Grouse Questions

[lokidog]

As mentioned, they will let you walk right by.  They get nervous if you stop, so stop frequently and be ready to shoot quickly.  I used to try to stop in positions where I could at least swingt my gun if one did take off.  Listen carefully as well as they will often peep or chirp a couple of times before flushing.

Of course I've only gotten two grouse in the last 15 years.... 

[Forrestrover]

Oh man! All this talk of grouse is making me excited! Sept. will be here soon!

[danceswitharrows]

Find a gravel road and drive on it, gravel is natures grouse bait

[Dave Workman]

Well, according to Bob Hope:

"They fly to the south, so lean to the left."

"They face the sun, so shoot for the moon"

"They flush low, so walk around the tree"

Yeah, that just about covers it for grouse hunting. 

    

[bobcat]

I haven't had much luck hunting ruffed grouse with a dog. I prefer going after blue grouse in more open country where you can see better, both the dog and the birds when they fly. For blue grouse you want to get up into the higher elevations, and they seem to love hanging out on the top of a ridge. Around here, find an old logging road on a ridge, that is not open to vehicles, and walk it with your dog. Sometimes you will catch them right out in the middle of a clearcut, and in that case you can get some great shooting, especially when you bump into a group of several birds. Another thing to look for is dandelions. A road I used to hunt was covered with dandelions, and any blue grouse I killed there always had their crops stuffed full with dandelions. This year I wouldn't expect to see large groups, as we had a wet/cold spring. Most likely any birds you see will be older birds and my guess is you'll only see 1 or 2 at a time.

[johng]

Great thread with lots of good advice!

[BigGoonTuna]

i've got a spot that's about a mile of lightly-travelled road with dark timber on one side, and a 20' wide strip of grass and dandelions on the other, next to a creek.  find somewhere like that and you'll find those thunderchickens.

the only time i can ever find them in the open is when i'm driving and the season's closed.  i usually see how close i can get my truck to them(usually within about 10 feet).  when i'm on foot with my shotgun, they always either take off 150 yards ahead of me or wait until i just walk past them.

[halflife65]

Could've limited yesterday when I was coming into and then leaving where I was scouting for elk.  Despite the hot temps and dusty conditions, they were out picking at rocks.

[Hyde]

In my Oregon elk area, there is one draw that is full of springs and elk wallows.  The place is filthy with grouse.  I walk into the draw and the as soon as the first one flushes, 3,4,5 or more will follow.  I don't shoot, I just let them fly off.  Within 15 minutes or so, here they come back, one at a time.  It'a almost too easy, except for the hike in and out.   

[Hangfire]

I have had excellent  results hunting both Ruffed and Blues using a dog. You will find many more birds and you will cut your unfound, shot birds way down. I have had many Ruffed that I thought I had missed brought back by my springer.

Find the food and water and you will find the birds. My choice for Ruffed is walking old roads, preferably ones that a vehicle can now longer drive on. They seemed to flush from the shoulder, fly down the road a short distance before veering right or left. This time over the road offers a excellent shot opportunity. I have driven a road seeing nothing and then walk back over it with the dog and limit. Swampy areas with lots of dense cover and berries can be very good. I have a spot in Ferry county where it is not unusual to flush over 25 birds in 200 yards. It is very difficult to get a shot, as very dense.

Hunting grouse with a dog is one of the greatest bird hunting experiences we have in this state, and very over looked. Most grouse shot by road hunting.  In 1980 and 1981 I kept track of the time and flushes my springer made. We averaged for the entire season 16 flushes a hour. The early 80's were excellent bird years, my dog and I got about 25 birds that year. Much more recent I averaged 4 flushes a hour. I hunted with a double barrel muzzle loader a lot  then, great fun.

[Sportfury]

Forrestrover here is what blue grouse like to eat. This came out of a blue grouse crop. There was dandelions, blue huckleberries, red huckleberries, and clover among other things in there.

[Forrestrover]

Man ... that looks like one meannnn salad!!!

Last year the grouse I got was full of those red huckleberries.

[bobcat]

Dandelions! See, I told ya! I've seen blue grouse crops with nothing BUT dandelions.



 

Man ... that looks like one meannnn salad!!!

It DOES look like a pretty good salad, doesn't it?  

[SnowDog]

I was thinking about heading over to the Oly Pen near Forks for some Grouse. Any decent hunting out that way early in the season?

Cheers

[BigGoonTuna]

yes, just find the old overgrown roads(not hard to do)