1st trip grouse hunting soon! Any tips or tricks?

The Cat's right about watching the trees. Ruffed grouse, when spooked will generally do one of two things:

1) Fly into a wooded area approximately 75 to 100 yards, and then make a sharp turn either to the left or to the right. When they do this, if you follow the the same course they went on when they flew, stopping at about 75 yards and begin pushing ahead from there in an arc that spans from the left to the right of the original path, you will often bump them again. Each time they bump, you may get another opportunity to shoot. But also, each time they bump they get more and more tired - they go 75 to 100 yards in the first place because that's where they start running out of gas. When you get good at it, you can bump the same bird 2 or 3 times until you get a shot at it.

2) Fly up to a nearby tree. Not much needs to be said about this except that, when you're looking for ruffies in the trees, always search the trees at about 10 feet off the ground. Ruffies are wary of ground predators, but they also have to watch for death from the skies (eagles, hawks). For this reason, they prefer to stay below the treetops when they fly and I can't think of a single occasion when I've seen one sitting any higher in a tree (or much lower, either) than around 10 feet.

Shooting ruffies in a tree with a shotgun comes with the same advice as on the ground with a SG - use the tight (full) choke barrel, if you're shooting with a double gun, and aim slightly above the head so as to catch the head with the edge of the pattern and not hit the meat. Be ready with your second shot in case you aim too high. For that matter, always be ready with your second shot, as ruffies are masters at perching on the other side of the tree trunk and letting the tree protect them from the blast.

I, personally, have no issues with shooting grouse in trees or on the ground as long as it's done in safety. But, that may not always be as obvious as it seems. Ricochets off rocks hidden in the grass or other hard materials such as willows are not only possible, I witnessed a hunter shoot his partner in the face doing that!
 
I take .22 and 12g depending on the day. I much prefer the shotgun. My method is trying to get as close as possible to the bird until it starts to take flight. Then the hunt is on. I can honestly say that of all of the grouse that I have taken this way I have never had a pellet in the breast. There have been times that I have picked up the bird and thought that I had, but nope.

Grouse hunting is a tricky one. People think it's sporting to drive a truck through the bush on a fire break until they see one and then get out and shoot it. Apparently the act of getting out and walking two feet counts as "not hunting from your vehicle". I am one of those "purists" who detests anyone who does this (unless you're crippled). Like others have said, be prepared for a lot of walking. Grouse hunting is one of the hunts that you can actually talk while stalking and not spook the game. Have fun and be responsible.
 
I use a 20g with an ImpCyl choke, Im about to switch that to a full choke so I can get a few more yards of reach... we've got quite a few sharp tail out on our cultivated fields, and these buggers wont let you get any closer then 40 to 50 yards, so Im going to start bringing the 17HMR with me for field hunting...
 
If you parked your truck got your shot gun turned around and saw 20 grouse you would not shoot right?How far do you have to be before it is hunting?
 
I prefer wing shots to groundies. I do both. With a running grouse in thick cover & undulating landscape, a ground shot can be, arguably, more difficult than an open cross wingshot et al. IMO both of these scenarios are more sporting & challenging than having the extra eyes, ears, nose & body language of a dog to prepare your nerves, gun positioning, footwork, balance, & overall readiness of an imminent flush. This tips the scales a bit too much in the hunter's favour I feel.

Don't get me wrong, at sometime in the not to distant future - I may well secure the services of a good pointer to do the 'leg work' that I will no longer be able to do .... but the ultimate experience, pleasure, & 'gamesmanship' of matching senses & wits mano a mano with the ruffed grouse will certainly have been lost.


This past Thursday (on the wing) rising out of highbush cranberries:

grouse1.JPG
 
CROWCA said:
If you parked your truck got your shot gun turned around and saw 20 grouse you would not shoot right?How far do you have to be before it is hunting?
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Yeah I would shoot. Because I didn't see the grouse before I parked. Maybe it's different for me but I have specific areas where I park and then get out and hunt. If I see a grouse before then, I won't shoot it.

