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
First Impressions
Our first days of the Vermont grouse hunting season are now in the books, and it's been a solid start so far. A good number of grouse, and even a few woodcock (the season starts on Friday, October 1 for them), have filled the sky escaping us over the last two days. As grouse are inclined to do, they gave my clients Vince and Brad precious few realistic shooting opportunities however - at times running out way ahead of points (yes, they're already doing that), or quickly putting a tree, leaves, or other vegetation between them and the hunters, so "good" chances have been few and far between.
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Woodcock hunting in Vermont
More Scouting & Training
Quite a few more sessions in the books for me and my pack over the last two weeks, and we've had mostly good results. We've been checking out some of our old haunts and finding grouse and woodcock most mornings, at least until the sun rises and conditions get too hot for the dogs.
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Grouse hunting with Frost Fire Guide Service
Business As Usual
A simple grouse feather - it's what we'll be after in another month or so, or rather, piles of feathers. At this time of year, it's a reminder of what we're preparing for, and an indicator that perhaps we are indeed in an area where grouse habituate.
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Ruffed Grouse hunting in New Hampshire
Hello Again
"How will this season compare to last year?" is the question I seem to get the most these days, and while I cannot give too much information yet (we will start scouting new coverts in August), I can make a prediction or two as to where we might be headed. The grouse in the picture above was strutting its stuff this week, undoubtedly in anticipation of the upcoming season ...
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Ruffed grouse hunting in Vermont
That's a Wrap!
Bittersweet.

Another grouse season in the books for me and my spotted gang, and one inevitably wonders how many more there might be ahead. Thankfully, the legs are still there, and the back and heart most days, but this grouse hunting is really a young man's game, and I am the ripe old age of 51 ...
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Grouse hunting in New Hampshire
In Conclusion?
If this week marked the final excursions in to the grouse woods for me and my pack, it was a fitting conclusion to our season in the strangest fall ever. During the time of COVID, bird dogs, grouse and most importantly the woods themselves became even more of a refuge than normal, and the grouse woods were calling us back again for more exploration.
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Grouse hunting in northern Vermont
Final Week
I don't think I've ever seen such changes in weather, literally in a matter of a few days, for hunting grouse here in northern New Hampshire and Vermont. My last post detailed how we had just begun dealing with 4-5" of snow in the New Hampshire uplands, slogging it out through some pretty challenging spruce cover, but conditions would quickly change yet again.
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Ruffed grouse hunting in Vermont
Snow Days
Old Man Winter has reared his ugly head again during our grouse season. It all started yesterday morning, as my client and I had to endure moderately falling and blowing snow as we first followed Bode, and then Chris's Weimaraner Monty, up and down a hillside in Vermont.
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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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