Blustery
That's Rocky from earlier this morning with a solid point on a grouse that held surprisingly well for him in the blustery conditions. A front came through last night, bringing a good amount of rain and strong winds out of the northwest all day today. It was the coldest day we've had so far, and it's hard to believe that just two weeks ago we were hunting in seventy degree weather.
Joe's hat pretty much sums up what I'll be thinking about the next couple of weeks: flights of woodcock.
Rocky performed very well in his limited time out there today, as he also pointed another grouse out of heavy cover. As luck would have it, my hunter was positioned out in the opening and I looped around Rocky to flush it toward the opening, and of course the grouse flushed directly in front of me and away from the opening. No shot for my hunter on that one, but he did have chances on two others.
Conditions have really changed in the grouse woods this week. The cold and rain that we've had recently has taken its toll on the foliage. There's still some leaves on the trees, but not nearly what we usually have at this point in the season. In two weeks, we should have nothing on the trees to contend with. At that point, we should be focusing on the "horizontal cover" to find birds.
The cold northern winds should also push a lot of woodcock our way in the next week or two. Most days we've been seeing a good amount already, but it should really pick up now. It also appears as though we'll be getting more rain this week, perhaps a good amount on Monday and Tuesday, which might turn out to be days off for my pack and I.
Tomorrow we will be turning our attention to our Vermont coverts again, and then we'll be back in New Hampshire later next week. Things are changing fast ...
Conditions have really changed in the grouse woods this week. The cold and rain that we've had recently has taken its toll on the foliage. There's still some leaves on the trees, but not nearly what we usually have at this point in the season. In two weeks, we should have nothing on the trees to contend with. At that point, we should be focusing on the "horizontal cover" to find birds.
The cold northern winds should also push a lot of woodcock our way in the next week or two. Most days we've been seeing a good amount already, but it should really pick up now. It also appears as though we'll be getting more rain this week, perhaps a good amount on Monday and Tuesday, which might turn out to be days off for my pack and I.
Tomorrow we will be turning our attention to our Vermont coverts again, and then we'll be back in New Hampshire later next week. Things are changing fast ...