I think a safe bet would be if you have the intentions of getting out and walking during your "hunt" then you're ok. If your definition of hunting grouse is driving down a gravel road on a motorized vehicle, seeing one, getting out/off your vehicle and shooting it. That IMHO is not hunting by the definition of the law.

If my comments make you feel guilty, maybe you're doing it wrong.
 
So did you get out hunting this weekend? How did it go?

I kinda hope you took a sg - it'd be the best chance to capitalize on all situations.

For what it is worth here's my thoughts on the ground sluicing thing. Don't be proud of the shooting if you do it with a shotgun, but be proud of the game you take home. I've started hunting grouse more with a .22 now. I think that's every bit as much of a challenge as wing shooting. We've all happened to notice grouse behaving pretty stupidly - but trying to force that scenario is not simple. Also, if there is heavy cover, even picking your shot in time on a bird that has noticed you and is taking a few steps through cover before flying can be just as hard as getting a shot at a deer doing the same thing, if not harder.

RG

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Where I live, most grouse hunters are the ve-hicular type. Their idea of really roughing it is to unload the ATV and cruise the back trails. Whatever floats their boat. I have several trails that have blowdown and heavy debris at some point that prevents these guys from getting in. I have cleared a few of them a hundred yards after the blowdown...because nobody walks, the trails after the blowdown are used exclusively by me. It's Northern Ontario, where the birds are simple and plentiful, and rarely fly, so I do a lot of pot shooting, sometimes, .22, sometimes 20 or 12 guage, sometimes with my bow.

I have to laugh...each year the driving types ask me how the bird hunt is going. They profess that it's a poor year, there are none around, etc, but every year i average the same number, usually 60 to 80. The benefits of walking are far more than improving health.
 
PeakXV said:
Don't get me wrong, at sometime in the not to distant future - I may well secure the services of a good pointer to do the 'leg work' that I will no longer be able to do .... but the ultimate experience, pleasure, & 'gamesmanship' of matching senses & wits mano a mano with the ruffed grouse will certainly have been lost.
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PeakXV, you may be surprised if/when you get a dog. Neither ruffed nor sharptail grouse will hold for a point (okay, I'll admit I have seen a real point on a grouse once in 6 years with the dog). This is because of the bird's behavior, not the dog's. The same dog will have no problem locking into a solid point on a pheasant, for example. But, grouse simply do not stay on the ground when a dog is in the vicinity.

For sharptail in particular, but also for ruffies, the dog is often more of a hindrance than a benefit - he/she will flush the bird out of range and you don't even get a shot. Our experience, though, is that the dog is still a net benefit.

Half the time, when the dog flushes a ruffie out of range, the bird just hops up into the nearest tree, at which point the dog starts barking her "I've got one over here!" bark. If you get there quick enough, you'll get a shot as the bird spooks at your arrival. Sometimes the bird will simply sit in the tree, assuming you can't get it there. When this happens, you can take a head shot and bring home a nice, clean bird, or you can scare it off the tree and try for a wing shot, if you prefer.

Sharptail don't let you or the dog come as close as a ruffie will before flushing. And, they don't sit in trees. So, the only way the dog will help you get a shot is if he/she can push the bird in your direction when it flushes. If the sharptail have any clue where you are, that will never happen.

So, having heard this, you may be wondering why anyone would want a dog along on a grouse hunt!?! The answer is simple: While the dog doesn't get you many additional opportunities, it will make up for the ones it costs you with the occasional flush or treed bird. More importantly, the dog will recover downed birds like nothing you've ever seen.

About 2 weeks ago, we saw a dramatic example of this, while out sharptail hunting. Sharptail (the CGN user) put a few pellets in a sharptail (the bird) and it went down behind a little hill. When we went to investigate, a bird blasted out of cover and escaped behind some trees. Sharptail (the hunter) couldn't believe that bird had that kind of jam after being knocked down. So, we assumed they were 2 different birds. We spent 20 - 25 minutes looking for the downed bird, to no avail. Finally, we gave up and we were ready to continue the hunt. But, the dog was nowhere to be found.

