IS IT GROUSE SEASON, YET???

[Dave Workman]

Today the countdown begins.  It's time to prep for grouse season and here are some things to consider:

Thx to Brandon, gasoline prices aren't likely to come down soooo: Start putting away some cash for fall RIGHT NOW.  A $20 here, $10 there every week (don't laugh, I do it myself and I have no idea how much is in the bag already, but it will help pay for gas, groceries and other essentials in 2 1/2 months.

September 15 is on a Thursday. Plan to take that day and Friday off if you're able, and do it with a hunting partner to share the costs. Set up a camp. The partner can also start sticking money in a sock every week.  I started grouse hunting when gas was way less than a buck a gallon, and I saved my money even then.

Pick out 3-4 areas you plan to hunt and start paying attention to reports of road construction, logging activity, forest fires and fire danger, (USFS websites are often good sources of information) and anything else that might bonk your chances of success. Always have a 'PLAN B'...and don't overlook ... wait for it...BERRY CROPS. Grouse don't stray too far from groceries, and this is where you can look.

SHARE INFORMATION right here.  I'm not asking you to reveal your 'secret spot' that only you (and maybe 5,000 other guys you never met) know about, but when you see something, say something; grouse broods, general areas, that sort of thing.  When I was editor at Fishing & Hunting News 30 years ago, I used to share all of that stuff every week, even if it might bring people to the areas I liked to hunt. There's nothing exclusive about public land, y'know.    Don't be selfish with information. We all like to know what's going on out there (shoot some photos and share them when you spot hens and broods).

I mentioned berry fields.  I always did grouse previews and pointed people to traditional productive areas.  For example, down in southeast Lewis and northern Skamania counties, Badger Mountain, Misquito Meadows, Pinto Rock, French Buttes; Government Meadows north of Mount Rainier, any of the big berry areas up along the Cascade Crest north and south. Get up high in Chelan and Okanogan counties, over in Ferry County east of Republic heading up to Sherman Pass... There are spots north of Leavenworth on the way up to Maverick Saddle and Sugarloaf north ane east of Plain and up the Chiwawa River (where I shot the biggest blue grouse I ever saw some years ago! SEE BELOW)

May and June so far have set off alarms about a bad hatch, but don''t discount a late hatch now that weather has improved. 

PRACTICE:  I'll be trying to pop grouse with my .22 rifle and pistol again this season. Get some plastic half-gallon milk jugs, fill them with water and start shooting. They're about the same size as an adult fool hen, and it saves meat and money since shotgun shells are more expensive than rimfires. 

Watch for ammunition sales (they get you through the doors of the sport shops), but take a specific list and stick to it.

It may sound silly, but as the season opener gets closer, take a day or a weekend and bring your bud(s) along and a .22 pistol, and hike some of your intended countryside. Gets your legs and lungs in shape, and you get used to the weight of a gun on your belt again.  And take note of where you jump birds (nothing like spooking a thunder chicken from the underbrush, exploding with that pfffllllttttrrr of wing beats that make your heart and bladder work).

Soon as the game regs are available--or you can check online--firm up the opener.

Maybe if we're lucky, we'll run into one another somewhere up in the High Lonesome this fall.

[rtspring]

Sept 15th is for chasing elk!!!!

[phildobaggins]

Sept 15th is for chasing elk!!!!

 

Grouse season was excellent when it opened on the 1st 

[kellama2001]

Great post and great advice! Gets me all excited about chasing Grouse!

And I agree about the season dates, but it looks like that's what we're stuck with for now. 

[KNOPHISH]

Sounds like a F&H news article.  Found a good spot last year during bow season and got one with a rock, until I was going for a 2nd one and the 1st one woke up and got away. I have a Ruger 22 that’s pretty accurate but missed a couple, it was shooting a little high so I’ll be better prepared next one I see. When we were young North bend FS roads we hunted from a VW bug, put a couple bucks in the tank and could drive to, hunt and drive home. Delicious and fun birds.

[Karl Blanchard]

Sept 15th is for chasing elk!!!!

September 1 was a long awaited day for the kids but with the Sept 15 opener it just killed it for us. Thats archery elk and the start of a long big game season. Really unfortunate.

[Dave Workman]

Sept 15th is for chasing elk!!!!

September 1 was a long awaited day for the kids but with the Sept 15 opener it just killed it for us. Thats archery elk and the start of a long big game season. Really unfortunate.

YES... You know it's as if the Commission was against us, not for us. 

