Reflections on a good day

Uplandhunter67

Uplandhunter67

Well-known member
As I sit sipping Scotch I reflect on today's events. It was a tough but rewarding hunt... Today I was joined by men I can now call friends. We trudged through the open sage, across the steep slopes, and the dense aspen groves. We stretched high upon the hills the sun beating down. The dogs moved effortlessly through the scrub searching for our elusive quarry...
We ran into birds after a long uneventful walk up a draw a couple of males hiding on the fringe of some pines. They were put in the bag and we continued through the aspens. The walk was uneventful as we shared stories about hunting and being afield. We turned and started working our way back to the truck. We bumped three more that sailed over the aspens and down into the valley below.
The hill started to get steeper as we pushed on. Suddenly birds explode from cover. Shots ring out and two birds fold. More break from cover as shouts of take them breaks out. Birds come out and fall to the swinging guns. The dogs start picking up the fallen birds as another single breaks and falls to another well placed shot. Then bird breaks another. It falls to three simultaneous shots. At least eight birds broke and five fell to the guns.
We turn and negotiate our way down toward the road on our long way back to the truck. We hunt our way back. The dogs get birdy a few times but with no results. We get back to the truck, sit and have some cold drinks. We BS some more and decide to leave because of some incoming weather and the fact that we have just covered 12 to 15 miles and dogs just don?t have another mile left in them.

We speak of future adventures and part company..

Did I miss anything Bones?????

Oh yeah photos...











 
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Nope. Though the dogs should a little more credit, if we did a few miles they did twice as much and it was warm. Can't wait for the next trip out.
 
To elaborate a little more. The dogs did exactly what they were supposed to. Very impressed with the dog work at that altitude. Ty, Uplandhunter's dog is a grouse finding machine.My Abby even threw a beautiful point on a small covey; which I botched completely as I huffed and puffed up the hill.
Uplandhunter is also being kind to my poor shooting on the day. And if anyone wants to be humbled and get walked into the ground by someone twice their age; hunt with Uplandhunter's friend Dan. Uplandhunter ain't in bad shape himself.
 
Bones you're right about the dog work. It was impressive. All three worked together like they had been doing it all their lives, which is amazing as they have never hunted together. It was a pleasure watching them work through the scrub... Abbey is going to be a good bird dog. She is very enthusiastic and full of energy.

You and Jim didn't have any problems moving at that altitude either. I've been hunting with Dan for ten years now and he amazes me every time we go out....
We do put on the miles but that is what grouse hunting is all about...

It was great hunting with you and Jim. Dan and I are looking forward to the next one too.... See you soon.
 
Sounds like a great day to me, give those dogs a scratch behind their ear for me for a job well done.:thumbsup:

I can't wait for next saturday for my chance in the high country. Our main target will be mtn quail but if an unlucky grouse crosses the dogs path he may too find himself on the camp menu. :cheers:
 
Nice! :cheers:

After 3 weeks of packing, moving and unpacking, I am going to head to the hills next weekend. :)
 
Thanks for sharing gents....it is always nice to be able to hunt with others, especially those who share some of the same passions as you. :coolpics: :10sign:

I love the look on your black lab uplander, he just lays there in front of the birds he flushed and retrieved, like yeah, just another days work, no big deal.

Glad you guys were successful and everyone survived the altitude...

Greg
 
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That is better then a good day, especially with some good friends. Now you have to put your favorite recipes on here!!!:10sign::cheers:
 
uplandhunter67,
I thought we were friends, no I am not mad for not inviting me along but I sure did not want to see those pictures :) I can not believe you would put them on there to pester with me. :)Looks like you guys had a great time, hope you repeat your success at least a couple more times. :coolpics:
 
copheasanthunter said:
uplandhunter67,
I thought we were friends, no I am not mad for not inviting me along but I sure did not want to see those pictures :) I can not believe you would put them on there to pester with me. :)Looks like you guys had a great time, hope you repeat your success at least a couple more times. :coolpics:
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I invited you but you said you were going to wait by your mailbox for Mustistuff to swing by and pick you up... Thought you also said soming about not being able to follow a dog with such a long tail..:D
We did have a great time. Long day as some nitwit got his truck stuck and then abandoned it right in the middle of the road. Some people have no manners.

Retrvrman the photo of Ty looking down the hill might give some a point for triangulation. It is the only photo of the area I have posted.
Ty didn't crash any points. He was rather well behaved especially around those female pointers. He just did his job. He was well rewarded when I cleaned those birds. We're ready to hit the field again. This time for those big ole sage bombers.....
Tell your boy that 4 hours goes by in a flash with the anticipation of being outside doing something that you truely can enjoy together. Good luck when you head out.....
 
BleuBijou said:
That is better then a good day, especially with some good friends. Now you have to put your favorite recipes on here!!!:10sign::cheers:
Click to expand...

Grilled filleted breast meat then put in a nice alfredo sauce (with a nice shot of dry Marsalla wine) with artichoke hearts and black olives served over fettucini...... A bit decadent but makes the grouse go further especially with guests over...:D
 
You can call me Greg. I appreciate the advice. Question for you, I thought Sage Grouse were protected in Colorado?:confused::confused:

Good luck to you and I have the coordinates, did you leave any evidence behind so as I could prove to you I was there ;) :D

Anyhow, seriously....have fun and maybe we can get together for roosters out at the Burlington Rooster roundup (this is not one of those Honey hole, I would have to kill you if I told you, type of places where no one knows and so therefore it is publicly known :eek:)

Let me know....

