Back at it!

The club that bought the land is a local sportsman's club. They have about 1600 members and have helped our PF chapter in the past. The club owns about 160 acres. Our local PF chapter can't afford to buy land. We operate on a shoe string budget year to year. It would be nice if at least PA PF chapters could band together to get some land. It could be used for many habitat and chapter activities. I have a power ball plan that could take care of everything but I can get the numbers to work out for me yet.
 
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I left early today to head a little further north to try to find grouse in the Rothrock State Forest. I never hunted the area before and it was a little adventerous getting there. But I made it without any problems and unloaded the dogs and started walking towards an area that looked good on google maps. Not long into things I saw some good signs:
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Grouse tracks!

This is an improvement already over my past grouse hunts. Here are a few pictures of the cover:
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The dogs worked well and checked back in often enough for me not to worry about them running off. The dogs were working back to me and were able to produce a grouse for me. It flushed left to right and as I shot the bird flew behind a large pine tree. Well, at least I got some action. That was the only bird we found but it is an improvement. I'll have to check out the area again sometime but it may have to wait until next year.

On the way home I stopped by the local club to check things out and got these pictures:

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Blitz on point

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A close up of what he found. Not long after I took the pictues the birds flushed. It was a good way to end the day.
 
I know your legs might not think so, but you actually did very well. Grouse hunting is 90% scouting, especially in Pa.. The areas you are finding now will continue to hold grouse, and the key is to put these areas together for a continuous flush rate. You will get to the point where you eliminate thousands of unproductive acres. You should keep a journal and map it out. Love the pictures.:thumbsup:
 
I figure since there is not much going on I may as well keep putting up some recent pictures. I took the dogs out for a run on New Year's Eve morning to see if they could find anything. Both dogs worked the woods and I knew they were on something. The area is muddy and it holds a good bit of water in it. The dogs broke through the ice but it didn't stop them. They ended up finding three hen pheasants in the mess. We moved on and I saw plenty of animal tracks. Birds, deer, raccoons, rabbit, cat:mad: and fox:(. We kept working the fields where I saw more tracks but we didn't find anything. We worked our way back around to the woods and the dogs got birdy again. Nittany tracked a running bird and then went on point 75 yards into the woods. I walked in to see if I could flush anything and one hen and one rooster flushed. Now it is time to head back to the truck. I walk the path back and look up ahead and see this:
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As I get closer I see 3 quail under some branches.

I walk around the dogs for a little and snap a few pictues:
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There were more quail under some leaves and branches. There about 12-15 birds in this group and I think there is another covey about the same size in the area as well. I'll keep running the dogs for the next few months and see how long these birds can hold on.

Happy New Year!
 
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That's some real good stuff! Do you think any of the quail could be from last years release? Keep the pictures coming.

Happy New Year!
 
I think they are all from this year. I do know that some of the birds from last year were seen in August so it is possible that some of them hooked up with the new birds. I have had reports of last year's quail being seen a few miles away from the club but I have no idea what happened to them. I'll try to keep tabs on them over the next several months.

The club should hear back from NRCS soon about the EQIP program. I'm looking forward to seeing the plan that was drawn up. I hope there is enough money in the program to get things done.
 
Anybody get any late season birds? I didn't get a chance to get back out since my last post and won't be able to get out for the last day of grouse. I did manage to get out on Monday at a preserve and get some quail and some scratch pheasants. Good luck if you go out for the last day of grouse.
 
Not sure where we left off, we did get out a few times and took a couple of birds. Then every year about this time we switch over to just dog work and scouting. It's something we've done now for a while, sorta giving the birds a break.We will take birds at a preserve or such.We also have been having some fun with wild birds in NJ!
 
We just got back from an outing in NJ.. We were looking for an unique population of wild pheasants. These birds are very dark with no white ring and the hens are chocolate brown. Ive seen these birds a few times but have not been able to get a picture. I'll keep trying.
 
The only pictures I were able to get today were of their tracks in the snow. It's interesting to see how secretive these birds are. They rarely leave cover, and are never far away from an easy escape, be it a creek, mosquito ditch, or island. I think these birds have developed into a sub-species of Ringneck. They certainly don't mimic the traditional characteristics of the birds we're used to.
 
Went out this morning and managed to get into these guys again, but man are they spooky, they start running as soon as we leave the truck! Dugan does well, but these guys are tricky! We are going to have to use some sort of blocking technique. Took these pictures after Dugan pushed them out of the 7th hell!


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Darn sneaky birds!

What kind of cover is the area made up of? Are these birds spreading to different areas or are they just hanging out in an island of good cover? Thanks for the pictures.
 
These particular birds are isolated in an island of cover, it goes against what we know, as far as needing miles of continuous cover. They have been there for years. The area is pretty treacherous, tidal marsh, phragmites, spartina, salt hay, cattails, mugwart, black berry, pin oak, and very little traditional nesting cover. You can see why I think they are special and why I keep preaching about a captive breeding program.
 
I was able to get the dogs out for a run after they boys were finished up with wrestling. It didn't take long to find the covey of quail in the woods today. There were about 15 birds in the woods that decided to run and then flush into the switchgrass. I'm still suprised the quail are doing as well as they are.
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Blitz on the quail

We moved on and the dogs were working a narrow strip of switchgrass with the wind in their face. Nittany went on point and Blitz backed him when he came out of the tall grass. We worked the area but couldn't get anything to flush but I did snap a picture or two:
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We walked down the other edge of the field without finding anything. The dogs then worked a sorghum field and had another point. We couldn't flush anything from this field either. But then a hen finally flushed from some cover beside the sorghum and she moved fast and flew far. She sure was a healthy bird. I'm glad to be able to still get the dogs some work. I hope the birds keep holding on out there.
 
Brian, I know I mentioned this before, but your birds are WAY above average as far as survival for released birds. As you know, many perish the first week after release. I have to believe the Johny House plays a major role in conditioning the birds to the area. Last year you released the birds after the winter, so they made it through the worst part in the JH, but this year you had a much earlier release, yet they are still doing well. Is this correct? Do you remember the dates of release? Great pictures!
 
Last year I released the birds around the first week of March. They hung around until they started to move on and pair up. This year I released the last of the birds in early December, so the quail have been out for at least 2 months. Some have been out longer. The last time I released any pheasants was the day before Thanksgiving. Too bad I saw a road kill rooster yesterday 5 miles away from the club.

I do think the use of the JH allows the quail to get familiar with the area while having a safe place to return to. In the past I would get a group of quail and release them in the same area (to work the dogs) but without the use of a JH. Most of the birds were gone in a week or less when I just released them. I think it also helps that I get the birds for the JH when they are around 8 weeks old. These birds get to spend most of their life in the area they will be released in. I think getting young birds is a key.

I hope to hear some of them call again this spring because it was nice to hear while fishing at the pond.
 
I was down at the club tonight talking to one of the members. He told me he saw a covey of quail and this has to be a 2nd covey that is located on the club grounds. I'll have to run the dogs in this area sometime and see what we can find.
 
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