Calling all grouse hunters

chewi004

New member
I know this forum is mostly pheasant/quail/chukar/etc, but I was wondering if there are any guys on here who are mainly targeting grouse (specifically ruffed grouse)?

If so, how did your year turn out? Any particular cover they were found in, or anything particular they were eating this year?

That is the most intriguing upland bird to me, and one that I can hunt wild here in VA. The numbers are not great, but they are certainly here.
 
Gonna go out ruffed hunting for the first time hopefully this week. Friend of mine killed one today in North Carolina. He said he flushed 5 in Tennessee yesterday. Good luck.
 
there is no grouse like the sage grouse. it is great table fare if you do not shoot the boomers. hard too do if you have ever hunted them. sharps are easy if you now where to hunt them. dont know about ruff. :thumbsup:
 
I mainly hunt grouse and woodcock. We start in mid September and are pretty much done by nov 15 when deer season comes in, deer season goes out end of November and by that time we are usually snow out. I shoot 25 woodcock over my Britt pup and a 6 grouse. Totaled 32 we and 12 grouse for the season. My focus this year was my pup so we busted a lot more grouse then we bagged. Grouse hunting is definitely a 2 man sport up here. We typically hunt young aspen stands with high stem densitys, usually if you can fall down without hitting a tree it is not good cover. As the weather turns colder then we start to hunt edges between aspen and lowland conifer stands.
 
I mainly hunt grouse and woodcock. We start in mid September and are pretty much done by nov 15 when deer season comes in, deer season goes out end of November and by that time we are usually snow out. I shoot 25 woodcock over my Britt pup and a 6 grouse. Totaled 32 we and 12 grouse for the season. My focus this year was my pup so we busted a lot more grouse then we bagged. Grouse hunting is definitely a 2 man sport up here. We typically hunt young aspen stands with high stem densitys, usually if you can fall down without hitting a tree it is not good cover. As the weather turns colder then we start to hunt edges between aspen and lowland conifer stands.

I would consider that a pretty good season! Anything particular you do with your pup training her mostly for woodcock/grouse (opposed to say training a pup for pheasants/chukar)?

I been working with my gsp for awhile, but cannot get her on a grouse to save my life. I use the scent for training, and have had her on pheasants and chukar....but no woodcock or grouse
 
Have hunted blues (now duskys) in Colorado and chukar partridge in Nevada. Did try to find some ptarmigans in Colorado but never located any. They're pretty high up. Saw some sharptails in Dakota but did not get a shot. Are sharptails as good as duskys to eat?
 
I would consider that a pretty good season! Anything particular you do with your pup training her mostly for woodcock/grouse (opposed to say training a pup for pheasants/chukar)?

I been working with my gsp for awhile, but cannot get her on a grouse to save my life. I use the scent for training, and have had her on pheasants and chukar....but no woodcock or grouse

I didn't do anything other than off season pigeon work, then just being patient with her in the field during hunting season. She ran thru her share of bird early on then she started to figure it out. We are lucky that we have plenty of both birds where I live. Her last hunt i ran her 30 plus minutes she point three grouse which I missed all of them and she point 2 woodcock which I got one. Strongly believe it really comes down to bird contact, we hunted 4-5 times a week.
 
Strongly believe it really comes down to bird contact, we hunted 4-5 times a week.

This is going to be my biggest struggle. I am not in a place with great numbers of birds, so it is tough getting her on wild birds. Putting in the time and effort is not an issue, but you can't hunt birds that not there. And she will not find birds that are not there.

I ran her yesterday for a solid 2+ hours through some new territory. Looked grousey to me, but she didn't hit anything that even made her excited. Only one time did her tail really get wagging and she looked "birdy". She hunted with her head down the entire time and nose glued to the ground, which I was very proud of her for. Other times, she will tend to lose interest after an hour or 2 of nothing...which I don't blame her!

I ordered a new training manual ("grouse dog training" from northwind enterprises in WI) that I am going to hit hard this summer. She is well along in her training, but I do see some things I want to fix/improve.

