Tough Days
It's been a tough go of it lately for my clients and I in the grouse woods of New Hampshire and Vermont. After a great day of finding birds last Friday, we have had several tough days in a row, as we have struggled to move grouse and woodcock consistently. Yes, I said woodcock because there's still some of them around here in our northern coverts, due to the unusually warm weather we have experienced recently. How long they stay around, who knows, but there's still a few of them around at the moment.
As you all know by now, weather conditions are probably the most important factor in whether a grouse hunt is successful or not. Wind, temperature, and precipitation affect bird behavior and scenting conditions for the dogs more than anything else, and it seems as though that certainly is the case right now.
While we have had a bit of night time rain activity the last couple of nights, it has not been enough to prevent the woods from "drying out" in the afternoon. Dry leaves means that birds can hear us from a long ways off, and are usually gone by the time we come in to their area. The temperature has primarily started in the 30's and 40's the last few days, often rising in to the 50's and low 60's in the afternoon. A little too warm for the dogs, but not excessively so, and not something that should affect dog scenting ability too badly. The other factor, wind, has not helped us to any degree. While we generally would prefer to not have gusty wind conditions, we have had the opposite. It has been stagnant the last few days, so whatever bird scent is around is not getting circulated for the dogs to easily find.
As you all know by now, weather conditions are probably the most important factor in whether a grouse hunt is successful or not. Wind, temperature, and precipitation affect bird behavior and scenting conditions for the dogs more than anything else, and it seems as though that certainly is the case right now.
While we have had a bit of night time rain activity the last couple of nights, it has not been enough to prevent the woods from "drying out" in the afternoon. Dry leaves means that birds can hear us from a long ways off, and are usually gone by the time we come in to their area. The temperature has primarily started in the 30's and 40's the last few days, often rising in to the 50's and low 60's in the afternoon. A little too warm for the dogs, but not excessively so, and not something that should affect dog scenting ability too badly. The other factor, wind, has not helped us to any degree. While we generally would prefer to not have gusty wind conditions, we have had the opposite. It has been stagnant the last few days, so whatever bird scent is around is not getting circulated for the dogs to easily find.
This all means that we have tried hunting different parts of coverts that we normally hit. Of course, edges and transition points in the woods, as always, but we have also been checking out spruce and cedar (low, wet areas) where grouse might be staying cool during the afternoons.
While this all sounds like it might be a well thought out strategy, the birds have to be there to make it worthwhile, and that's where the problem lies ... they're not there.
Where are they? I wouldn't be writing a post like this if I knew, but we will keep trying different parts of our coverts and different cover types to figure it out. Unfortunately, it looks like our temperatures will be on the rise for the next four days, so we will get no relief there.
Sunday: 7 grouse, 8 woodcock
Monday morning: 4 grouse, 1 woodcock
Tuesday: 8 grouse, 3 woodcock
Wednesday morning: 2 grouse, 1 woodcock
Yup, pretty slow, and the grouse contacts the last four days have mostly been heard and not seen. They were incredibly skittish (What? Skittish grouse?) and offered no shots for my hunters.
Even the woodcock displayed a good amount of escapability, probably due to being hunted all along their migration route. We did have a couple that obliged in being pointed (Tom's bird above that was pointed by Rosie, and Chris's woodcock, pointed by his dog Teddy in Vermont), but the majority got out of Dodge quickly. Millie continued her progress yesterday in New Hampshire, establishing a solid point on a woodcock - unfortunately it made it to safety, but it was a step in the right direction for her.
More updates to come ...
While this all sounds like it might be a well thought out strategy, the birds have to be there to make it worthwhile, and that's where the problem lies ... they're not there.
Where are they? I wouldn't be writing a post like this if I knew, but we will keep trying different parts of our coverts and different cover types to figure it out. Unfortunately, it looks like our temperatures will be on the rise for the next four days, so we will get no relief there.
Sunday: 7 grouse, 8 woodcock
Monday morning: 4 grouse, 1 woodcock
Tuesday: 8 grouse, 3 woodcock
Wednesday morning: 2 grouse, 1 woodcock
Yup, pretty slow, and the grouse contacts the last four days have mostly been heard and not seen. They were incredibly skittish (What? Skittish grouse?) and offered no shots for my hunters.
Even the woodcock displayed a good amount of escapability, probably due to being hunted all along their migration route. We did have a couple that obliged in being pointed (Tom's bird above that was pointed by Rosie, and Chris's woodcock, pointed by his dog Teddy in Vermont), but the majority got out of Dodge quickly. Millie continued her progress yesterday in New Hampshire, establishing a solid point on a woodcock - unfortunately it made it to safety, but it was a step in the right direction for her.
More updates to come ...
Teddy admires the woodcock that he pointed in Vermont for his owner, Chris.
