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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Winter grouse hunting in northern NH
Peaceful, Easy Feeling
While the Eagles aren't my favorite band (though Joe Walsh and Don Felder were great guitarists), their song title pretty well sums up how it was out there in the grouse woods of northern New Hampshire today. It was very peaceful as a matter of fact - not a sound to be heard, about 25 degrees with very little wind, and a perfect day to be out following bird dogs once again.
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Grouse hunting in northern NH
Tracks
Ahhh ... winter grouse hunting. While it's not the easiest of the seasons of grouse hunting here in northern New Hampshire, it can be rewarding at times. The birds, when you find them, are often in groups as they are are usually sharing a food source or heavy cover to get out of the winter weather. There's also not many, if any, other hunters out there. Those are two of the positive aspects of grouse hunting in the winter. Unfortunately, there's a few drawbacks to this part of the season as well.
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Grouse hunting in northern New Hampshire
By the Numbers
Now there's some time to sit down and analyze the recently passed grouse guiding season. Frequent readers of the blog know that I keep a "tote board" of each grouse season (except the first season that I guided, in 2008), but this year I want to put some context with the numbers that we have collected over the last five weeks.
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Grouse hunting in Pittsburg NH
Final Trip
Today was the final guide trip for the 2019 season, and my client Chris and I had a good time out there, watching bird dogs do their thing and working hard to provide us with some bird contacts, up close and personal. While it snowed at times out there, especially in the afternoon, the weather wasn't generally as bad as had been forecast just a day or two ago. In fact, it was quite nice in the morning - mid 30's with a slight breeze and no precipitation coming down, which was quite a change from yesterday.
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NH grouse hunting
NH Grouse Hunting Update: 11/6
Yes, the first snowfall of the season was actually today, which is late this year. Traditionally, we usually have our first snow around October 20, so we have been pretty lucky in the weather department this season. Lots of rain, but it has been well timed (at night, or on my "off" days), but the temperatures have mostly been mild. It was cold today however with the gusty wind, but the dogs still did a good job of finding birds and pointing them.
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Vermont ruffed grouse hunting
Vermont Grouse Hunting Update: 11/4
Though the overall numbers of grouse that we've seen and heard this season seem to be a bit down from what it was like last year, we've had some beautiful fall days to chase them around, that's for sure. My client Brian bagged this beautiful male bird last Saturday in Vermont, as we gave our New Hampshire coverts a rest with the beginning of the muzzleloader season for deer.
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Northern NH grouse hunting
NH Grouse Hunting Update: 11/1
It is on days like this where we question why exactly we grouse hunt. Cold temps, very windy conditions (30 - 40 MPH) and severely skittish ruffed grouse can lead one to wonder what we're doing out there, but every now and then we're successful, even under the harshest of conditions. That was the case today for my client Eric, as he harvested his first grouse ever and I'm sure that will keep him coming back for more, even when the odds are decidedly against us.
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Vermont woodcock hunting
Odds and Ends
Guiding operations shifted over to Vermont today, and we'll spend another day in the Green Mountain State tomorrow. My clients today were Randy and Conrad, and we had the pleasure of hunting behind Randy's pointers Ginger and Axel. It didn't take long for Ginger to get things going on the right foot as she pointed three woodcock in a short amount of time and Conrad helped her remember exactly why she's out there by taking two of them on skillful shooting.
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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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