How to find grouse perched in trees?

[NJClark7]

With the warmer and dryer weather, I've been getting into grouse hunting in the mountains until it cools off in the lowland areas for proper dog work. I've been hunting outside of Yakima mainly on forest roads and they seek morning grit.

Question from a novice grouse hunter: How do you locate them when they've flushed and perched in an evergreen tree? At that point should I just give up or is a method to getting them to reveal themselves? Thank you for your help!

[boneaddict]

I think the most obvious would be to watch them land, but if you lose sight of them, listen for them.  They make a certain amount of racket. 

[bobcat]

That's a good question! It can be really tough to see them up there. Do you own a chainsaw?   

[509]

That's a good question! It can be really tough to see them up there. Do you own a chainsaw?   

Nah, you don't need a chainsaw....just a tall dog.

When I hunted grouse, my dog would stand up on her rear legs and sniff the air for grouse.

Pay attention to the wind direction and nose direction and your good to go.

[Cougartail]

Thermal scanner will find them. Not sure it is legal but have found nothing to prohibit it outside of deer/elk general season.

[Naches Sportsman]

I observe the trees and understory for movement. They’re feeding on berries this time of year. Pretty easy to find them once you locate a few and observe them.

[Smokepole]

Work groves of trees on the leeward side with your dog.  The dog will pick up scent, and you can begin to scan up in the trees at that point.  In stormy weather, they will stay high in the thick treetops for a long time.  Almost impossible to find them, once they've hunkered down. 

[netcoyote]

I hunted without a dog for a few years after my setter died. We had always hunted high country blue grouse in the Winthrop/Okanogan area and always had a great time. When hunting with a dog, we would focus on birds near the ground and if they busted and got into trees, I would be too impatient to spend a lot of time looking for them so we usually moved on after a few minutes. Without a dog, when I bumped a bird and it treed, I spent more time learning how to find it. Patience is key here. Make a mental note of which tree the bird flew into and how high in the tree it was. Start looking for the silhouette of the bird in any open areas between branches. Take your time. If you don't see it from the first vantage point, slowly walk a circle around the tree and keep looking. You'll hear it if it flies away but they usually hold pretty tight because they believe you can't see them. Just keep looking for that lump on a branch that doesn't look like a tree part. Maybe circle the tree several times if you're sure it didn't fly off. Once I started being more methodical about searching treed birds, I was amazed at how successful I'd be. Hunting with a dog is still the best, but if you are willing to alter your technique a bit, you can still bag some birds in trees.