting. It's a giant scavenger hunt for us, the hunters, and occasionally we don't find them.
Want to see more birds? Make sure you have good boots ...
The guys took a grouse and two woodcock with her help, and then Bella got her chance. While we only contacted four grouse with her that afternoon, she did have a staunch point on one of them that offered no safe shot (flew towards one of the other hunters), but it was great to see her have a legitimate grouse point.
Monday and Tuesday were spent with Jon and Steve in New Hampshire, and they are two of the better hunters I've ever gone out with. Always hunting "ready" and watching the dogs work, they perpetually seem to be a second away from loosing a shot at an escaping bird. Their focus while we hunt is impressive, and it always seems to pay off in the number of birds bagged at the end of the day.
In the snowy uplands (yes, it had snowed a few inches where we started on Monday morning) Rosie began pointing grouse and woodcock, quite a few of them, as it turned out. Jon and Steve harvested four woodcock and a grouse over her points, and she ran impressively that day. Millie did the afternoon duty, and she was pretty good as well, pointing several woodcock (two taken) and a grouse (not taken). She had a good run, under control, and it paid off for her and my clients.
A grouse and six woodcock ended up in the vest that day, and it was, again, another limit of woodcock for Jon. As it turns out, this has been a common occurrence for Jon, as he had come in to that day with twenty-two ("22") straight days of limits on woodcock. Amazing shooting and incredible focus in hunting that hard, day after day.
The next morning, we started with Bella, and she had many good moments as the guys took a few woodcock over her points. She is holding her points longer and they are becoming more staunch, but she still breaks on occasion, something I can overlook from a seven-month old pup. She hunted pretty well for the most part, providing chances for the hunters and generally letting us know when birds were in the area.
Rosie was up next and was pretty tough on the birds. She immediately had a point on a woodcock that Jon connected on, to once again limit out (Steve had already limited on woodcock by this time), and then she had the first of several amazing grouse points. First pointing, then slinking and pointing again (indicative of a grouse running ahead of us) until it finally flushed, is what we witnessed from a grouse dog in her prime.
The first two times, the birds got away (shot at and missed, while the other got away without a shot), but not the third time. By now, Jon and Steve had seen how this movie ends and they alertly moved with Rosie as she relocated on the running grouse. When it went up, the tension was released in two perfect shots (one from each hunter) that brought the grouse down. Needless to say, we all agreed that we had witnessed something pretty special out of a great grouse dog, in perhaps her best hunting season yet.
In two days of hunting with Steve and Jon, we contacted approximately sixty birds, an almost even split between grouse and woodcock, too. The dogs worked exceptionally hard, and we were fortunate with the weather, as it was mostly cold during our two days. Grouse need to feed to stay warm, and this feeding activity usually means lots of fresh scent for the dogs to work with. More importantly, the woodcock have not left our covers yet, so they are providing plenty of action for the dogs and hunters as well.
Also, the amount of birds we saw was a testament to Jon and Steve themselves - we walked (trudged) nearly twenty miles in two days, and covered a lot of ground. They were always willing to go over a ridge or drop down in to a wetland - wherever I asked them to go, they went, so we went places to find more birds. It didn't always work, either.
We were in some beautiful looking grouse woods at times, even with plenty of grouse sign in them, but, no birds were there. We may have just missed them, but it was a microcosm of what's so special about grouse hunting. It's a giant scavenger hunt for us, the hunters, and occasionally we don't find them.
Want to see more birds? Make sure you have good boots ...
