Anyone hunting Blue Grouse with a Pointer?

[aaronoto]

I tagged a bear early in the season last year and saw a few good looking blue grouse spots that I hit with the dog a few weeks later.  I scared up a few grouse but the dog didn't find any.  I know grouse hunting with dogs isn't a thing around here, but does anyone hunt up high in the meadows on the west side for blue grouse?  Just wondering what your experience has been. 

[WSU]

I have hunted the east side of the cascades with a pointer.  It's a lot more effective than hunting without one.

[Wingin it]

Nothing wrong with hunting grouse with a pointer.

[yorketransport]

I used my WPG on blues  out in Vail for a season with pretty good results. It seemed to me like she was pointing more towards the sound than a scent since they were all pretty high up in the trees.

[T-Bone]

The New England grouse hunting society thinks a pointing dog is the only way to hunt grouse. Their late, "High Priest", George Bird Evans as much as said so in his writings. A hunter with a flushing dog was at a severe disadvantage...

I realize you are interested in blue grouse, but I doubt those folks' opinion would change much.

[ribka]

Yep.  Hunt blues here in Washington and ruffed grouse in my home state of Washington. Whpg

[Dhoey07]

I hunt them with my lab, and he doesn't lock up like he normally does with pheasants or quail. 

I don't know if it's an old wives tale but I was told that grouse don't have that strong of a scent and they are more difficult for a dog to track 

[T-Bone]

http://uplandjournal.ipbhost.com/topic/65443-blue-grouse-points/

[bobcat]

Grouse really don't hold for a point so I never had much luck with my GSP. I still got birds but many I would've got with or without the dog. The biggest benefit I found was in retrieving wounded grouse. But even with that I think a lot of times you're better off without a dog.

[AspenBud]

Grouse really don't hold for a point so I never had much luck with my GSP. I still got birds but many I would've got with or without the dog. The biggest benefit I found was in retrieving wounded grouse. But even with that I think a lot of times you're better off without a dog.

Grouse really don't hold for a point so I never had much luck with my GSP.

There's your problem!   

More seriously I think the issue a lot of dogs have with grouse is one of exposure. If you live close to good habitat and run the dogs on them both during the season and up until the quiet season starts in April the dogs will learn to handle them. But if you live some distance from good habitat with good bird numbers your dog will struggle.

[ribka]

Yep. Mine does fine on blues ruffed and sharp tails

https://i.imgur.com/UbLFV9o.jpg?s=sms

I got my dog on a lot of different grouse when young.

[jagermiester]

what's the point in going if you don't bring your dog?

[bobcat]

I sure wouldn't go grouse hunting without my dog- if I had one. Don't have a bird dog anymore so a dog is no longer an option. Although I'm thinking about taking our Labradoodle, who is four years old and prefers to spend her free time lounging on the couch.

[Munsterlander fan]

I think its the only way to hunt grouse is with a pointing breed.