A Day Off
A rare day off from the northern New Hampshire grouse woods today, and after nine days in a row out there marching through the covers, it is much needed, for myself and all of the dogs. Any weight that they may have needed to shed prior to the season is long gone now, as Monty, Bode and Rosie all look trim and fit, geared up for the remainder of our guiding season over the next three weeks (I wish the same could be said for myself!).
We had changing conditions the last three days in the grouse woods, with some mixed results.
We had changing conditions the last three days in the grouse woods, with some mixed results.
Thursday was spent mostly in smaller covers with lots of spruce and some food sources in the form of apple trees and high bush cranberries in the areas we hunted. It had snowed 2" or so the night before and was very cold last Thursday. The idea was to catch the grouse seeking both shelter and food to keep their motors running through the cold weather. We put in about four hours of hunting that day and moved 9 grouse and 8 woodcock, and while there was some good dog work on the woodcock, most of the grouse went unpointed that day and we had few chances to shoot them, let alone glimpses of them. In fact, the best look at a grouse was the roadie we saw twice. I nicknamed that one the "Darwinian Grouse" - I think that it will become someone's dinner guest soon ...
Friday brought brilliant, sunny conditions, and the temperatures would top out in the low 50's - a much needed change from Thursday's weather. Early on, the birds were somewhat cooperative, as we had some great points from Monty on several grouse and my client's setter Shadow, but, alas, the aim was not up to par. Several grouse that morning could have paid the ultimate price, but flew on unscathed ... at least I know where there's some birds to be pursued again! Rosie had a particularly good morning, pointing all four of the grouse that she encountered, with nothing to show for her efforts. The afternoon was pretty good too, as we moved quite a few grouse, most of which were bunched up in groups along roadsides. The total harassed for the day was somewhere around 21 grouse and 3 woodcock - my clients preferred hunting grouse, so we were primarily in those covers where the gray ghost is most often found. We were not in woodcock flight covers.
One thing that we all noticed as Friday progressed was the number of hunters on the roads and in the woods. This, as you might expect, would be the unfortunate theme of Saturday. Lots of people out there yesterday, as it was nice again (partly cloudy, mid 50's) and hunters were trying to take advantage of it. Plans were changed many times yesterday, and we agreed to hit covers quickly in commando raid fashion - "hit it and quit it" as James Brown would say ...
This strategy worked to some degree in the nearly 8-10 covers we hit yesterday. We would always move a couple of birds, and sometimes there would be 3 or 4 birds in a spot. Monty had several points, and his highlight was a point on three grouse, huddled up in an area of heavy spruce and alders. You know how that goes ... maybe you'll get a shot at one of them, if it flies the wrong way, while the others will seem like ghosts of our imaginations. We got that shot, but it was missed, and the other two grouse were phantoms, here today and gone tomorrow. Rosie provided a couple of opportunities late in the day, but they were tough shots in the heavy cover. No dice.
My clients Stuart and Mike were understanding of how the odds were somewhat stacked against us yesterday, but we still moved 16 grouse and 3 woodcock. Mike, a dedicated false albacore angler on the Cape, immediately saw the correlation between grouse hunting and throwing flies to elusive albies - they move in range quickly and are gone just as fast. The same connection became apparent to me my first time fishing for them last month - it was the closest thing to grouse hunting that I've ever done. Good thing we have bird dogs to help us find grouse though!
The grouse definitely got an education this weekend (as if they needed it), with the number of hunters out there, and we'll probably be dealing with the smart survivors moving forward. A busy week of hunting lies ahead - seven days in a row and we'll have our work cut out for us ... more updates to come.
The grouse definitely got an education this weekend (as if they needed it), with the number of hunters out there, and we'll probably be dealing with the smart survivors moving forward. A busy week of hunting lies ahead - seven days in a row and we'll have our work cut out for us ... more updates to come.
