GROUSE HUNTING TRIPS SINCE 2008

 

Frost Fire's Grouse Hunting
"Partridge Blog"

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ...
an account of grouse and woodcock hunting
in northern NH and the NEK of Vermont ...

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Ruffed grouse hunting in Vermont
Boot Leather
One thing about ruffed grouse hunting: without a doubt, a comfortable pair of boots is perhaps the most important piece of apparel we go to the field with. Without good boots, our hours spent chasing birds would be for naught, as we would struggle mightily to navigate the rocky ridge tops and soggy lowlands that grouse prefer to call home. Fortunately, Jeanne and Harvey (above) had good boots, because we walked at least 14 miles in our two days of hunting together.
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Ruffed grouse hunting in Vermont
Heatwave
A rare image over the last few days of bird hunting: one of my clients with their hard-earned quarry, a beautiful male grouse. If my last post sounded dire in its description of how the hunting has been in the abnormally warm temperatures over the last week, it really took a turn for the worse over the weekend, as we had two of the warmest hunting days that we've experienced.
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Grouse hunting in New Hampshire
A Tale of Two Days
How can two days of ruffed grouse hunting be so different? Great question, and it's one that I frequently ask myself when we have a great day of hunting, followed up by a slower day, or vice-a versa. That was the case yesterday, where we could seemingly do no wrong, to today, where the grouse were especially hard to find, even when we were hunting quintessential "grouse cover". As a now retired fishing guide friend of mine frequently mused, "Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug".
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Grouse hunting in New Hampshire
First Impressions
Three days in the books, and everything is going as it should in the grouse woods. The dogs were a little ragged to start, but both Bode and Rosie have been pointing the majority of their birds the last few days, and Monty performed well in his limited time out there on Tuesday.
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Grouse hunting in New Hampshire
Back In The Saddle
The image above was unthinkable for me, just five days ago. I couldn't do much of anything physical, except fly fish, and even that had its moments. Some of you know that I was diagnosed with a blockage to one of the arteries feeding blood to my heart (the L.A.D., as it turns out - Left Anterior Descending) after a stress test a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to the miracle of modern medical science and a great team of doctors and nurses at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, I was back in the saddle with my dogs this morning, roaming the grouse woods again.
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German shorthaired pointers
Sisters
We are now under two months from the start dates of the grouse and woodcock hunting seasons in both New Hampshire and Vermont. Time is marching on, and we have been going out to the woods, preparing for what is to come next, that is "when the weather allows".
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Bird dog training at Frost Fire Guide Service
Yard Work
It's the time of the year where all good bird hunters should be working on the oft neglected commands that they likely will use during the hunting season. No rest for the weary, in other words, and it is hard to believe that the grouse and woodcock seasons open a mere four months from now. Sharpening up your dog's understanding of, and making possible corrections to, the commands that are very important for us bird hunters can be done now, instead of during that much anticipated hunt this autumn ...
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Rosie on point
Hope Springs Eternal
The northern New Hampshire winter snows have been rapidly melting over the last few weeks, allowing my pack and I to get out in the woods to work on wild birds again. In other words, the gravy train is over, and they have to get back to work ...
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Grouse Hunting Season Stats

2024: 190.5 Hours
VT Hours: 70.0
NH Hours: 120.5
VT Birds Moved: 172
NH Birds Moved: 389
Birds Taken:
24 Grouse (VT - 7, 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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