[Dave Workman]

Would you believe that a few years ago, some jerk actually suggested I didn't plug this grouse legally with a pistol? And he also intimated I shot the sucker in the road simply because where the photo was taken, there was a road in the background.
Fact is, I don't carry a camera and tripod along in the brush, and I find a spot with good light for photos.  I don't think I've ever taken a photo in the same spot where I actually shot a grouse. I'm not sure I know anybody who has.

ON THAT NOTE:  Try to get photos of yourself with your birds.  Dead birds on a tailgate are about as interesting as dishwater. FYI: The image below is a self-photo. I was hunting alone that morning. The pistol is an original Ruger 'Standard' pistol (the model that eventually became the MKI). I bought it at a gun show maybe 12-15 years ago. Except for one small ding at the butt, where the previous owner had evidently dropped it, the gun was like new, especially after I scrubbed it out with Hoppe's No. 9 and a good bristle brush.  And boy does that thing shoot!

IIRC, I capped this bird using a 40-grain RNL Winchester at about 25 yards as he trotted out into the brush after spotting me come around the corner. I parked, bailed out of the truck and slowly stepped back into the brush hoping he didn't disappear. They don't call blues "fool hens" for nothing. He stopped near the base of a tree, apparently looking to see if I was following but by then I'd flanked him and WHAM! down he went. I was trying to head-shoot him but the bullet went in at the top of his breast.  DINNER!   Wish I'd have had a pal along filming that. One of the best pistol shots I ever made.

[mcrawfordaf]

Speaking of grouse, Ruffed Grouse of Washington is hosting a wire clean up at L.T. Murray this weekend. Too far for me to drive at the moment but hopefully it gains traction!

My current Ruffed spot is up in the Col NF and I cant wait to get back up there this year!

"Wildlife Area Cleanup Event

When: Saturday, June 25th,

Habitat work party on the Whiskey Dick Unit of the L.T. Murray Wildlife Area. We will be removing old barbed wire fence and pulling t-post adjacent the Vantage highway. Volunteer parties have already removed 4.8 miles of the fence beginning at the Corrals parking lot and moving east. This event will focus on the remaining 3.3 miles of wire bordering the highway and terminating at the Gingko State Park property boundary. (Note, the red line in the image below).

Meet up at 8:00am, at the Wild Horse Wind Farm parking lot (46.976788, -120.208627, WGS 84 datum). We will be working along the Vantage Highway which has occasional pullouts for parking but walking up to a mile between vehicle and work site may be necessary. Highway traffic can be heavy at times so a work vest designed to increase visibility is encouraged. We will stop work no later than 3pm.

Directions:

From Ellensburg, take the Vantage Hwy east for 15 miles and just as you crest the hill, turn left onto the Wind Farm. The parking lot will be on your left in .2 miles.

I will bring a couple pair of fencing plyers, post pullers, safety glasses, and tools for removing or bending nails. Remember, rattlesnakes are common in this area so wear appropriate footwear and watch where you place your hands when working with wire. Bring plenty of water and snacks. I will also bring volunteer and Master Hunter forms so everyone can sign up for WDFW liability and get credit for hours.

Bring leather work gloves, working shoes or boots, and sunscreen. Fence pliers or wire cutters will be very useful if you have them.

Please send me a quick text or email if you plan to attend, and contact me with any questions,

Thank you for your time,

Noel

L.T. Murray Wildlife Area Assistant Manager

Noel Winegeart

509-899-3428 cell noel.winegeart@dfw.wa.gov"

[Dave Workman]

The conversation above inspired me to do a quick prep feature on honing your skills with a .22-caliber pistol. 

http://www.thegunmag.com/summer-rimfire-shooting-fall-small-game-bounty/

Give it a read and enjoy!

[KNOPHISH]

Cool, Same ruger I have but yours is much prettier. 

[Limhangerslayer]

Sept 15th is for chasing elk!!!!

September 1 was a long awaited day for the kids but with the Sept 15 opener it just killed it for us. Thats archery elk and the start of a long big game season. Really unfortunate.

but don’t forget Karl! You get January 1st-15th added at the end of the season!!🤦🏻

[MtnMuley]

I'm hoping this dry spell with warmer weather were getting now helps the late broods. The first was definitely poor. I'm not seeing as many if any adult blues where I typically do in mid to late June either.

[Skyvalhunter]

I saw and heard several blues this past weekend. With the hooters it's a good way to tell how the population  is for al given area.

[Dave Workman]

I saw and heard several blues this past weekend. With the hooters it's a good way to tell how the population  is for al given area.

WHERE?   
 
