Any grouse/woodcock hunters here?

[Cobleskill]

We used to shoot a lot of starlings to try and thin them out. They got smart to if you were carrying a gun also.

 

[GASoline71]

I hunt grouse because they taste good. Best eating game bird on the planet if you ask me.

Gary

 

[sotc]

I don't eat bird but my wife loves it and most of my friends so I never have trouble passing off grouse, quail, dove, any upland game bird really

 

[top_notch]

Last summer there was a hen raising about six or so chicks at my place...I would have to stop and wait for them to get out of the way on my driveway. Not too swift!

 

[Maximalist]

If you guys are wanting to hunt smart birds, why not go after crows? Those dudes are smart, I see them regularly hiding food and such....killing snakes. I don't know how they taste, though.

Crow smart and tricky bird ... During his career, I was thrice attacked crows. To me did not like it, but I'm not offended at them. They defended their home ...
Woodcock hunting season we will have at the end of April ... The steepest hunter is a person who will manage to to kill snipe ...

 

[treetx]

lots of grouse hunters, but no woodcock hunters?

Where is the love for the woodcock?

 

[sotc]

Must be a ladies sport

 

[Tucker943]

I hunt woodcock like its my job. Right now, the spring migration is coming back through and I use this time each spring to work my pointer. Not this year. She had surgery on Friday for an intestinal blockage. Ate wood chips. She is out of the game for a few weeks.

 

[Tucker943]

A few pics.....

Getting ready

Lone grouse on a tough day

A woodcock and a pair of pheasants we happened upon

A limit of woodcock

Pre season grouse work...on point. Not always stylish, as she slams on point and whatever position she was in when she found the bird, is the position she stayed in.

A mount I came up with in my mind with a grouse and moose horn both taken from Maine

Some grouse and woodcock killed in Maine

Molly's first season a few years back with a few woodcock

Grouse hunting with Logger

 

[MasterBlaster]

Cool pics!

 

[Tucker943]

Couple more

A pair of ruffs

A few ruffs

A ruff and a moose horn Molly found. This picture carries a lot of weight with me. That was her first wild grouse where she held steady to both wing and shot. Found the horn on her way to retrieving the grouse. A special moment for me. Molly is my once in a lifetime dog. An exceptional bird dog, but more importantly, she and I have a bond that Ive never had with a dog. She absolutely lives for me as her master and sleeps with her head on my chest every single night. She is a sweet dog with no bad intentions but will tear your face right off if you come at me. I dread the day she grows old and leaves me.

For the record, just to protect my pride, these aren't dumb chickens I am hunting. These grouse are spooky elusive birds that don't let you step on them.

 

[tophopper]

Good looking dog.

 

[Tucker943]

Thank you. That's like the ultimate compliment to a bird dog guy. I always thought I had good looking dogs. Thank goodness because I am painful to look at. Below is Logger my duck dog. We were canoeing out to a field for some early season geese.

 

[GASoline71]

Must be a ladies sport

HAHA!

One thing about Ruffies I dig, is in the spring when they "Drum". We hear them all over the place near the rivers when we fish for late winter Steelhead.

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Gary

 

[MasterBlaster]

That's cooler 'n shit! Get that bootie!!!

 

[sotc]

Cool vid Gary

 

[Cobleskill]

I miss pheasant hunting. We used to be lousy with them years ago. Lotsa good memories of hunts. I used to walk along when I was too young to carry a gun. We raised them a couple years trying to build them back up. They aren't smart enough being cage raised.

 

[Tucker943]

No, they are not smart enough if farm reared.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Sometimes, I put food scraps out behind my shop for the crows. They will take almost anything and even though it isn't on a regular basis, usually inside of ten or fifteen minutes it is completely gone. They pay attention. if I leave the plastic bag out there too that held the scraps, usually it will disappear too. Their nests are pretty creative, never know what you will find in the mix. Kind of gross in a way. Coat hangers sometimes helps hold the mess together.

 

[Cobleskill]

Our local paper had an article about mass deaths of starlings. Some kind of disease was suspected. Turns out the feed co. Purina makes a poison bait that the farmers are using.

 

[Reddog]

Reveal yourself!

Use too a lot, then the numbers plummeted and all we would see was WC. Then both went on a low cycle and it wasn't worth going out.
Numbers seem okay now, but my dog is too old to bother with it now.

 

[Tucker943]

Ruffs are definitely cyclic. We are one a downswing these days in my area. 2 years back we had a brutally wet and cold spring followed by a very wet summer and it wiped out the young of that year. Left us with very little. This past fall was better, but not brag worthy.

 

[Cobleskill]

Got many coyotes? They blame them partly around here for the low pheasant numbers.

 

[Tucker943]

We have tons, but studies have shown they don't fare too well on grouse. Hawks and owls wipe out our grouse. Don't get me wrong, coyotes, foxes, and coons do manage to kill some adults and also raid eggs, but our birds of prey are the main culprit.

 

[Tucker943]

This tired woodcock was in the road alongside my best woodcock cover on my way to my yard today. They are migrating through here as we speak. I scooped him up and placed him in the woods. He was exhausted and if I left him be, someone with bad intent would have run him over just for fun.