Grouse season opens tomarrow in my area. Limit is three. Hoping to get my limit of BLUE GROUSE ( name has recently changed to Dusky----- I hate name changes). Can't walk much any more so some of the best areas in the mountains I can't get to.
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Mountain grouse
- Thread starter sidelock
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Choctaw
40 Cal.
Good luck on your hunt today! :thumbsup:
While hunting elk during the Colorado MLer season have run across many blue grouse. Ruffed grouse are also present in the area but aren't as numerous.
Often thought of hunting them seeing their habits are much different than the ruffed grouse which are much more wary. Blues are a larger bird and quite impressive. The altitude was approx. 10,000 ft.
Many of the blue grouse that I encountered could have been killed w/ a slingshot using a single ball....in fact had 6 blues running around w/in 6 ft of me and wouldn't flush. These could have been killed w/ a stick.
Good luck when hunting.....Fred
Often thought of hunting them seeing their habits are much different than the ruffed grouse which are much more wary. Blues are a larger bird and quite impressive. The altitude was approx. 10,000 ft.
Many of the blue grouse that I encountered could have been killed w/ a slingshot using a single ball....in fact had 6 blues running around w/in 6 ft of me and wouldn't flush. These could have been killed w/ a stick.
Good luck when hunting.....Fred
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flehto said:
Blues are strange birds. When I lived in Colorado I would often come across blues like you describe that let you walk right up to them. Others would flush when you were 50 yards or more away and many were somewhere in between. I grew up in Montana and moved back here about 8 years ago. In my experience blues here (and ruffed grouse)are fairly jumpy. Spruce grouse are similar to ptarmigan and let you walk up to them relying on their "camouflage" to hide them from predators.
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ron wehmeyer
40 Cal.
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From someone who doesn't know a Grouse from a hole in the ground. I have read that Grouse are good eating. Is that so? And do Y'all take a few when out hunting Big Game for the pot?,,,DT
Choctaw
40 Cal.
I would love to give grouse hunting, any kind of grouse hunting, a try. To me it is the classic upland bird to hunt. I have read too many Gene Hill books. :grin:
Have hunted ruffed grouse in Wisconsin and Minnesota for over 60 yrs...in fact it was my favorite pastime...especially later on when I had bird dogs.
All we ever kept of the grouse were the breasts...the drumsticks are small and full of "toothpicks". It's surprising the amount of meat on a grouse breast.
The beasts have holes punched into the breast bone from the inside and the breasts are baked breastbone up. Seasonings and butter are "cupped" in the hollow for a wonderful feast.
When hunting in an "up" cycle we have shot many daily limits of grouse, w/ some woodcock thrown in.
Our setters would point both grouse and woodcock, but wouldn't retrieve the woodcock....one setter would try to bury the woodcock in the leaves w/ his nose.
Actually woodcock "sit" better for the dogs than grouse which sometimes get nervous and take off well ahead of the dogs.
A lot of memories of bird hunting still come to mind.....Fred
All we ever kept of the grouse were the breasts...the drumsticks are small and full of "toothpicks". It's surprising the amount of meat on a grouse breast.
The beasts have holes punched into the breast bone from the inside and the breasts are baked breastbone up. Seasonings and butter are "cupped" in the hollow for a wonderful feast.
When hunting in an "up" cycle we have shot many daily limits of grouse, w/ some woodcock thrown in.
Our setters would point both grouse and woodcock, but wouldn't retrieve the woodcock....one setter would try to bury the woodcock in the leaves w/ his nose.
Actually woodcock "sit" better for the dogs than grouse which sometimes get nervous and take off well ahead of the dogs.
A lot of memories of bird hunting still come to mind.....Fred
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Patocazador
54 Cal.
I have hunted grouse in several areas. They act totally different in different areas. In Minnesota and Wisconsin they are spooky and flush wild making for very difficult shooting. In Manitoba they stand around and if they flush, they fly onto a branch of the nearest tree.
In the mountains of Wyoming and Montana they act in between and in western Washington they're a bit spooky.
I attribute it to hunting pressure.
In the mountains of Wyoming and Montana they act in between and in western Washington they're a bit spooky.
I attribute it to hunting pressure.
Haven't hunted for over 50 years now, but I believe we used to go after ruffed grouse. This was in the interior of BC, up on Highway 16. As I recall, they would fly up into the trees, then sit there in what they assumed was perfect safety.
