2016 sandhills grouse

GSP

New member
My hunting partner bought into a lease last year. As such, my annual sept trip west will be solo. NE has been on my bucket list for years. The fact that it's closer than the Dakotas and I'll be driving by myself, has finally prompted me to make this year the year I visit the Sandhills.

Looks like the precipitation has been adequate and well timed. How are grouse numbers looking?
 
My hunting partner bought into a lease last year. As such, my annual sept trip west will be solo. NE has been on my bucket list for years. The fact that it's closer than the Dakotas and I'll be driving by myself, has finally prompted me to make this year the year I visit the Sandhills.

Looks like the precipitation has been adequate and well timed. How are grouse numbers looking?



Nebraska has some of the highest grouse numbers left SD & MT I think are tops... But not as many chickens out in Nebraska sandhills they are there more south u go towards KS more chickens...

Pretty tuff on the dogs feet them sand hills bring lots of water & watch out for skunks & porcupines I seen more skunks this year in Nebraska then any other year I been turkey hunting out there 10+ years

I'd probably say go once pheasant starts that way u can shoot pheasant quail & prairie grouse? & avoid that sandhills heat it gets crazy hot out there & very few trees to catch shade lol

Out in the FPNG in SD u have more option terrain wise then NE southern part of grassland different then north part along MO river etc. More grassland NE all sandburs rock cactus & hard on dog..


I herd of no large die offs & winter was ez down In NE so ur hunt should be a great adventure
 
Last edited:
Thanks. Due to work schedule, I'm locked into the second week of sept. I know it will be hot. But with only two dogs and a 3 month old puppy and it being my first trip, I'm going to need some windshield time for scouting anyway. The heat of the day will force me to rest the dogs and see the country.
 
Thanks. Due to work schedule, I'm locked into the second week of sept. I know it will be hot. But with only two dogs and a 3 month old puppy and it being my first trip, I'm going to need some windshield time for scouting anyway. The heat of the day will force me to rest the dogs and see the country.


Sounds like u have plenty of dog power... Hunt early early early will be hot most all day it sucks lol... Also prepare not much to see out in the sandhills very mononatinice I see why they call it fly over country lol...

With only a 3 bird limit u should have time to see the country side once u get a few birds... Heading to the Nebraska national Forest ???
 
I made a very memorable hunt there in late 90's , our experience is you deifinaley need boots for your dog . We hunted the public areas and shot limits . i remember the Burwell and north of there being good .
 
thanks guys. yes, i'll be hunting national forest. to be honest, from the pictures i've seen, it looks anything but monotonous. i can't wait to experience the sandhills. looks like a special place.

my oldest dog has had boots on a couple of times in icy conditions. i definitely need to take the younger dogs for a run or two with them in the next few weeks to introduce them to boots as well. thanks for the reminder.
 
thanks guys. yes, i'll be hunting national forest. to be honest, from the pictures i've seen, it looks anything but monotonous. i can't wait to experience the sandhills. looks like a special place.

my oldest dog has had boots on a couple of times in icy conditions. i definitely need to take the younger dogs for a run or two with them in the next few weeks to introduce them to boots as well. thanks for the reminder.


Oh I forgot the other thing out in the sandhills the "yucca plants" you will see them all over they are the sharp looking plants similar to a saw palmato in say Florida...

You have a great attitude I doubt the lonely sandhills will dampin your spirits its just another world coming from the forested east & ruffed grouse country Like Michigan Minnesota Wisconsin etc.

If you road run your dog on graval & concrete or asphalt alot b4 the hunt u can really tuff n up there pads I have yet to boot my dog but I admit 6.5 days in the rocky Montana sage cactus country hurt my dogs feet by day 4 only 2 outta 3 dogs were hunt-able by day 5 only my dog was left the other 2 dogs were not road ran much b4 season I try to do it at least 4-6 wks out if possible... Boots will let ur dog hunt much longer ... Heat was crazy also like NE sandhills 82-90 hole trip could only hunt 1st & last few hours of day...
 
