POLL: GROUSE! GROUSE! GROUSE!

[Jamieb]

I've had better luck when it;s raining but I'm going this weekend anyways.

[Forrestrover.02]

I'm excited! Can't wait till morning! Probably won't get any sleep tonight.

[TONTO]

 Blue or Rough don't realy care much.

First pic was from a few years back. Two blue and a rough, they flushed from down hill and I managed to get two with the ol single shot on the wing. The third landed uphill, so I hiked up and kicked it outa bed it flushed down hill and dropped it right where the other two were laying. Last year of the three grouse limit.

 Next pic is from last year, popped a double on two ruffs with my late uncle's old auto5.
 
 Almost forgot grouse opened up tomarrow. Damn month of sept, now I can't decide what to do, arrow a deer shoot some grouse or go catch some TUNA!

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Thunder chicken down! Me and little one headed up to Greenwater for the afternoon hunt on the opener. Small bird with one very full craw.

[bobcat]

We saw two blues and a ruffed today, but were hunting for bear and/or deer, so they are still alive.

[Dave Workman]

The skunk is off!

Went out on the opener with Glockster and we brought law and order to the rogue thunder chickens. Saw a fair number of birds, and we introduced them to 20-gauge No. 6s.

[Fishnfowler]

I managed to put one in the bag.  I made a snap shot as it zipped through an opening and I saw it angle down, but not fall hard.  I sent my dog after it and she came out with the bird.  As I was reaching out for it, another launched out of a tree about 20 yards behind me.  I managed to whiff two shots at it and watched it sail off for another day. 

[Dave Workman]

I managed to put one in the bag.  I made a snap shot as it zipped through an opening and I saw it angle down, but not fall hard.  I sent my dog after it and she came out with the bird.  As I was reaching out for it, another launched out of a tree about 20 yards behind me.  I managed to whiff two shots at it and watched it sail off for another day. 

Yeah, tell me about it. I also got surprised by a few that I didn't even fire at.

But on the upside, it appears that on the east slope, blue grouse had a pretty good hatch. We only saw one brood of ruffed grouse and they were pretty young.

As we all know, it is really...REALLY dry.  We hunted as close to water sources as possible. But when I got home and washed my truck, there was enough dirt to start a new vegetable garden!   

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On another note, I am disturbed by the snail's pace at which the Forest Service is repairing road damage on Manastash Creek. They can spend a fortune BLOCKING roads (and we found a couple where they did just that, perhaps to prevent some folks from getting around the washouts via 4WD) but they haven't seemed to put in the same amount of enterprise getting roads back open.

One of the main routes across the Taneum was blocked, and the road between Manastash camp and Buck Meadows is STILL not open, 18 months after the washouts. 

[Forrestrover.02]

Well, I hunted most of the day, saturday. I was just about ready to call it, when I spotted a grouse about 20 yrds ahead. As I went to flush it, another one flushed from my right, and flew right in front of me. That's the one I got.
Love the stories and pics. Keep them coming!

[Special T]

Forrest rover, I would have got it with the front spoke of my wheel!    nice bird. 

[Heredoggydoggy]

Got one Monday morning  when a buddy and I were riding around looking for them.  First one flew up ito a tree, and my buddy tried a head shot with his .17 HM2.  He missed, and when it flew I blasted it with my 410 with #4s.  Should have got one more of the 4, but I forgot to lead another one... 

[Major Caruncles]

Well, made it over for the evening of the opener and all day sunday, and managed to bag four birds. We hiked are butts off to get em, and we only saw 10-12 grouse all weekend, but it was worth it to just get out in the woods and shoot a few birds in the process!!

[Forrestrover.02]

Forrest rover, I would have got it with the front spoke of my wheel!    nice bird. 

Ha Ha... I like your thinking, Special T!

Major Caruncles, 10 or 12 grouse sightings in a weekend doesn't sound too bad! Congrats on the birds that you shot! 

[Dave Workman]

And here's a shot of our good pal, Glockster, who put a dent in the Kittitas County grouse population with a handsome Franchi 20-gauge that we were field testing for an article in an upcoming issue of Northwest Sportsman.

Nobody can criticize this guy's ability as a wingshooter.

I cannot, however, brag about his choice of hunting partners.   

I will now discuss our table fare:  Grouse Parmesan.  We boiled up a good pot of angel hair pasta, then turned it down to simmer and added an ample amount of Ragu (your mileage may vary, and you may want to use something else).

While Brian cut up some fresh onion from my garden and crushed up a fresh garlic clove, I breasted out two of our birds from the opener, both blue grouse (not "dusky" or "sooty" but definitely dead) and added them to the pot, turning up the heat. The breasts cooked up in a few minutes and then we dug in, after sprinkling everything with ground Parmesan. Delicious.

It's even tastier if one adds a bit of sea salt and/or seasoning salt to the breasts a few minutes before cooking. And, for those who might like a glazed surface, stick the breasts over an open flame just long enough to brown up the surface, and then drop them into the pot with pasta and sauce. Be quick because one does not wish to over-cook a grouse breast.

[Dave Workman]

We saw two blues and a ruffed today, but were hunting for bear and/or deer, so they are still alive.

And we're to also presume the deer and bear likewise continue walking on this side of the grass?