2023 Grouse Guiding Season In Review
Our sixteenth grouse hunting guiding season is in the rearview mirror, and it's time to take stock of what just transpired. As many of us in northern New Hampshire and Vermont suspected, it was one of the tougher autumns we've had for grouse-finding success, but thankfully the resident and migrating woodcock provided plenty of excitement for the hunters in October.
By The Numbers ...
With 518 grouse (294) and woodcock (224) moved/sighted/heard in 185.5 hours of hunting, the average number of birds contacted was 2.79 per hour. In most years, we're right around the 3 birds/hour contacted, so this year was slower by that standard. According to my iPhone, we walked/hiked approximately 235 miles (that's the length of New Hampshire, by the way) through November 10, and believe me, my lower body feels every mile of it.
On a state by state basis, New Hampshire was more productive, but the majority of our October dates, when we're contacting the most woodcock, are spent in the Granite State. By the time November comes, we are spending more time in Vermont, and the vast majority of the woodcock have left our area by then, meaning we're down to the nitty gritty of grouse only.
Unarguably we killed far fewer grouse than normal (though there were a lot of chances that weren't cashed in on!), but took the most woodcock we have ever taken in a season. This is not only illustrative of fewer grouse and more woodcock in general, but also the opportunities that they provided the hunters. Woodcock are a bit easier to hit, often holding better for the dogs and flushing closer, while some of the grouse were simply too fast for the hunters to hit.
Week By Week ...
Week 1 (Sept. 30 - Oct. 6): 43 grouse, 47 woodcock contacted. Killed 6 woodcock.
Week 2 (Oct. 7 - 13): 60 grouse, 54 woodcock contacted. Killed 1 grouse, 12 woodcock.
Week 3 (Oct. 14 - 20): 36 grouse, 61 woodcock contacted. Killed 3 grouse, 8 woodcock.
Week 4 (Oct. 21 - 27): 45 grouse, 42 woodcock contacted. Killed 4 grouse, 15 woodcock.
Week 5 (Oct. 28 - Nov. 3): 50 grouse, 20 woodcock contacted. Killed 3 grouse, 2 woodcock.
Week 6: (Nov. 4 - 10): 60 grouse contacted. Killed 2 grouse.
As you would expect, the shooting was much more difficult in the first week of October, where the screen of foliage provided plenty of cover for escaping grouse. The grouse kills became more frequent as the month went on and the leaves dropped. Our best day on grouse was on October 10 in New Hampshire (17 contacts), while our worst day was in Vermont on a brutally cold November 8 day (2 contacts).
The woodcock hunting was exceptional for most of October, and we were frequently in double digits for sightings until October 25. After that, sightings dwindled until a late surge on Halloween, perhaps indicating the final migrants passing through. Our last woodcock was sighted in New Hampshire on November 3.
The Dogs ...
There's a lot going on with these numbers, but some explanation might make sense of it.
Rosie: 52 hours, 5 grouse & 19 woodcock taken.
Millie: 45.5 hours, 2 grouse & 5 woodcock taken.
Bella: 25 hours, 1 grouse & 8 woodcock taken.
Rocky: 21 hours, 1 grouse & 1 woodcock taken.
Bode: 11.5 hours, 4 woodcock taken.
Rosie continues to be the best dog in my stable and the first one out of the truck most days, in an effort to have the best start possible. She performed really well this year, hunting with great energy and pointing ability for the most part. The disparity between Rosie and the next dog in line, Millie, was greater until the last couple weeks of guiding. Millie really turned it on at the end, hunting beautifully and pointing many more birds than she bumped. She made a big leap this season and I can't wait to see what she does next year.
The two seven-month old pups, Bella and Rocky, were next in line for hours. While I was able to guide with both of them a number of times, I was also able to get them out on any days off I had. The grouse that they helped take were not pointed, but they assisted in their demise (usually finding and flushing), while the woodcock were all taken over points by the pups. Bella especially was on fire certain days, and once the "whoa" command is learned, they should get better at holding their points. Next year will be interesting for them, and I appreciate my clients letting me run the pups this year.
Bode got the least amount of work at ten years old, as we focused more on the development of the puppies and running Rosie and Millie. He was solid in his time out there however, and hopefully I can get him some more runs this season. The rest of the birds not taken by my dogs (4 grouse and 6 woodcock) were either taken by the dogs of clients or without any assistance from any dogs.