One thing we always did when hunting the sandhills was always hunting up the windward side of the hills, provided a better chance of not having the flock flush out of range. I would also suggest car spotting a vehicle at your end point and you can cover miles on a hunt and then have to back track to your starting point on a hot day that can be miserable. Make sure you have plenty of water with you.
 
Last edited:
I was just north of there 2 weeks ago. There was plenty of grouse around water and I worked the dog for about an hour 3 mornings while on vacation. Crazy hot the rest of the day, in the 100's. If you have time head over to Chadron and visit the fur trade museum, one of the best gun collections and historical artifact museum's I've seen. Tremendous!!!!turkey hatch this year in the mountains.
 
thanks for the encouragement gents. yah, the heat has me a little nervous. I'm going the second week of sept. and unfortunately, I won't have a spotter. we'll just have to make a loop back to the truck.

when you say hunt up the leeward side. do you mean in terms of the wind? I was anticipating them to be just over the crest of the hills tucked out of the wind. no?
 
Yes, they will be out of the wind on the leeward side. Hunt with the wind at your back as much as possible. And water at V. refuge isn't an issue. Lots of lakes and windmills with tanks. You just have to move off the hills for water. If the windmills aren't labeled "UNTESTED" they are safe to drink (the pipe, not the tank). Very few aren't labeled.

Don't overthink the hunt too much and have fun!
 
thanks for the encouragement gents. yah, the heat has me a little nervous. I'm going the second week of sept. and unfortunately, I won't have a spotter. we'll just have to make a loop back to the truck.

when you say hunt up the leeward side. do you mean in terms of the wind? I was anticipating them to be just over the crest of the hills tucked out of the wind. no?

Hunt up windward side, birds will be on the leeward side out of wind, mind was thinking one way and fingers typed the other, sorry for confusion.
 
Prairie grouse use there eyes more then any other bird we hunt that's why they flush wild on so many guys they live I grass wear they can stand & see u & duck to hide etc. They also use the wind to there advantage they will sit with wind blowing over there back watching for predators approaching from downwind so I that why walking with the wind helps plus ur flushes should be closer bbetween u & dog ...
 
Prairie grouse use there eyes more then any other bird we hunt that's why they flush wild on so many guys they live I grass wear they can stand & see u & duck to hide etc. They also use the wind to there advantage they will sit with wind blowing over there back watching for predators approaching from downwind so I that why walking with the wind helps plus ur flushes should be closer bbetween u & dog ...

Guess I've had some different experiences living and hunting in sharptail country for 55 years.
Just downwind below a high ridge line can be productive on those days the wind blows hard. They will roost in those areas in the evening. Find the highest points in the area with cover and start there early in the morning and in the evening. Keep your eyes open and its not unusual to see them flying in the early morning and late evening. Those birds can fly a long ways. Most of areas I hunt don't have a lot of trees. Look in the cottonwoods and sometimes you will see them sitting in the tree. If there's a couple in the trees, there maybe many more on the ground around the tree. Also look around Russian olives and junipers.
Your dog will bump more birds if you hunt with the wind on your back. I've found that I just hunt where I think the birds will be. If the wind is in our face that's great, I hunt irregardless of what the direction the winds coming from.
Huns, chukars, sharptails, sage chickens and pheasant all use there eyes a lot.
Can't think of all the times I've seen birds running away from us. I'm surprised to hear that the birds sit with the wind to their back. They have no trouble seeing you from any direction. Have you personally seen this? See lots of sharptails on the ground when they are feeding but have never seen when roosting.
Good luck on your trip.
 