("SHARE INFORMATION right here.  I'm not asking you to reveal your 'secret spot' that only you (and maybe 5,000 other guys you never met) know about, but when you see something, say something; grouse broods, general areas, that sort of thing.  When I was editor at Fishing & Hunting News 30 years ago, I used to share all of that stuff every week, even if it might bring people to the areas I liked to hunt. There's nothing exclusive about public land, y'know.    Don't be selfish with information. We all like to know what's going on out there (shoot some photos and share them when you spot hens and broods").

[Dave Workman]

Cool, Same ruger I have but yours is much prettier. 

Yeah, it's a good little pistol. I pulled it out of the safe last night for a close look. I need to do some very minor touch-up on the bluing. This coming weekend is supposed to be nice and warm. Give me a good opportunity to take it outside, strip it down, buff the bright spots with steel wool and do some spot cold blueing. I've also got to smooth out the tiny nick at the butt where, as the story noted, a previous owner appears to have dropped it.

This weekend will provide a great opportunity to head for the range and run some rounds through it, then clean it up and give it a mid-year oiling and lube job. There's just something about popping rounds out of a rimfire pistol that I find satisfyng. 

[Dave Workman]

Speaking of grouse, Ruffed Grouse of Washington is hosting a wire clean up at L.T. Murray this weekend. Too far for me to drive at the moment but hopefully it gains traction!

My current Ruffed spot is up in the Col NF and I cant wait to get back up there this year!

FUNNY you should mention the Colville National Forest (I *think* that's where you're talking about  )

Several years ago I was hunting the late whitetail season up on the north end of the Little Pend Oreille game range. One afternoon I was on a stillhunt, moving through a stand of pines and about every 20 yards or so, I'd run into blue grouse.  It really drove me nuts because I didn't have a .22 pistol along. (Doesn't that make you crazy? It does me!  )

Anyway that experience taught me a lesson the hard way. I imagine some of you guys have had a similar experience.

 

[Dave Workman]

The new regs pamphlets are out.  I even got one.  But the store ran out of Big Game pamphlets.  How do ya like that??!! 

Grouse opener Sept. 15.  Counting down the weeks.

[nwwanderer]

Be nice to them, the cool wet has been tough

[TeacherMan]

I just ordered 1,000 3/8” steel balls (Amazon) for my wrist rocket. I like it better when I’m bow hunting. I can hit water bottles all day long up to 30 yds away.

[BLDtraLR]

The new regs pamphlets are out.  I even got one.  But the store ran out of Big Game pamphlets.  How do ya like that??!! 

Grouse opener Sept. 15.  Counting down the weeks.

    this suks

[Dave Workman]

The new regs pamphlets are out.  I even got one.  But the store ran out of Big Game pamphlets.  How do ya like that??!! 

Grouse opener Sept. 15.  Counting down the weeks.

    this suks

I agree. Alas, there's not a lot we can do about it.  I notice the WDFW is still asking hunters to provide wings from grouse we shoot for their ongoing research.  Why, so they can move the season back to Oct. 1?   

[BLDtraLR]

Maybe if nobody puts wings in the barrel and when they ask how many grouse you've killed at the year end survey everybody puts 0 maybe they'll go back to September 1st or not maybe November 1st 

[NRA4LIFE]

Cool, Same ruger I have but yours is much prettier. 

Yeah, it's a good little pistol. I pulled it out of the safe last night for a close look. I need to do some very minor touch-up on the bluing. This coming weekend is supposed to be nice and warm. Give me a good opportunity to take it outside, strip it down, buff the bright spots with steel wool and do some spot cold blueing. I've also got to smooth out the tiny nick at the butt where, as the story noted, a previous owner appears to have dropped it.

This weekend will provide a great opportunity to head for the range and run some rounds through it, then clean it up and give it a mid-year oiling and lube job. There's just something about popping rounds out of a rimfire pistol that I find satisfyng. 

That's a beauty Dave!  MUCH prettier than mine.  I have probably 10K rounds through mine.

[Dave Workman]

That's a beauty Dave!  MUCH prettier than mine.  I have probably 10K rounds through mine.

Must be true.  KNOPHISH up above said the same thing! 

Watch for my column in an upcoming 'American Handgunner INSIDER ONLINE' with more on this pistol and its MKIV sibling...with image of targets showing this baby rocks!

[dreamingbig]

I used to think I saw a lot of grouse in WA state but then I went to ID and MT.  Talk about grouse!


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[Dave Workman]

I used to think I saw a lot of grouse in WA state but then I went to ID and MT.  Talk about grouse!


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I'm sure that's true. I'd really like some day to hunt grouse in Idaho, all over the state...just wander around, shooting birds, taking photos, relaxing around a campfire in the evening. I'll have to win the lottery, first.   

I think the non-res small game license isn't really all that expensive, and I may have to look into that. If every month were September..or a mild October.