We decided to sit and have a smoke while we waited for the dog to find us again. Ten minutes later, who should come proudly trotting over the hill but my little Brit, and presented sharptail with his bird. Judging by the time involved, she must have been quite a ways away from us when she finally caught that bird.

Over the 6 seasons that we have hunted with this dog our average annual bag has been almost the same as before the dog. The difference, we believe, is that we leave fewer injured birds in the bush (and, we spend less time looking for them). Even when she flushes one out of range we appreciate it. Most of those we wouldn't have bumped ourselves and it helps future hunts to know how many are in the area and where they were located on any given day.

Any hunter who is considering the purchase of a good hunting dog should be prepared to spend an average of a thousand dollars annually on the dog, pet supplies, and vet bills. They aren't cheap, but they're the next best thing to a good hunting partner.
 
I have a slightly different take on dogs and grouse. The main reason I do so well is because of my dogs, and I have had a wide variety of them. The worst dog I have had to date was a Brittney...cost me a 1000 bucks, but was as stupid as a sack of hammers. My best dog was a husky/sheperd mutt mix.
First time I took it out it realized right away what the point of it all was, and that dog got me hundreds of birds. It wasn't a natural retriever, but it did chase down the cripples. Spike's main talent was working the edges. Trails around here are pretty thick, and the birds are often hiding right on the edge. They'll often hold and not break cover if you don't have a dog. That dog had a talent for pushing them out right at the perfect range....very quiet too, never barked...alas, the dog went with the ex wife....then I had the Brittney...it turned into a runner, and I couldn't break him, not even with an e collar...he would just take off and resurface a hour or two later. My newest hunting partner is the strangest yet, and I have a sense that she is going to be the best yet. Don't laugh, but my wife got a little yorkie, five pounds of furry. I was hesitant to try it out, because I didn't think it would be able to keep up on the ten and 15 k walks. However, it has surprised the hell out of me. It took about three trips for it to lock onto the scent, but now it's hardwired for birds. Works the edges at a perfect distance for flushes, and has greatly increased my take in the last couple of weeks.

Downside is it looks too much like a rabbit, so it has to wear a sweater, picked out by my wife, which is distinctly, well, feminine, and somewhat embarrassing. Upside is it's quite a conversation piece, CO stopped me the other day and almost forgot to ask to see my license.

Anyway, I think just about any dog can be an asset for grouse hunting, as long as he understands what he needs to do, and keeps flushes in range.
 
memaquay said:
My newest hunting partner is the strangest yet, and I have a sense that she is going to be the best yet. Don't laugh, but my wife got a little yorkie, five pounds of furry. I was hesitant to try it out, because I didn't think it would be able to keep up on the ten and 15 k walks. However, it has surprised the hell out of me. It took about three trips for it to lock onto the scent, but now it's hardwired for birds. Works the edges at a perfect distance for flushes, and has greatly increased my take in the last couple of weeks.
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Hmmm.........Perhaps I should borrow my sister's Shi Tzu???
 
I've been out 3 times with my two lab pups and they have flushed a few grouse out of range or in the wrong direction(between me and my truck) but I'll tell you,it sure is fun and the dogs love every second.They also come home pooped which is great.
 
Much thanks for all the advice, I went out over the weekend and only got 2 with my buddy. We flushed a couple but the first few were so much of a surprize we didn't even raise the shotgun for them. The two I got were both taken with my ruger 10/22 with simple headshots at about 20ish feet, all I did was walk a lil and stop and listen/look really carfully for them and that seemed to work really well. My bud tired hitting a few on the fly but I think being too excited he screwed up his aim with the shotgun. We were out for about 4 hours and only got two but I was still extremely happy with them and ate them for lunch, gotta love how easily they can be dressed:). Again much thanks to everybody for the info.

Pics to follow soon:)
 
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