Much better year for grouse

popcan said:
The low ground cover plants with the red berries that you see everywhere underfoot in the Cariboo is Kinnikinik, also known as Bear Berries. Some sources refer to kinnikinik as a combination of stuff that the Algonquin Indians put together, rather than the name of a single plant. Locally here the plant is called Kinnikinik.

Probably the leaves you see in their crops is clover, it's like candy to a grouse. The blue berries are from the Juniper bushes.
I mentioned that one grouse had a rose hip pod in him - I've never seen that before... usually rose hips are too big for a grouse.

Weird, I got one more grouse today, and after cleaning him (pull the legs method), all I had in my hand was the wings and the breasts, and when I went to clip a wing off, I noticed that the heart did not come out with the rest of the innards, and it was still beating! :eek:

That's chickens for ya, I guess.

:D
Click to expand...

What I call grouse berries is undoubtably properly called Kinnikinik berries, thanks for that info. I have a couple of books published by the B.C. government in the 70's I think which are entitiled " Food Plants Of The Interior Indians " and " Food Palnts Of The Coastal Indians " or some thing like that. They have a great description and great pictures, I will pull them out and see what they call my grouse berries.

But the berries and leaves to which I refer are the leaves and berries of the Kinnikinik. The odd thing was that the ruffie's crops were full of berries where the blues were full of leaves. Some times you see areas where the berries are sparse but this wasn't the case. Just a personnel preference I guess.

The birds were very big and I couldn't field clean them with the cut off the head method, stand on the wings and pull the legs. So I ripped the skin off the breast, using a pair of shearing scissors I cut along the bottom of the rib cage, snipped off the wings and pulled the back from the breast. The blues I probably should of plucked as they were big enough. A large ziplock bag and a bottle of water and you are good to go.

One nice thing about a .22 is that you don't end up spitting out pellets.

KTK
 
Ken The Kanuck said:
The birds were very big and I couldn't field clean them with the cut off the head method, stand on the wings and pull the legs. KTK
Click to expand...

What?! I 'pulled' a Snow goose once. Hard as hell, but it worked!
 
Ken The Kanuck said:
....the berries and leaves to which I refer are the leaves and berries of the Kinnikinik. The odd thing was that the ruffie's crops were full of berries where the blues were full of leaves. Some times you see areas where the berries are sparse but this wasn't the case. Just a personnel preference I guess.


KTK
Click to expand...

Thanks Ken, that's nteresting info - I wish I could find a few Blues around here so I could compare how they feed in my area :( . Now we need you to tell us if the predominantly berry-fed birds taste any different from the leaves-fed birds? :D

Those berries - Kinnikinik or Grouse berries (a perfectly suitable name), or Bear berries - can be mushed up, made into a sauce and eaten with the breast. Just add some brown sugar and a cup of red wine.
Toss in a handfull of chopped up late-season wild green onions - getting harder to find now that the flowers have all finished - et voila!

(By the way, the leaves can be dried up and smoked like tobacco if you are really hard up.;) )
 
Grouse Man said:
What?! I 'pulled' a Snow goose once. Hard as hell, but it worked!
Click to expand...

Hahaha, I have a buddy who tried that with a Canada goose.
He's a big guy, 6-3 240 lbs, served with the PPLCI, real tough guy -

...boy did he look funny lying on his back with most of a goose on his chest! The look on his face ... priceless!:dancingbanana: :p :p :D
 
I really need to get out and get some Grouse...that is if I can find anywhere that I can hunt that isn't a logging company property. :(
 
Here in NF, the summer was so nice that the grouse had two brudes (that the right work?) of chicks. So lots of them out and about now.
 
Here's some pics of the infamous Kinnikinik plant, aka Grouse berries, or Bear berries....

IMGP4203.jpg



And here's the wild onions I referred to... the flowers, of course, are shown in their current state, which is to say, dead at this time of year. When in bloom, up until the end of July, they are purple and white flowers. Usually found in arid, somewhat poor soil. I often find them at the base of poplar trees.

IMGP4198.jpg


The bottom plant in the pic below has had the outer layer peeled away so you can see that it looks like a smallish green onion. Tastes like one too. They can be a bit pulpy an inch or two above the bulb, but still good to eat.

IMGP4199.jpg
 
OK, just got back from another extended weekend hunting (I've been taking Fridays off). Just been reading the thread and have a couple of comments.

While I enjoy Grouse (both the taste and the hunting aspect), with fuel prices what they are, I can't afford to simply go "Grouse hunting". I'm actually Deer and Moose hunting, but I keep an eye out for Grouse, which means the majority of what I bag are standing on the road as I'm leaving for the morning hunting spot or going back to camp. Same for the evening hunt.

After I fill my tags I do spend time walking cut blocks and flushing Sharp Tail Grouse which I shoot on the wing. I must admit this is way more fun than "road hunting" but it is not what draws me to the bush, I'm there for the big game.

So, to those that only shoot "on the wing", good on ya, but don't condone those of us that are not willing to pass up a tasty morsel standing along the road. It's legal, it's not "un-sportsman like", and again .. they taste good !

For what it's worth, I have read that the ones we see along the road have a much higher mortality rate (due to natural preditors .... other than human) than those that are in the cut blocks and out of the way places. The ones that are in these secure places (cut blocks etc.) are the ones more likely to survive and successfully raise a clutch (brood if you prefer).

Most of the ones bagged this year have had crops full of Grouse Berries, seems to be their mainstay.
 
Ive gotten 11 so far this year. All taken on the ground with a 12ga

taken a couple shots at them flying but missed.

ive seen a good 30-40 this year in 2 times Ive been out.
 
I haven't been out for birds yet but on the ground or in the air, it's still meat on the dinner table. There are places in Ontario where you have to shoot them on the ground because they seem to have forgotten they can fly.;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom