SBH Hunt Report: Maine Grouse, Day 6
Our last day hunting Maine this year, and the weather forecast was for a sunny, cool day. Great…except for the 16 mph winds. And for once, the weatherman was right.
The wind started first thing in the morning, and blew ALL DAY. Gusts in some areas must’ve been about 30.
We didn’t have high hopes.
But the one thing we had in our pocket was an understanding of what we could realistically hunt, wind or no wind. And we knew we’d found some birds the last two windy days, so….
It was our last day, so we were bent on hitting our best covers. The first one was such a wind-fest that two birds flushed way ahead of Brendan on an edge but he never saw them. And Jay, 25 yards away, never heard nor saw them.
This cover has it all, but the wind killed it.
Next was the area we saw the six birds on day 3. Brendan flushed one bird, no shot, we put up a few woodies, no shots taken.
We next stomped the heck out of Yogi Berra. We ended up expanding this cover, bird-dogged one bird into flushing three times (3x is no problem for grouse!) – Brendan had a good opportunity on the first flush, Jay had a so-so opportunity on the third one, but the bird kept flying. We put up a bunch of woodcock, and found another wind-skittish grouse across the road. That was it.
We almost bagged it right then to go fishing and then pack, but decided on the way back to hunt another of our spots where there had only been woodcock during the week. This spot is more woodcock-friendly than grouse-friendly, but Brendan was convinced we’d bump some birds so what the heck.
Sure enough, the spot was full of woodcock and lo and behold held three grouse. Jay flushed two right at the edge of a raspberry patch, and if he’d had reflexes like Batman maybe could’ve shot one. Maybe should’ve. Apparently that wasn’t part of the plan….
Woodcock galore...and three grouse (click to see way bigger).
Day 6 (Last Day) Count
We thought it would be a tough day, and it was. Tough hunting for sure. But we ended up finding seven grouse for 11 flushes and flushed 22 woodcock without even trying. Not bad for a windy day. And yes, we learned some things that will be appearing in Serious Grouse Hunting, Book 2!
We did go fishing, in a stream where we’d caught a lot of fish before – and didn’t get a bite. We felt like that was Maine’s final bird-flipping at us, but that didn’t stop us from having fun anyway.
Next up: Maine Trip Roundup. Observations, conclusions, et al.
Category: 2010-11 reports, Hunt reports, ME, Ruffed Grouse, SBH, Woodcock
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Still lots of season left, looks like its time for a long weekend! Leaves are gone here other than beeches ground cover dead, good hunting starts this weekend.
Saw your book advertised on the RGS site, bought it, have read half, and then ordered one for my son. Most truthful, practical info-laden book ever on Grouse (Ruffed) by my view. My hunting has been Cottontails and Pheasant in MA and NH (50s – 60s), with deer and Grouse in ME & NY (60s – 70s) and Grouse in NH since 1985. My son and I now hunt almost solely in northern NH sans dog. We’ve worked it out pretty well, and together have learned a lot of it, but your book verified that and gives us much more to work with next season. A giant step forward in confidence for me anyway. FYI, I do work with JAK’s solunar tables (since 1971), and I believe there’s something going on there, but cold fronts can upset the influence… Our best flush record is 28 flushes in 4 hours hunting in 2 coverts about 6 miles apart, in a steady downpour during a Major period in the 10am-3pm timeframe, with a break for lunch, moon about dark. This happened in cover that normally is good for 2-8 flushes for us together in 2-3 hours or so. Where did they all come from??? Why there?
All the best to you.