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 New Hampshire
Leaves
Filed in: 2023 Bird Hunting written by: bs
It may not seem like it the last few days, especially with the unseasonably hot weather that we've had to put up with, but there are some subtle changes occurring in the grouse woods right now. The impenetrable canopy of leaves that we always deal with during the early part of the grouse and woodcock seasons in New Hampshire and Vermont is slowly coming apart.
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Tags: ruffed grouse, Vermont, New Hampshire, woodcock

Millie points a dead woodcock
Hot Stuff
Filed in: 2023 Bird Hunting | Millie written by: bs
We're a few days in to the grouse and woodcock seasons in New Hampshire and Vermont, and in one word, it's been "HOT". Not in the good way, either. The temperatures have been far too hot these first four days that we've been out (Saturday in Vermont, and the last three days in NH), getting up to the mid-seventy degrees Fahrenheit by early afternoon.
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Tags: ruffed grouse, Vermont, New Hampshire, woodcock

Ruffed grouse hunting in Vermont
Boot Leather
Filed in: 2022 Upland Bird Hunting | Rosie written by: bs
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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Tags: ruffed grouse, woodcock, Vermont

Ruffed grouse hunting in Vermont
Heatwave
Filed in: 2022 Upland Bird Hunting | Rosie | Bode | Monty | Millie written by: bs
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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Tags: ruffed grouse, woodcock, New Hampshire, Vermont

Woodcock hunting in New Hampshire
Tough Days
Filed in: 2022 Upland Bird Hunting written by: bs
It's been a tough go of it lately for my clients and I in the grouse woods of New Hampshire and Vermont. After a great day of finding birds last Friday, we have had several tough days in a row, as we have struggled to move grouse and woodcock consistently. Yes, I said woodcock because there's still some of them around here in our northern coverts, due to the unusually warm weather we have experienced recently. How long they stay around, who knows, but there's still a few of them around at the moment.
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Tags: ruffed grouse, woodcock, New Hampshire, Vermont

Grouse hunting in New Hampshire
A Tale of Two Days
Filed in: 2022 Upland Bird Hunting | Rosie written by: bs
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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Tags: ruffed grouse, woodcock, New Hampshire

Woodcock hunting in New Hampshire
Transitions
Filed in: 2022 Upland Bird Hunting written by: bs
The grouse and woodcock seasons are progressing through the month of October here in northern New Hampshire and Vermont, and this is the time of the season when we are noticing changes, almost daily. Not only have most of the leaves dropped, changing the cover habits of the grouse, but we are rapidly nearing the end of encountering woodcock on a consistent basis.
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Tags: ruffed grouse, woodcock, New Hampshire

Grouse hunting in New Hampshire
First Impressions
Filed in: 2022 Upland Bird Hunting | Rosie written by: bs
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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Tags: ruffed grouse, woodcock, New Hampshire

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Grouse Hunting Season Stats

2024: 193.0 Hours
VT Hours: 70.0
NH Hours: 123.0
VT Birds Moved: 172
NH Birds Moved: 390
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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