Guess I've had some different experiences living and hunting in sharptail country for 55 years.
Just downwind below a high ridge line can be productive on those days the wind blows hard. They will roost in those areas in the evening. Find the highest points in the area with cover and start there early in the morning and in the evening. Keep your eyes open and its not unusual to see them flying in the early morning and late evening. Those birds can fly a long ways. Most of areas I hunt don't have a lot of trees. Look in the cottonwoods and sometimes you will see them sitting in the tree. If there's a couple in the trees, there maybe many more on the ground around the tree. Also look around Russian olives and junipers.
Your dog will bump more birds if you hunt with the wind on your back. I've found that I just hunt where I think the birds will be. If the wind is in our face that be great, I hunt irregardless of what the direction the winds coming from.
Huns, chukars, sharptails, sage chickens and pheasant all use there eyes a lot.
Can't think of all the times I've seen birds running away from us. I'm surprised to hear that the birds sit with the wind to their back. They have no trouble seeing you from any direction. Have you personally seen this? See lots of sharptails on the ground when they are feeding but have never seen when roosting.
Good luck on your trip.


I hunted sharptails in MN ND MT sage grouse in MT bobwhite in NE sage grouse I hunted were in sage flats they hide behind sage more then run they do like open rocky edges pheasants use eyes yes but run run run prairie grouse don't run nearly as much they see u & hide more then run that what I mean about using eyes pheasant use feet as do scaled quail & chukar... Grouse use camo & being still let u walk by...

In MN ND & parts of NE grouse country its very flat maybe these grouse act different??? I've only been hunting prairie grouse 10 years but I do know there is different sub species of sharptails they range from WI to Alaska...

Yes I've seen prairie chicken's & sharptails sit watching or mostly facing downwind also seen em land in Russian olives & use look out birds as others milled around ground & or bombed into same tree... Watched em with binos.. I once hunted all day with wind in my face flushing prairie grouse wild I started walking with wind to get back to vehicle started flushing birds closer & soon limited out ... Tried it a few times since worked for me... I've also read this sharptails sitting with wind blowing over back & looking downwind thing at least twice since I tried it on purpose... I'll look for articles 1 was in gundog using a springer for prairie grouse...

Get up early like he say prairie grouse are like waterfowl they get active at 1st & last light especially 1st light... Prairie grouse fly miles once flushed vs yards like other game birds...

Walk with wind in face for dogs sake but just not caring about wind is nieve I like close shots & birds flushing into wind flying slow lol

I've talked with & had my birds logged into a prairie grouse biologist outta NE MN WI he gave me a pretty good idea of what prairie grouse do & there habits he had radio collarard birds in these areas he was surprised I new the areas he worked he checked all our dead birds out pulled feathers aged em & asked wear we shot em... Was cool to chat with that biologist...
 
One thing that you will learn over time is that these birds know how to survive. They have a brain smaller than the size of a pencil. If you hunt only one way, or one type of cover you are missing out. There are few things that can be taken for granted with them. Their behavior sometimes seem to change some what from year to year. Last year I hunted our 4 month long season with just a 20 gauge. Cover was a little better than years past and they let you get really close before flushing all season long. Not the typical towards the end of season flush far out and you need need a little more gun.
As for the wind, it's doing all kinds of funny things in sharptail country. Hunt what looks good, if you always hunt with the wind to your back you can get along ways away from the truck. We don't have the luxury of having two vehicles and parking a couple miles away. Some times you would have to walk over 30 miles to the next road. The flat lands hold sharptails, but in my experience the rolling and rougher country hold more.

There's nothing for sure with any of these birds. Visit with others and hear their stories. Everyone of them can help you learn more. As for the biologists, some are good and some are not. I happen to work with quit a few. There's not a lot of them that I would place a lot of confidence in what they say. They spend a little time in the field, but don't get off the beaten path. I find talking to the people that make their living outdoors have the best information, ex.ranchers, rural school bus drivers, guys working in the oilfield. even the spray plane pilots have great info.
One thing I do find interesting is you don't see much about the types of grass that the sharptails prefer. Think that makes much of a difference? I sure do.
 