Greg
 
Uplandhunter67 said:
Grilled filleted breast meat then put in a nice alfredo sauce (with a nice shot of dry Marsalla wine) with artichoke hearts and black olives served over fettucini...... A bit decadent but makes the grouse go further especially with guests over...:D
Click to expand...

More of a cuisine type question...when I was stationed up at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, AK I hunted spruce grouse, ruffed and sharptails. The spruce grouse I ate were a bit bitter, so you usually had to let them marinate in concentrated OJ, milk, italian dressing, or something to that effect.

The ptarmigan I shot also were very, very dark meat.

With that, are blues the same as spruce grouse or ptarmigan?? The dove I shot and ate this past weekend were a bit darker than what I have had before. I guess it just depends on what they are eating.

Greg
 
retrvrman said:
More of a cuisine type question...when I was stationed up at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, AK I hunted spruce grouse, ruffed and sharptails. The spruce grouse I ate were a bit bitter, so you usually had to let them marinate in concentrated OJ, milk, italian dressing, or something to that effect.

The ptarmigan I shot also were very, very dark meat.

With that, are blues the same as spruce grouse or ptarmigan?? The dove I shot and ate this past weekend were a bit darker than what I have had before. I guess it just depends on what they are eating.

Greg
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Greg,
Grouse are a light meat similar to pheasant but I find them to have less of a game flavor. When I cook them I treat them like I would chicken. Sage grouse and sharptails are dark in color like liver. Generally with sage / sharptail grouse I will cut the breast into small chunks dip it in a egg/milk wash then into flour with garlic powder and then fry in oil. When they come out of the oil I sprinkle lemon pepper on them. They usually taste pretty good that way but it still has a bit of the gamey(sic) flavor.

Sage grouse can be hunted in Colorado. There are a few open units and quite a bit of public land to chase them on. Another reason to chase them before some wise politician moves them to the endangered list. Just takes a lot of boot leather and the season is only 6 days execpt in North Park where it is 2 days.
Wyoming has a decent population and some good areas to chase them.

I left some empty red AA with Remington STS primers. When you find those you'll be in the right spot...;)

Hunting pheasants with you sounds fun. If we get bored in Burlington we can always slip over the KS border....

My friends call me Matt......
 
Matt,
Thanks for the recipe, sounds delish. I checked the DOW site and I did see that there are some units, only open for a few days, for sage grouse. They are bigger than a full grown mature cockbird?

I talked to Chuck at the Rooster roundup and he said their site got hacked, it will be up in a few weeks, however they will still be having it this year. My son and I will probably go out there and hunt just Saturday, get the dogs out and do a warm up prior to our bigger and longer annual pheasant hunting trip to Kansas a couple of weeks after.

I will look for the shells :p:D

We might try and head out this Saturday morning early. What time in the am do you think is best to be out there in the woods/terrain with the dogs hunting?

Greg
 
I'll keep an eye peeled for the round-up. Heard lots about it but never tried it.

Sage grouse are huge. Probably 1-1/2 times the size of a rooster. They are the largest upland game bird in Colorado. They are a lot of fun but with a two bird limit you can be finished with the first covey break.

I wouldn't worry about being out to early. Grouse are lazy and don't come off the their roost until the sun is up. They will let you walk by if they are still roosting.
Plus with all the rain we have be having I would probably not start until 8am or so and hunt the fringes that have sun shining on them. They like to sun themselves. As the day warms I would push into the open grasses and aspen groves. If it gets hot out hunt the shade fringe of the pines. Look for berries, rose hips, and hoppers. Also walk everyting that looks birdy.

Don't lead grouse. They are slow and you can cover their heads and slap the trigger. I also use an improved cylinder choke in both barrels. They are up close and personal birds. Usually on opening day I'll put a skeet choke in the bottom barrel. Last tip is if they flush or you don't have a good shot just let them go and watch where they go and then go kick them up again....

Good luck...... Matt

PS... I use the fry recipe with pheasant too..
 
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Matt,
Thanks I will try to remember and heed your advice. If we do go this weekend I will let everyone know how it went. Wish us luck!!

Greg
 
To address an earlier question on dark and light meat in birds, the muscle groups that get used most will be dark meat. Birds that do a lot of fling will have dark breast meat. This is caused by the amount of blood that circulates though those areas.

Birds that mostly walk, the thighs and legs will be dark. You would notice that more in store bought birds if they were free range but they are not allowed to do much walking these days, hence the dark meat in turkeys that you used to see is no more, just slightly darker than the breast.

As to the number of sage grouse that can be taken, their numbers have dropped due to lack of habitat and drought. This was also not caught by district managers until it was almost too late. Upland bird hunting has not been a forte of the DOW until the last 10 to 15 years, though I doubt it is still not a forefront agenda item.

Colorado has been geared to big game first, fishing second and then upland hunting.
 
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