Post by: BIGINNER on September 12, 2013, 07:42:17 AM
Post by: rtspring on September 12, 2013, 07:49:17 AM
Post by: Bone_Collector on September 12, 2013, 12:43:30 PM
B_C
Post by: AspenBud on September 12, 2013, 03:28:09 PM
Tip, as the season progresses you can find more off the path. Grouse get smart after a while and head for cover and in general, they will seek places to hide once the leaves fall.
Honestly I think you're odds of finding birds go up when you get off the road, assuming you have a dog that knows what it's doing that is.
A dog is a huge help when grouse hunting, but it's not doing you any good if it is simply running the road and not searching the cover for you...scratch that, a dog is an asset no matter what if it knows how to retrieve or point dead game. But you will get far more out of it if you get the dog into cover and let it do its job.
As always however, hunt the food, not the bird. Find what they eat and you'll find them.
Post by: snowpack on September 12, 2013, 03:32:45 PM
Post by: Stilly bay on September 12, 2013, 04:34:10 PM
I like the roads that are overgrown to the point that you can reach your arms out to the sides and your hands are in the brush. Figure that hawks have too much trouble getting in and out of those tight areas and grouse get to grow a little longer.good advice.
There needs to be over head cover to protect the birds from hawks but not so much that the grouse has trouble getting air born if something on the ground is after it.
the ground cover also needs to be sparse enough for the bird to walk through some what easily. for instance you won't typically find them in heavy salal patches unless there are berries around, its just too thick for them.
The best rules is: grouse are where you find them.
obviously road
Post by: Dave Workman on September 12, 2013, 05:38:19 PM
obviously roadhuntingshooting is an effective way to kill a grouse, no denying that.
Yes and it also happens to be illegal! No shooting along, across or in the road.
I ain't saying that it doesn't happen, probably a lot, but it's a no-no. I did story in Gun Week about 6-7 years ago after talking to wildlife officials in several states.
i've found more blue grouse along roads, but shooing them back into the bush makes sense and it is the particularly cooperative bird that flies up to land on a tree limb. That's happened to me more times than I can remember. It happens to the grouse only once. :chuckle:
Post by: bobcat on September 12, 2013, 05:40:47 PM
obviously roadhuntingshooting is an effective way to kill a grouse, no denying that.
Yes and it also happens to be illegal! No shooting along, across or in the road.
It's only illegal if you do it negligently.
Post by: AspenBud on September 12, 2013, 08:57:22 PM
Speaking of that, Weyerhaeuser has most, if not all, of its logging roads gated in a lot of places as do several other timber companies. You won't be driving up and down those much.
Post by: merkelman on September 12, 2013, 10:48:42 PM
quick question. when targeting grouse, do you guys stay on the roads or go off the roads a bit. is it better to get off the roads if you have dogs?On foot of course, we carouse the cover just off of the road, but with dogs we really hit the cover well off the roads as we generally have better luck. Knowing the area really helps too!
Post by: nryche on September 13, 2013, 09:32:22 AM
Quote
Yes and it also happens to be illegal! No shooting along, across or in the road.
From WDFW
http://wdfw.wa.gov/help/questions/70/What+are+the+rules+about+shooting+from+a+road%3F (http://wdfw.wa.gov/help/questions/70/What+are+the+rules+about+shooting+from+a+road%3F)
and the RCW
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=77.15.460 (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=77.15.460)
Post by: Mike450r on September 13, 2013, 09:44:54 AM
Private timber company roads aren't even part of the discussion as they are not public which is a key word, negligently is also a key word in the RCW which is left out of the WDFW regs.
Back to topic, roads are where I find most of my grouse for sure. Typically I look for roads that are just starting to get grown over with plenty of grass but also plenty of gravel left as well.
Post by: Curly on September 13, 2013, 09:48:24 AM
Post by: Mike450r on September 13, 2013, 09:58:46 AM
It is interesting that a most important word is left out of the regs. The other word I don't like in the RCW or the regs is where they say "public highway". I wish they would just simply say "public road" instead of highway...........kind of misleading in my opinion.
I agree. The way I look at it is if it is a paved, commonly travelled road it would be negligent to shoot there, pretty much common sense to me. If it is in the state forest where hunting is common and the road is "public highway" by definition, it may not be negligent depending on the circumstances. I would say shooting a grouse or other legal animal from the road in Capitol Forest if done safely would not be illegal even though it falls under the "public highway" definition.
Post by: KFhunter on September 13, 2013, 10:22:55 AM
If I'm after grouse I take the dog and hike the brush in snowberry patches, hopefully she'll get a good point before they bust and I have time to get into position - it's hard :chuckle: