GRRROUSE! 2021...and the countdown begins

[Dave Workman]

Birds are beginning to show up. I was over in Kittitas County the other day looking for a place to fish, and spotted some nice fool hens right along the road shoulders.
They didn't seem to care abut my presence. ...  But they WILL! 

[Boss .300 winmag]

A couple years ago.

[jrebel]

 Could have shot a limit every day I’ve been out.  Lots of grouse to be had.

[BLDtraLR]

I'm going to rant a little on this.     I'm not going to be on the board for grouse this year nor be able to enjoy one of my favorite september meals brown sugar bacon grouse because i am a BOWHUNTER and my BOWHUNTING season starts September 1st but thanks to the WDFW i won't be allowed to hunt grouse on my ARCHERY opener this year. So do i move my ARCHERY deer hunt back 2 weeks and join the GUN season   or do i drive 7hrs just to hunt grouse.  Don't think so. I agree this is great for the broods to disperse but cmon give us bowhunters a fair shake we need our own season with no guns out there in the woods. Which is SEPT.!st. Sure i've killed my share of grouse with my trusty ruger 10/22 but that's after i hunt them with the bow for 2 days and the gun hunters get them stirred up. And yes i will attend any and all meetings concerning this matter not that it will matter. So this year come SEPT 1st I WILL be bowhunting for deer as i have for over 40 years and i guess just throwing rocks at grouse so at that point is it HUNTING or survival LOL   I will abide by the rules this year and hope it goes back.  SORRY    rant over and pretty bummed that i won't be able to put some stalks on grouse for the first time in 40 years this year 

[BLDtraLR]

Thx 

[hunter399]

I'm going to rant a little on this.     I'm not going to be on the board for grouse this year nor be able to enjoy one of my favorite september meals brown sugar bacon grouse because i am a BOWHUNTER and my BOWHUNTING season starts September 1st but thanks to the WDFW i won't be allowed to hunt grouse on my ARCHERY opener this year. So do i move my ARCHERY deer hunt back 2 weeks and join the GUN season   or do i drive 7hrs just to hunt grouse.  Don't think so. I agree this is great for the broods to disperse but cmon give us bowhunters a fair shake we need our own season with no guns out there in the woods. Which is SEPT.!st. Sure i've killed my share of grouse with my trusty ruger 10/22 but that's after i hunt them with the bow for 2 days and the gun hunters get them stirred up. And yes i will attend any and all meetings concerning this matter not that it will matter. So this year come SEPT 1st I WILL be bowhunting for deer as i have for over 40 years and i guess just throwing rocks at grouse so at that point is it HUNTING or survival LOL   I will abide by the rules this year and hope it goes back.  SORRY    rant over and pretty bummed that i won't be able to put some stalks on grouse for the first time in 40 years this year 

Glass half full/half empty........
I would think some bow hunters be glad they have 15 days before everybody is out full force.
I guess it sucks if your 100% positive you will harvest a deer before Sept 15 and didn't get to hunt grouse.

[WSU]

I gotta say I'm bummed.  I had big plans to take a couple brand new hunters camping and grouse hunting for the long weekend.  It would have been a great first hunt.

[BLDtraLR]

I'm going to rant a little on this.     I'm not going to be on the board for grouse this year nor be able to enjoy one of my favorite september meals brown sugar bacon grouse because i am a BOWHUNTER and my BOWHUNTING season starts September 1st but thanks to the WDFW i won't be allowed to hunt grouse on my ARCHERY opener this year. So do i move my ARCHERY deer hunt back 2 weeks and join the GUN season   or do i drive 7hrs just to hunt grouse.  Don't think so. I agree this is great for the broods to disperse but cmon give us bowhunters a fair shake we need our own season with no guns out there in the woods. Which is SEPT.!st. Sure i've killed my share of grouse with my trusty ruger 10/22 but that's after i hunt them with the bow for 2 days and the gun hunters get them stirred up. And yes i will attend any and all meetings concerning this matter not that it will matter. So this year come SEPT 1st I WILL be bowhunting for deer as i have for over 40 years and i guess just throwing rocks at grouse so at that point is it HUNTING or survival LOL   I will abide by the rules this year and hope it goes back.  SORRY    rant over and pretty bummed that i won't be able to put some stalks on grouse for the first time in 40 years this year 

Glass half full/half empty........
I would think some bow hunters be glad they have 15 days before everybody is out full force.
I guess it sucks if your 100% positive you will harvest a deer before Sept 15 and didn't get to hunt grouse.