In conclusion, it was a tougher season than we would like, but hunting grouse and woodcock still beats being at work or nearly any other activity. The saying that "guns don't kill grouse, boots do" was certainly put to the test this year as we earned every bird that we harvested. Let's hope we have more birds next fall ...
By The Numbers ...
With 518 grouse (294) and woodcock (224) moved/sighted/heard in 185.5 hours of hunting, the average number of birds contacted was 2.79 per hour. In most years, we're right around the 3 birds/hour contacted, so this year was slower by that standard. According to my iPhone, we walked/hiked approximately 235 miles (that's the length of New Hampshire, by the way) through November 10, and believe me, my lower body feels every mile of it.
On a state by state basis, New Hampshire was more productive, but the majority of our October dates, when we're contacting the most woodcock, are spent in the Granite State. By the time November comes, we are spending more time in Vermont, and the vast majority of the woodcock have left our area by then, meaning we're down to the nitty gritty of grouse only.
Unarguably we killed far fewer grouse than normal (though there were a lot of chances that weren't cashed in on!), but took the most woodcock we have ever taken in a season. This is not only illustrative of fewer grouse and more woodcock in general, but also the opportunities that they provided the hunters. Woodcock are a bit easier to hit, often holding better for the dogs and flushing closer, while some of the grouse were simply too fast for the hunters to hit.
Week By Week ...
Week 1 (Sept. 30 - Oct. 6): 43 grouse, 47 woodcock contacted. Killed 6 woodcock.
Week 2 (Oct. 7 - 13): 60 grouse, 54 woodcock contacted. Killed 1 grouse, 12 woodcock.
Week 3 (Oct. 14 - 20): 36 grouse, 61 woodcock contacted. Killed 3 grouse, 8 woodcock.
Week 4 (Oct. 21 - 27): 45 grouse, 42 woodcock contacted. Killed 4 grouse, 15 woodcock.
Week 5 (Oct. 28 - Nov. 3): 50 grouse, 20 woodcock contacted. Killed 3 grouse, 2 woodcock.
Week 6: (Nov. 4 - 10): 60 grouse contacted. Killed 2 grouse.
As you would expect, the shooting was much more difficult in the first week of October, where the screen of foliage provided plenty of cover for escaping grouse. The grouse kills became more frequent as the month went on and the leaves dropped. Our best day on grouse was on October 10 in New Hampshire (17 contacts), while our worst day was in Vermont on a brutally cold November 8 day (2 contacts).
The woodcock hunting was exceptional for most of October, and we were frequently in double digits for sightings until October 25. After that, sightings dwindled until a late surge on Halloween, perhaps indicating the final migrants passing through. Our last woodcock was sighted in New Hampshire on November 3.
The Dogs ...
There's a lot going on with these numbers, but some explanation might make sense of it.
Rosie: 52 hours, 5 grouse & 19 woodcock taken.
Millie: 45.5 hours, 2 grouse & 5 woodcock taken.
Bella: 25 hours, 1 grouse & 8 woodcock taken.
Rocky: 21 hours, 1 grouse & 1 woodcock taken.
Bode: 11.5 hours, 4 woodcock taken.
Rosie continues to be the best dog in my stable and the first one out of the truck most days, in an effort to have the best start possible. She performed really well this year, hunting with great energy and pointing ability for the most part. The disparity between Rosie and the next dog in line, Millie, was greater until the last couple weeks of guiding. Millie really turned it on at the end, hunting beautifully and pointing many more birds than she bumped. She made a big leap this season and I can't wait to see what she does next year.
The two seven-month old pups, Bella and Rocky, were next in line for hours. While I was able to guide with both of them a number of times, I was also able to get them out on any days off I had. The grouse that they helped take were not pointed, but they assisted in their demise (usually finding and flushing), while the woodcock were all taken over points by the pups. Bella especially was on fire certain days, and once the "whoa" command is learned, they should get better at holding their points. Next year will be interesting for them, and I appreciate my clients letting me run the pups this year.
Bode got the least amount of work at ten years old, as we focused more on the development of the puppies and running Rosie and Millie. He was solid in his time out there however, and hopefully I can get him some more runs this season. The rest of the birds not taken by my dogs (4 grouse and 6 woodcock) were either taken by the dogs of clients or without any assistance from any dogs.
In conclusion, it was a tougher season than we would like, but hunting grouse and woodcock still beats being at work or nearly any other activity. The saying that "guns don't kill grouse, boots do" was certainly put to the test this year as we earned every bird that we harvested. Let's hope we have more birds next fall ...
