Grouse hunting report: 2007

Based on greatly improved statewide drumming counts last spring, we were excited about the prospects for fall grouse hunting. Our expectations were quickly dashed, though, after our first few days afield in September. We didn’t flush the number of birds we expected and saw few legitimate broods.  The grouse we did find were wily, ran a lot and were difficult to get pointed well enough for good shooting, even with veteran grouse dogs. This became the theme for the rest of the season.

The good news was that we found more woodcock than normal. These little birds sure helped us keep our interest up when the grouse were hard to come by.

Lately, we’re still finding a fair number of grouse when working the dogs. The birds are mostly in more mature cover where they will likely spend the winter. This cover lends itself to better dog work—the birds have more places to hide and tend to sit while you walk by instead of running for the next county.

As recently as November 16, we’ve even found a few woodcock.