Last edited:
One thing that you will learn over time is that these birds know how to survive. They have a brain smaller than the size of a pencil. If you hunt only one way, or one type of cover you are missing out. There are few things that can be taken for granted with them. Their behavior sometimes seem to change some what from year to year. Last year I hunted our 4 month long season with just a 20 gauge. Cover was a little better than years past and they let you get really close before flushing all season long. Not the typical towards the end of season flush far out and you need need a little more gun.
As for the wind, it's doing all kinds of funny things in sharptail country. Hunt what looks good, if you always hunt with the wind to your back you can get along ways away from the truck. We don't have the luxury of having two vehicles and parking a couple miles away. Some times you would have to walk over 30 miles to the next road. The flat lands hold sharptails, but in my experience the rolling and rougher country hold more.

There's nothing for sure with any of these birds. Visit with others and hear their stories. Everyone of them can help you learn more. As for the biologists, some are good and some are not. I happen to work with quit a few. There's not a lot of them that I would place a lot of confidence in what they say. They spend a little time in the field, but don't get off the beaten path. I find talking to the people that make their living outdoors have the best information, ex.ranchers, rural school bus drivers, guys working in the oilfield. even the spray plane pilots have great info.
One thing I do find interesting is you don't see much about the types of grass that the sharptails prefer. Think that makes much of a difference? I sure do.


Most biologist are desk jockys they will tell u as much... Wear I seen the biologist is in MN table flat landscape no hills so no choice wear to hunt... The biologist was out driving 2 track field roads & min magnince roads I could barely walk he was off the betean path... Was on public & private land had been studying prairie grouse longer then I been alive...

As for grass these birds are prairie grouse yes grass is important hunt stuff that looks good really don't help anybody hunt edges vains of different grass bordering each other or by sunflowers corn & beans in that order... The grass they prefer is shine height & u can see ur boot strings in the grass aka not to thick... They use alfelfa also... They hang by or with cattle I think they treat em like modern day bbuffalo sometimes...

Boot leather kills prairie grouse & good dogs...

What kind of dogs u run. Edo?
 
Wind

A guy can't hunt with the wind at your back all day and some days hardly at all in the sandhills. The hills run in ridges east/west. Most ridges are pretty narrow north/south. If I can't hunt with the wind at my back through the best cover, then I hunt crosswind. It's not that you won't see birds walking into the wind, but with a flusher, you won't get much shooting, as the hill sides are 50+ yards apart.

I like choppy hills. Sharp peaks, blowouts, and bowls. I don't typically find a lot of grouse in rolling or round topped hills. Those are the birds that see you coming from a long ways.

Private land birds don't get the pressure the Refuge and National Forest birds do in NE. Once the public land birds have been flushed and shot at a few times, they become much less tolerant of hunters and dogs.

I always hunt alfalfa given a chance. Holds birds even when most of the field is mowed flat. Narrow strips not even a foot wide will hold a bird. Low spots that get cut 8 or 10" will hold birds when the rest of the field looks like a billiard table. The pivot corners can be very good. The trick to short alfalfa is you have to hunt it in the afternoons. In the morning, the birds are spooky. They haven't adjusted to the hawks cruising. I've always thought it was strange that I see many birds flying into the alfalfa in the near dark morning, but you seldom see them flying out. I think most of them walk back into the hills after feeding. There are a few lazy grouse that just stay there all day. Those are the ones that feel secure in their hide and hold well for a point or end of the nose flush in the afternoon.

Outside the sandhills, I look for yellow grass on hills. Yellow grass isn't as thick or tall. Dark grass holds pheasants and yellow grass holds grouse.

I've found late season grouse flushes and coveys are a product of the weather. If there's a few inches of snow and cold, they covey up. If you get a warm spell and the snow melts, the birds will break up and be huntable again. I've shot many limits into late December without stretching a barrel, when the weather was nice.

A few hours in the hills will tell you a lot if you find birds. If they're all flushing wild, hunt from a different direction.
 
Sunflowers, crack for sharptails, know it well.

I run GSP's. They are big running dogs. Here's a tip if you hunt rougher country, use a tracking collar.
 
Back
Top