All in all I am trying to learn of some better grouse habitat. Do you find your birds in the mountains or closer to foot of the mountains?
 
grouse

18 days in the woods this year bagged 11 grouse and 3 woodcock. I too have a young dog year and a half now. Had a hard time finding woodcock this season for some reason. I think the flight was a week or two off this year compared to the last few years.
 
Do you find your birds in the mountains or closer to foot of the mountains?

We don't have mountains where I'm at barely any hills...lol, however, I would concentrate on areas of dense cover with some food sources like soft mast. We have most of our luck during the early season in dense aspen stands 10 - 20 feet tall, as the weather becomes colder then we concentrate on the edges along lowlands that have a fir/cedar component but also food. If you can find patches of gray dogwood, hawthorn, barberry, and rose bushes. Basically the thicker the better, at least in our neck of the woods.
 
I have been fortunate enough to hunt several different grouse species. Dusky (blue) ruffed , sage , sharpies and prarie chickens (pretty much a grouse). By far , the southern ruffed grouse is the most difficult because of terrain , numbers and speed. Do not under estimate them as a ground runner either! I dont think sage are as good as dusky but the young ones are good fare. Ive hunted them here and in northern michigan and ruffs arent easy either place. I think based on numbers and flat walking that the hunt is more efficient or a higher success rate in Michigan but certainly not easy.
 
I too am obsessed with the idea of grouse hunting though I've never been. All of the best upland literature is about "pa'tridge" hunting so it has to be great, plus as I understand the ruff is the king of ganebirds. There is supposed to be a few in the NW corner of Ca though I've never found anyone who could confirm and make the 6 hour drive up that way.
 
I too am obsessed with the idea of grouse hunting though I've never been. All of the best upland literature is about "pa'tridge" hunting so it has to be great, plus as I understand the ruff is the king of ganebirds. There is supposed to be a few in the NW corner of Ca though I've never found anyone who could confirm and make the 6 hour drive up that way.

QH if you ever get the urge to come this far East I'd be glad to introduce you to the ruffed grouse. I have read from a culinary stand point they are the king of game birds and from a hunting challenge I also think they are the tough of the upland birds to harvest just from the cover they live in, think quail Ina dense forest of 1-3 inch diameter trees 20 feet tall and to thick to fall down in, oh yeah don't forget to add leaves in the early season.......I have been lucky enough to shoot a grouse in the wide open and that was like shooting a pheasant. Any more they are becoming more pheasant like here and moving/running. Nothing like the thundering flush of a grouse to wake you up......
 
I'll make it out there some day for sure!
 
For those of you who mostly hunt grouse, do you often find woodcock in the same general area (same cover, same food sources, etc.)?

I see a lot of guys using bells on their grouse dogs. Do the bells not alert the grouse that something is near?
 
Grouse hunting

Hey fellas,

I've been chasing ruffed grouse since I was 12. I'm now 61. For the most part, the birds have kicked my butt but there is no greater pursuit, no greater physical activity and no greater challenge overall than this. I've put a bunch of birds in the freezer over the years. I have made some pretty hard shots and knocked them down and blew so many easy going away shots that i don't care to recall. To me the ruffed grouse is the wariest bird taking the best opportunity to blow out of a cover when you're taking a pee or crossing a fence. Sometimes they will wait til you walk by and just when that oak tree is between the both of you, he will take off, leaving you with no chance to get a shot off. I've only taken my limit of 4 birds (New York) on two occasions in my life. Once in my salad years (1976) and last year when I shot 4 grouse with 4 shots over the course of a 6 hour hunt. that will never, ever happen to me again. The memorable days are when we walk 15 miles and get a handful of flushes, the important part is the pursuit not the game bag. I hope I can hunt until i can no longer walk.
 
For those of you who mostly hunt grouse, do you often find woodcock in the same general area (same cover, same food sources, etc.)?

I see a lot of guys using bells on their grouse dogs. Do the bells not alert the grouse that something is near?

