NH Upland Bird Hunting Update: 10/17
Finally, a grouse making it in to the vest pouch, courtesy of my client Gil today. We had an eventful last two days in the grouse woods, with a lot of birds contacted, and consequently, a lot of shots fired. The action was hot and heavy, as we contacted approximately 60 birds in our time out there.
Millie had a couple of staunch woodcock points this morning.
It takes birds to make a bird dog, and Bella is finding a pile of them this season. Her progression continues ...
Yesterday was the best day we've had this season, and it may have been the best we've had in several seasons, to be honest. We moved somewhere around 17 grouse, 23 woodcock, and a couple of snipe as well. I say "around" because there were times where the action was so hot that it was hard to keep up with my bird counter.
Rocky and Bella both performed very well throughout the day, as they pointed the majority of the grouse and woodcock that we contacted. Dan managed to scratch down a couple of woodcock over points from the dogs - one for Bella and one for Rocky, and both Dan and Gil threw a lot of flak out there for the birds to contend with.
While many of the woodcock offered shooting chances for the hunters, only a few of the grouse did so - they were very tough as usual, flying low or quickly putting a tree between them and the guns. Still, it was an exhilarating day in the chilly and damp grouse woods.
Today was more of a "normal" day for us, as we worked to see our birds. With a hard frost from the night before, it started off slowly, but Millie managed to staunchly point a couple of woodcock, one of which was taken by Dan. She worked very well and covered a lot of perfect looking cover that somehow yielded nothing. That's hunting, but it is frustrating at times.
Later in the morning, Bella came out again and was almost immediately pointing. She began with grouse but quickly started nailing woodcock, one of which was taken by Dan. She had several more grouse and woodcock points, but no others paid the price. She has been hunting beautifully and her progress this season is undeniable.
All in all, we moved 10 grouse and 9 woodcock today, which is more typical of the type of day we've had this season. We worked hard and did a lot of walking, and the dogs did their best.
We have been noticing that some of the woodcock that we've taken lately are males - smaller in body size than the females, and typically they are migrating through our area after the females. Is it the tail end of the migration yet? Hopefully not, and I would say that in most years we have a fair amount of timberdoodles here until around Halloween. Let's hope that is the case.
Rocky and Bella both performed very well throughout the day, as they pointed the majority of the grouse and woodcock that we contacted. Dan managed to scratch down a couple of woodcock over points from the dogs - one for Bella and one for Rocky, and both Dan and Gil threw a lot of flak out there for the birds to contend with.
While many of the woodcock offered shooting chances for the hunters, only a few of the grouse did so - they were very tough as usual, flying low or quickly putting a tree between them and the guns. Still, it was an exhilarating day in the chilly and damp grouse woods.
Today was more of a "normal" day for us, as we worked to see our birds. With a hard frost from the night before, it started off slowly, but Millie managed to staunchly point a couple of woodcock, one of which was taken by Dan. She worked very well and covered a lot of perfect looking cover that somehow yielded nothing. That's hunting, but it is frustrating at times.
Later in the morning, Bella came out again and was almost immediately pointing. She began with grouse but quickly started nailing woodcock, one of which was taken by Dan. She had several more grouse and woodcock points, but no others paid the price. She has been hunting beautifully and her progress this season is undeniable.
All in all, we moved 10 grouse and 9 woodcock today, which is more typical of the type of day we've had this season. We worked hard and did a lot of walking, and the dogs did their best.
We have been noticing that some of the woodcock that we've taken lately are males - smaller in body size than the females, and typically they are migrating through our area after the females. Is it the tail end of the migration yet? Hopefully not, and I would say that in most years we have a fair amount of timberdoodles here until around Halloween. Let's hope that is the case.
You may have noticed some snow in the picture of Millie on point. Yes, we had a little bit to deal with up in the higher elevations yesterday morning, but it was melting fast and should be totally gone this weekend. We have another warm up on the way this weekend and early next week. Bad news for the dogs and us as we trudge through the grouse woods, but perhaps it will keep the woodcock around longer ...