   Oh yes i'm super happy about the fact that they won't be out until the 15th but really do you think they really will ? And it's just one step closer to a TRUE ARCHERY SEASON except for the bear hunters with guns they will still be out there. And yes i do and have always got my deer in the first week otherwise it's Nov 15th for me.

[Platensek-po]

I gotta say I'm bummed.  I had big plans to take a couple brand new hunters camping and grouse hunting for the long weekend.  It would have been a great first hunt.

I think that’s the worst part about this. The long weekend that was the opener. Hopefully you guys can get out after the 15th!!!

[Dave Workman]

They also bumped the end date back to Jan 15th didn’t they?

Beats the heck out of me. You've practically got be a hacker to find this information. I'd bet money 9 out 10 average Joes couldn't find this information on the WDFW website in 10 minutes or less.

Yes, I've long suspected the game regulations were written so more people could be cited than to just tell them the rules.

[Dave Workman]

A couple years ago.

Killed 'em with a hatchet, eh?   

[BLH69]

  I'll be out there to report. Read your regulations.

[Boss .300 winmag]

A couple years ago.

Killed 'em with a hatchet, eh?   

Well you know.🤣

[Threewolves]

Let me mock this....

It is not about protecting brood hens with chicks like it says in the regulations. If that was a fact, they would have done this last year or five or ten years ago or heck back in 88 when I started hunting here. Seems like if that was a fact they would have been shot out a couple of years after I started hunting here. Protect the brood hens my eye. All of a sudden in 2021 they decide to change it, why now? How in the heck did the grouse make it till now? Seems like they would have been hunted off the face of the earth over the past 30 years. So, here we are.

1. It doesn't have anything to do with you guys it is just me, they just want to aggravate the hell out of me!
2. They just want to do away with another tradition. Just like tearing down statues.
3. Its that mid level manager that is always changing crap, can't leave well enough alone, you see them at Walmart always moving things around or maybe you have worked for one of them. One of their big things is changing the word "Happy" to "Glad". 
4. Maybe it is true, maybe the grouse hunters are messing with the archery deer hunters or maybe someone is just trying to get these two groups mad at each other, you know "us against them."
5. Maybe they just want me to do more fishing before elk season, maybe that's it. Create more strife on the rivers!
6. A lot of folks didn't even know the dates changed, Johnny ticket writer is going to be really busy.
7. They figured out that I truly do not like change, which leads us back to point # 1.

I am not a glass half full or have empty kind of guy, I am the guy who is glad he has a glass. At least we did not lose grouse hunting by popular vote like baiting for bears, hound hunting for bears, cougars and bobcats or get trapping all jacked up to where traditional traps can't be used. What ever happed to think about the "children", getting to take the kids out hunting before the school season started back up, Oh! was that a tradition?     

You guys take care,  sound like my glass is half empty, I hope this is a good change.

[Dave Workman]

I'm looking forward to a decent year, though I'm not too keen about all the fires burning on the east slope, over southwest of Naches and up along Lake Chelan. I've spotted birds over north of Cle Elum but I'm a little worried South Cle Elum Ridge might be shot out.

I'd like to get up to Okanogan this year, and if time allows—and gas doesn't cost a fortune—up to the Little Pend Oreille Lakes game range. There have always been grouse up there.

Might even break out the 12-gauge this year. Been hunting with a 20- for the past few seasons.