They do occupy the same cover types, however, food sources are very different, that being said you can find both food sources in the same cover type. The majority of a woodcock's diet is earthworms and you need a soil that is conducive to earthworms typically less acidic soils. So cover types that border streams or have a loam soil type would be your best bet and these soils will grow the grouse food sources too. You will know if woodcock are using the habitat if you find their splashings, which is chalky white poop left on the ground when a woodcock flushes. If you don't see much of the splash the woodcock are not using it or the flight has not come thru yet. Also woodcock are migratory and pretty much follow corridors running north south so if you can find good cover along stream/rivers and or major roadways you can have a great day full of many flushes and points. Here in Michigan it is not uncommon to have a 30 point day when you it a flight cover.

Regarding the bells whether or not they alert the birds is subject to many differing opinions. I don't think there is much of a difference then the noise generated by a hard running dog in the woods, for me it is used as a locator for my dog. My youngest pup has pointed grouse that have held from less than 10ft from her nose in areas that have been hunted hard. Other areas the birds are flushing wild from 30 yards out. It doesn't seem to bother woodcock at all.
 
They do occupy the same cover types, however, food sources are very different, that being said you can find both food sources in the same cover type. The majority of a woodcock's diet is earthworms and you need a soil that is conducive to earthworms typically less acidic soils. So cover types that border streams or have a loam soil type would be your best bet and these soils will grow the grouse food sources too. You will know if woodcock are using the habitat if you find their splashings, which is chalky white poop left on the ground when a woodcock flushes. If you don't see much of the splash the woodcock are not using it or the flight has not come thru yet. Also woodcock are migratory and pretty much follow corridors running north south so if you can find good cover along stream/rivers and or major roadways you can have a great day full of many flushes and points. Here in Michigan it is not uncommon to have a 30 point day when you it a flight cover.

Regarding the bells whether or not they alert the birds is subject to many differing opinions. I don't think there is much of a difference then the noise generated by a hard running dog in the woods, for me it is used as a locator for my dog. My youngest pup has pointed grouse that have held from less than 10ft from her nose in areas that have been hunted hard. Other areas the birds are flushing wild from 30 yards out. It doesn't seem to bother woodcock at all.

You talk about the woodcock's flight. I have been doing some reading on that and it appears VA (where I am located) is part of the woodcocks "wintering" range. I am assuming they come here once it gets real cold up north and just hang tight until it starts to warm up, then head back north? When can we expect them? I see the woodcock flight charts (very little data for VA and inconsistent), but nothing really in our game books. I am guessing they are typically here around the specified season...
 
Hey fellas,

I've been chasing ruffed grouse since I was 12. I'm now 61. For the most part, the birds have kicked my butt but there is no greater pursuit, no greater physical activity and no greater challenge overall than this. I've put a bunch of birds in the freezer over the years. I have made some pretty hard shots and knocked them down and blew so many easy going away shots that i don't care to recall. To me the ruffed grouse is the wariest bird taking the best opportunity to blow out of a cover when you're taking a pee or crossing a fence. Sometimes they will wait til you walk by and just when that oak tree is between the both of you, he will take off, leaving you with no chance to get a shot off. I've only taken my limit of 4 birds (New York) on two occasions in my life. Once in my salad years (1976) and last year when I shot 4 grouse with 4 shots over the course of a 6 hour hunt. that will never, ever happen to me again. The memorable days are when we walk 15 miles and get a handful of flushes, the important part is the pursuit not the game bag. I hope I can hunt until i can no longer walk.

Sounds like a lot of experience! What kind of dog do you prefer? Any pictures?
 
You talk about the woodcock's flight. I have been doing some reading on that and it appears VA (where I am located) is part of the woodcocks "wintering" range. I am assuming they come here once it gets real cold up north and just hang tight until it starts to warm up, then head back north? When can we expect them? I see the woodcock flight charts (very little data for VA and inconsistent), but nothing really in our game books. I am guessing they are typically here around the specified season...

Migration typically comes through Michigan late October to early November, but again that is weather dependent. I would venture to say they would be in VA by late November to early to mid December, just a guess though. Not sure where your birds would be migrating from.....could be earlier for more from the NE like maine.
 
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