grouse coloring

[bighorns2bushytails]

i shot a ruffed grouse up in NE washington that had coloring id never seen before.  it wasnt grey or brown but black.  real interesting bird.  it did have one dark gray feather in its fan in the very center but every feather around it is black black.  i saved it ill post a picture in the next day or two when its done drying.  i was pretty excited over it.  not sure if its rare or not but neither my father in law or his brother had ever seen one like it and i havnt as well.  anyone else every get any wierd or strange colorings in the grouse they get?

--bh2bt

[Ellensburg]

It was probably a crow.

[NWBREW]

Sounds like it was a spruce grouse. I v'e see a few over there. Nice looking birds. I'll see if I can find a pic and post it.

[bobcat]

Yeah, I was going to say that maybe it was a spruce grouse. But they're not really black.

[bighorns2bushytails]

ive showed it to 3 other hunters and they all agreed it was a ruffed grouse.  ill post a picture of it asap.  im not ruling out that its not a ruffed but consensus so far is that it is.

--bh2bt

[rasbo]

heres a pic of a spruce grouse

[bobcat]

Yep and they don't look anything like a ruffed grouse so I'm not sure how they could be mistaken for one.

[bighorns2bushytails]

definately didnt have the red above the eyes.  im fairly certain its a ruffed grouse.  it has one feather dead center of the fan thats real dark dark gray and looks just like a grey ruffed grouse, all the other feathers are black black.  someone mentioned maybe a hybrid between a blue and a ruffed and ive read it can happen but its rare.  im thinking its just a coloring thats not that common.  ill check on the fan tonight and see if its dry enough i can flip it over for a picture.

--bh2bt

[Fishnclifff]

Shot a couple of those in Siouxson.
Gamie said it was a blue by the coloring of the meat.
Blues have a purpleish meat, ruffs are white.

[Pugetsound]

http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=122

or

http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=489

A dusky or sooty grouse?

[bighorns2bushytails]

ok couldnt stand it any longer i took some pics of the fans i got off the grouse i shot last week.  they are both 'upside down' on the drying board, but the coloring is pretty much the same on each side of the fan so figured it was better then nothing.  was going to wait till they dried but couldnt stand it.  dont want to flip them over yet and ruin them either so this is all i got at the moment.


this one shows the one 'ruffed grouse' feather in the center of the fan.  its real dark gray but has the markings of a normal dark gray ruffed grouse.


this one shows a definate ruffed grouse fan, and also has a odd center feather (no band at the top)


this one shows a full shot of the black fan, you can still see the center feather and of course all the black feathers.


this one shows both fans together



so what do you think now?



--bh2bt

[bobcat]

The ruffed grouse tail you have there is not odd because of the center feather. Lots of them are like that. I'm not sure but that might indicate it's a female. Either that or a young bird.

The black one, that's not a ruffed grouse, IMO. I really think that could be a spruce grouse.

[Ironhead]

The dark fan is definately a spruce grouse. This time of year the red tuft above the eye is concealed just like the orange one on a Blue Grouse. That is for courtship display only.

[WCTaxidermy]

Ok the Ruffed grouse tail is a hen.  The sure way you can identify a ruffy hen from a  male is the tail.  If the dark band extends throughout the entire tail it's a male.  If the two center tails feathers are lightly shaded black or no black at all it's a hen.  The second tail is either a blue or a spruce.  If we had a pic of the other side it would tell the "tail", pun intended, .  It shouldn't hurt your spread if you turn it over and snap a pic.  If a feather goes out of place jsut place it back until it dries.  Hope that hleps.  John 

[seth30]

WC for grouse, as a taxi point of view, what shot would you prefer a customer to hit it with?

[WCTaxidermy]

Hi Seth, for grouse I would recommend not going any bigger than 6 shot.  I personally use 7 1/2 shot for my grouse that I want to keep and mount.  I also HIGHLY recommend that anyone who wants a good quality grouse mount to wait until the end of October and into November to harvest a mounter, due to those pesky pin feathers.  John

[seth30]

WC thanks for the intel! 

[Greg30-06]

I shot this one sunday.  Never seen one with the black like it has on the neck feathers.  Thought it was cool, and tasty too!

[Greg30-06]

I recomend a Ruger 10/22

[boneaddict]

Looks like you nailed a spruce to me and they are a lot more common up in the NE corner.   They are about as dumb as rocks.  You can catch em by the feet if you are fast enough.

[Greg30-06]

It was actually in the northwest around Mt Vernon.

[boneaddict]

i shot a ruffed grouse up in NE washington that had coloring id never seen before

Looks like you nailed a spruce to me and they are a lot more common up in the NE corner.   They are about as dumb as rocks.  You can catch em by the feet if you are fast enough.

I was referring to the authors post Greg.  Yours is a beautiful Ruff.  Thats their perfect coloring.

[Greg30-06]

Yeah I figured after I read a little closer.  Sorry!!

[high country]

here is the orange that was spoke of

[Shootmoore]

That is a Spruce Grouse Hen tail, also known as the Franklin Grouse.  If it did not have the red or orange over the eyes it was a hen.  The Spruce/Franklin is dumber than a box of rocks.  My grandpa used to walk up on them and toss his cowboy hat over the top of them.

Shootmoore

[high country]

agreed, the franklins are as dumb as a bag of hammers, so muchso, that  I will not eat them for fear of losing intellegence.

[boneaddict]

 

[boneaddict]

Could be why they are going the way of the DODO bird

[high country]

depends on where you look.