VT Upland Bird Hunting Update: 10/20
That's my client Ed yesterday morning, roaming the Vermont grouse woods in an attempt to keep up with Millie. She did a nice job for us yesterday, sticking a few solid woodcock points and a couple on grouse too. It was the most miles I've walked this season in a day (8.5) and while it started out on the cool side, the woods quickly warmed as we enter yet another heat wave the next few days. I quickly learned that I had my work cut out for me yesterday, as Ed cruised through the grouse woods. Extremely fit, and an experienced grouse hunter, Ed followed the movements of all of the dogs throughout the day, and always hunted in the "ready" position.
Rocky did some good things the last two days. Several good woodcock points and a grouse point on Friday morning, and this "dead" point on a grouse that my client had already taken yesterday.
Evidence that we're at least in the neighborhood of grouse.
After he took the first woodcock over one of Millie's points, the "ready" position paid off for Ed, as he took a grouse and two more woodcock that he jumped going through the woods. So many birds take hunters by surprise without even an attempt at a shot if not carrying the gun at port arms - it helps mightily, folks ...
As stated before, the temp climbed all day long, topping out at about 65 degrees in the afternoon sun. Still, it was a solid day of bird finding for us and the dogs, as we contacted 16 grouse and 8 woodcock in our time out there. As you would suspect, the best dog work came in the morning with Millie, but Bella and Rocky had some good moments after that too.
Friday morning, Rocky got the call for a huge hillside cover in New Hampshire with my clients Jack and Shahrekh. They're in their 20's and in great shape, so it was a lot of fun being able to hunt a difficult cover like this that some of my clients cannot access. With the temp starting in the upper 20's, it seemed to be a slow start for us in contacting birds.
As a matter of fact, it took an hour and a half to hear our first grouse flush. After a couple more flushes in heavy cover that we barely saw, Rocky held point on one bird that ended up flushing in extremely heavy cover - no shot. A little after that, we had a grouse that resembled more of a rocket that blasted across a trail that we were on. Jack saluted it with a couple of shots, to no avail.
After that, Rocky got in to a pocket of woodcock on a mushy hillside with some spruce. He had three staunch points on the doodles, and they each offered shots for the hunters. Jack missed the first one that flushed out towards him, and then Shahrekh took his turn missing another that at first flushed in his direction and then turned to fly right over him. Further proof that you never know what woodcock will do.
The last woodcock to offer a good opportunity that morning flew out towards Jack shortly after he had missed the first doodle. We heard nothing and asked Jack what the problem was - everything had happened so fast that he hadn't had a chance to reload his double barrel after the initial miss ... That happens all the time when we get in to multiple birds in a small area.
Rocky ran hard that morning and it was refreshing to be out there with two young hunters that seem to have been infected with the grouse hunting "bug". Oh yes, I think it's an affliction that we grouse hunters have, and there's nothing like it, in my opinion. Stumbling and tripping through miles of cover that no sane person would ever be caught in, just to see or most times, merely hear, a bird that lives up to it's nickname, "The Gray Ghost". Sign me up!
As stated before, the temp climbed all day long, topping out at about 65 degrees in the afternoon sun. Still, it was a solid day of bird finding for us and the dogs, as we contacted 16 grouse and 8 woodcock in our time out there. As you would suspect, the best dog work came in the morning with Millie, but Bella and Rocky had some good moments after that too.
Friday morning, Rocky got the call for a huge hillside cover in New Hampshire with my clients Jack and Shahrekh. They're in their 20's and in great shape, so it was a lot of fun being able to hunt a difficult cover like this that some of my clients cannot access. With the temp starting in the upper 20's, it seemed to be a slow start for us in contacting birds.
As a matter of fact, it took an hour and a half to hear our first grouse flush. After a couple more flushes in heavy cover that we barely saw, Rocky held point on one bird that ended up flushing in extremely heavy cover - no shot. A little after that, we had a grouse that resembled more of a rocket that blasted across a trail that we were on. Jack saluted it with a couple of shots, to no avail.
After that, Rocky got in to a pocket of woodcock on a mushy hillside with some spruce. He had three staunch points on the doodles, and they each offered shots for the hunters. Jack missed the first one that flushed out towards him, and then Shahrekh took his turn missing another that at first flushed in his direction and then turned to fly right over him. Further proof that you never know what woodcock will do.
The last woodcock to offer a good opportunity that morning flew out towards Jack shortly after he had missed the first doodle. We heard nothing and asked Jack what the problem was - everything had happened so fast that he hadn't had a chance to reload his double barrel after the initial miss ... That happens all the time when we get in to multiple birds in a small area.
Rocky ran hard that morning and it was refreshing to be out there with two young hunters that seem to have been infected with the grouse hunting "bug". Oh yes, I think it's an affliction that we grouse hunters have, and there's nothing like it, in my opinion. Stumbling and tripping through miles of cover that no sane person would ever be caught in, just to see or most times, merely hear, a bird that lives up to it's nickname, "The Gray Ghost". Sign me up!
