NH / VT Upland Bird Hunting Update: 10/27
Every day is different in grouse hunting, and that's one of the reasons why I enjoy it so much. Changing conditions, changing weather, the work of the dogs, and the birds themselves form the mosaic of what a day out in the grouse woods will be. Some days we can do no wrong, and finding where the birds are almost seems easy, and other days it is truly like finding a needle in a haystack.
Our conditions have changed dramatically here in northern New Hampshire and Vermont due to the changes in our weather. Cold and blustery fronts passing through (typical weather for late October) have left our trees bare, and the shooting opportunities for my clients have gotten much better as a result. With the leaf drop, we are concentrating our efforts on thickets of spruce and other brushy spots where a grouse might be hunkered down, and we're not seeing them in the more open areas where we occasionally moved them a couple of weeks ago.
Our conditions have changed dramatically here in northern New Hampshire and Vermont due to the changes in our weather. Cold and blustery fronts passing through (typical weather for late October) have left our trees bare, and the shooting opportunities for my clients have gotten much better as a result. With the leaf drop, we are concentrating our efforts on thickets of spruce and other brushy spots where a grouse might be hunkered down, and we're not seeing them in the more open areas where we occasionally moved them a couple of weeks ago.
At right: Jon and Greg enjoyed watching Rosie work on a beautiful day last Sunday. Our conditions would be much different on Monday morning.
The birds are also changing to some degree. While we are still moving woodcock here and there, they are undoubtedly migrating through the area right now. We have still been encountering and shooting some females, which typically lead the migration south. The males bring up the rear and hopefully they will be around for a little while longer, as long as our soil remains unfrozen.
The habits of the grouse have also changed a bit. Even though there is a multitude of bracken ferns and even some green raspberry leaves remaining out there, we have observed at least a few grouse every day up in the hardwoods eating buds. Usually the birds aren't "budding" until the greens frost and die, but they seem to be taking sustenance in the hardwoods early this year. We checked the crops of the birds we killed last week and it looked like a smorgasbord of greens, catkins, and buds in nearly all of them.
The habits of the grouse have also changed a bit. Even though there is a multitude of bracken ferns and even some green raspberry leaves remaining out there, we have observed at least a few grouse every day up in the hardwoods eating buds. Usually the birds aren't "budding" until the greens frost and die, but they seem to be taking sustenance in the hardwoods early this year. We checked the crops of the birds we killed last week and it looked like a smorgasbord of greens, catkins, and buds in nearly all of them.
At left: Rosie's great season continued in New Hampshire and Vermont last weekend. She has been very tough on the grouse and woodcock in both states.
The hunting has been generally good in both states. We spent last Friday afternoon (18 grouse, 6 woodcock) and Saturday (15 grouse, 3 woodcock) in Vermont and since then we have been roaming the New Hampshire hillsides. Sunday was a beautiful day and my hunters relished in watching good work by Rosie that yielded a lot of bird contacts (21 grouse, 4 woodcock). Monday morning was much more difficult (6 grouse, 1 woodcock), as cold and wet weather blew in. We hunted all of the likely cover (spruces big and small) but the grouse seemed to be in other places that morning.
We will have good weather for the next two days and then another front comes in on Saturday. Next week looks like great weather for grouse hunting, at least early on in the week, so hopefully we can have some good days as we near the conclusion of the guiding season.
We will have good weather for the next two days and then another front comes in on Saturday. Next week looks like great weather for grouse hunting, at least early on in the week, so hopefully we can have some good days as we near the conclusion of the guiding season.
At right: Jon and Greg brought an arsenal of ammunition with them, and while they used a fair amount of it on Sunday behind Rosie, their chances were few and far between on Monday.
