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We’ve all seen the publication covers: A thin creek trickling beneath a grove of aspen, the grouse flushing towards their crowns, a tweeded hunter with a double weapon, and the setter pointing the ground where the bird simply burst from.
Like a lot of publication covers, that’s not how it generally happens. It’s a fantasy. For those people without the earnings, allergy resistance, or space for a canine, that attractive scene seems about as reachable as stalking wildebeest on the moon.
However still, without an experienced bird dog, searching and killing grouse is possible, and sometimes even better.
Remember that every grouse you see on your walking that beings in the middle of the trail knows you do not have a weapon. Things tend to change when you put on the blaze orange.
Go Early
With so lots of leaves still on the trees, the extra cover makes birds feel safer. Grouse are small, so look small. Stop and listen to grouse running away or “peeping” as they do when they get worried.
While some hunters will flinch at the concept of searching birds so close to the opener (a couple of western states begin their grouse seasons on September 1st) when young still haven’t even fully molted, I believe that the decerning hunter need to have the ability to acknowledge young since they stalk closer to the birds with the benefit of foliage.
Birds grow fast, let the young and mother fly into next month.
Likewise, set your alarm before daybreak. Without the aid of a pet dog, you’ll want to hunt grouse when they’re at their most active: in the early morning when they come off their roost to feed.
When temperature levels still reach the 70s by the afternoon, be walking through grouse cover when the temperature levels remain in the 40s and 50s.
If it dropped into the 30s the night before, they’ll wait till the mid-40s to begin pecking.
Hunt ‘The Zone’
It might seem that grouse are just out in the woods, randomly spread throughout the mountain and timber. Without a pet dog informing you where to go it must just be blind luck to stumble into one.
Understanding that particular species will remain in particular environments is essential. You’ll find spruce grouse in spruce forests, dusky and sooty in huckleberry fields and high mountain lawn parks, and ruffed grouse along creeks.
When I first began hunting grouse, I ‘d stroll logging roadways for miles and turn up adequate birds to keep things intriguing, but once I recognized what they desired in terms of cover, my flush rates leapt significantly.
Thus much wildlife, grouse love edges; the edges of clear-cuts, creek bottoms, mountain meadows, lake shores, rock protrusions, and coniferous or deciduous shift locations.
Investing more time in the most likely cover will supply more birds. Just like having your fly in the water longer will likely offer you more trout.
Be Ready
This is simpler stated than done. After not flushing a bird for 20 or thirty minutes, you can begin to think you’re on a hike rather than searching.
Grouse are well-known for catching individuals off guard, and you need to be prepared when they show themselves.
This tip is more mental than physical. Remaining present and focused on the task at hand is the very best way to prepare for a bird that wishes to disappear.
While you obviously do not have the surge of wings frazzling your nerves, this is how you develop muscle memory.
Muscle memory is what will take over when the grouse flushes from the alder thicket, and without realizing it, you swing and pull the trigger, seeing the bird fall. And because minute, it feels a bit like a fantasy.
