2011 Ruffed Grouse

Haven't picked up a gun in 3 weeks....a first in 40 years of hunting. I usually go at least once a day. No reports here guys
 
Just fileted up seven birds from the second outing this year. I am going to make about two gallons of grouse wild rice soup!

You guys bring the beer I'll ladle the goodness.

:cheers:
 
I much prefer hunting any bird with a pointing dog, grouse included. A dog that's been trained and staunch on point will learn to handle running grouse. There are some that will always run and flush ahead, but that's the same with pheasants, too.

In the grouse woods I use a beeper collar. It acts like an electronic bell that goes to a steady tone when the dog becomes stationary on point. A lot of times you can't see the dog 10 yards away and the collar allows you to track his progress by hearing. My last collar was the best as it seemed to mimic a lot of tweety birds. I swear chickadees and others would start peeping when the dog came through. It never seemed to bother the grouse. The current collar is a bit different and I don't notice that effect.

It sounds like some of you MN guys have been seeing pretty fair bird numbers this year. The grouse population in the area of WI that I hunt was down. With a 6 month old pup, who didn't have a clue why he was in the woods, we didn't come home with any grouse and even flushes were few and far between. He did point a couple woodcock that I killed for him, though.
 
I had a friend who had a collar that worked like a hawk screeching whenever the dog went on point. He claimed the sound froze the birds, who thought there was a goshawk in the woods -- one of their natural predators. When it worked, it was like sporting clays, except faster and louder.

Crazy.
 
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