Jamiev
Jamiev
You're correct that hunting pressure has somewhat an affect on how "spooky" grouse are. In the 50s and 60s in Wisconsin we had the areas to ourselves both private and public lands and we were the only "pressure" exerted on the grouse....but they were still "spooky".
Grouse populations experience a 10 year cycle of high and low numbers of which a definite cause isn't known. One reason that makes sense to me is the fluctuation of the lemming population in Canada....the owls and hawks mainly feed on lemmings and when the lemming population is low, these bids of prey migrate south into MN, Mich. and WI and feed all winter on grouse.
Have scared 3 goshawks off of fresh grouse kills while hunting and the owls don't leave kill traces behind but are present in decent numbers.
Also have seen while de-breasting grouse, infestations of round worms and this happened at the high cycle. Wrote to the DNR but rec'd a form letter thanking me for my letter.
No longer hunt grouse but have many fond memories.....Fred
Grouse populations experience a 10 year cycle of high and low numbers of which a definite cause isn't known. One reason that makes sense to me is the fluctuation of the lemming population in Canada....the owls and hawks mainly feed on lemmings and when the lemming population is low, these bids of prey migrate south into MN, Mich. and WI and feed all winter on grouse.
Have scared 3 goshawks off of fresh grouse kills while hunting and the owls don't leave kill traces behind but are present in decent numbers.
Also have seen while de-breasting grouse, infestations of round worms and this happened at the high cycle. Wrote to the DNR but rec'd a form letter thanking me for my letter.
No longer hunt grouse but have many fond memories.....Fred
Dusty Texian said:
They are very good! One of my favorite meals is grouse fajitas. I have taken grouse and snowshoe hare while big game hunting. If I'm into deer/elk or there's a lot of activity in the area I won't. If its been a long day and I've come across little to no sign I often do. Even then I usually don't unless I come across them at the end of my hunt and I'm almost back to the vehicle.
A couple years ago I was elk hunting and had not cut any fresh sign all day. I was nearly back to my vehicle and spotted a snowshoe hare. I decided to take it since it would provide a meal and I could use the back feet and mask for fly tying (they run about $8-$12 at fly shops)which would more than offset my gas cost for the trip. Same logic with grouse. It provides a meal and I can use the feathers. It beats going home empty handed. Its a gamble that I might spook big game but depending on my mood and the situation its a gamble I take.
robinsroost
50 Cal.
Good luck sidelock, sounds like a nice trip you have planned. The only grouse I have hunted are sage grouse, when I hunted South Dakota, and they are delicious. Keep yer powder dry......robin :wink:
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ron wehmeyer
40 Cal.
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Good Luck on your hunt. Hope you fill your bag! ,,DT
ron wehmeyer
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Sounds like some good hunting and eating. Understand completley about letting a good meal slip by because of not wanting to disturb the area. But sometimes , well you know, its just worth it ,,DT
Boy, that's a relief.
After seeing the title of this topic, "Mountain grouse", I was expecting to see a bunch of curmudgeons around here, grousing about how the Forest Service folks have been working hard to make all of the mountain trails steeper and rougher over the years.
Personally, I have no doubts those guys are making it harder for us old codgers to get to our old hunting grounds. I think it is a plot by the young hunters.
Just wait. Those selfish guys will get a taste of their own medicine once their kids start to work on those trails.
I do think it is kinda unfair to the critters that live in those areas though. They have to walk around on those trails every day.
:hmm:
After seeing the title of this topic, "Mountain grouse", I was expecting to see a bunch of curmudgeons around here, grousing about how the Forest Service folks have been working hard to make all of the mountain trails steeper and rougher over the years.
Personally, I have no doubts those guys are making it harder for us old codgers to get to our old hunting grounds. I think it is a plot by the young hunters.
Just wait. Those selfish guys will get a taste of their own medicine once their kids start to work on those trails.
I do think it is kinda unfair to the critters that live in those areas though. They have to walk around on those trails every day.
:hmm:I and several of my hunt pards have killed many many grouse on our elk hunts for camp meat in years past, (no more, can't get along in the mountains). I was camp cook and my pard since 1953 (and still is) was grouse butcher and dish washer. Most were killed with a stick. Cooked for 12 min in a presser cooker, rolled in flower and browned in my cast iron fry pan with mashed taters, gravy from pot liquor and biscuits (some times from an oven made form a 5 gal paint can. A meal to die for.
Had my grouse feed this past Sunday. Cooked up in crock pot, then browned in fry pan. Gravy from pot liquor with mashed potatoes and hot biscuits. All just like in elk camp years ago. Friends in to help devour. None left over.,
