This is embarrassing to admit, but hey, we were frustrated and wanted to SEE SOME GROUSE ALREADY:
We knew rain was in the forecast for day 4. Rain and wind. We were going hunting anyway, but figured it was a good day to jump in the truck and look at new areas – in this case meaning entirely new.
On the night of day 2, we spent a bunch of time on Google Earth looking for grousy covers. We’d already done that pre-trip, but the areas we were finding weren’t right – for how we were hunting, the amount of vegetation and the species mix: The areas we found were holding only woodcock rather […]
Day 2 was hot. We’re talking temperature, not birds. In the middle of the day it felt like temps were in the 80s, but were in the low 60s. Hardly any wind, strong sun all day. We spent this day prospecting around Jackman, looking for new covers. We succeeded, in a way. After some unproductive […]
Day 1 We just got back (yesterday) from a week in Maine chasing the ever-wily ruffed grouse. At least we think that’s what we were chasing. So many leaves on the trees and so much ground vegetation it was tough to tell most of the time
Huns and Quail Too, Pheasants Not So Much We’ve been assured by some good folks in the Pacific Northwest – including the ex-HMFIC at G. Loomis – that even with our walk-’em-up ruffed grouse conditioning, we are likely not in “steep up/steep down” chukar shape. Which naturally makes us want to hunt chukars. Bad. Nevada […]
You Don’t Need a Dog! (Before anyone gets their skirt all a-twitter, yes, hunting with a dog can be great. But some bird hunters – even Serious ones – don’t have dogs and need to realize they still have upland bird hunting opportunities. Just have to hunt dead very thoroughly!) Michigan’s first sharp-tailed grouse season […]
It’s tough to tell what a bird season in an entire state will be from anecdotal reports, but that’s really all anyone has to go on – and we’re all going to hunt anyway, right? Here are a couple of ruffed grouse reports from Minnesota and Michigan, two states that – per our compiled grouse […]
FINALLY, it’s bird season, and we are psyched, stoked, chomping at the bit and [insert your favorite “energized” cliche here]. We love shooting any upland birds (including pheasants, supposedly a lowland bird), but it shouldn’t be a secret by now that we are diehard – dieHARD – ruffed grouse hunters. And that’s what we’ll be […]
Bobwhites Too Although precious few states do it, they have every incentive to pump us all up for bird season. South Dakota has the birds and the PR machine to do it, and they do. Colorado is trying this year. Oddly, few other states – Pennsylvania and Maine come to mind – do it. Add […]
Hunters Cautioned The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported that “a wolf from the Bear Bluff Pack in Jackson County injured a German shorthair pointer on Sept. 18, and officials say the pack has become too familiar to humans and will be trapped.” After that, the paper’s report is sketchy. It only talks about the hunter – […]
Italians Are the Problem?! According to this article in London’s Telegraph newspaper, “tweed, the hard-wearing fabric favored by the landed gentry, has been adapted into bulletproof clothing. A Scottish textiles company has launched a range of jackets and waistcoats, complete with body armor sown into the fabric, in an effort to stop sportsmen being injured.” […]
by: That same buddy o’ ours! Last time we discussed getting your dog into optimum physical condition prior to the start of a new hunting season. Now we’ll tackle getting him “back on his game.” A pointing dog that hasn’t participated in any hunting-related activities for several months can easily backslide. For example, his manners […]
The Ruffed Grouse Society recently published its 2010 grouse forecast, and although there’s nothing new there for the major (and some minor) states vs. our compiled forecast, it does have some states and Canadian provinces not covered, excerpted and edited below.
Brian Lynn at Outdoor Life recently posted an interesting follow-up to Pheasants Forever’s 2010 Pheasant Hunting Forecast, titled Sleeper States: Beyond the Pheasant Forecast. Full post here, some highlights below.
Woodies Too! Obviously we love hunting for ruffed grouse, “the king of all gamebirds” (long live the king!), so we chase down as much info as we can about these birds. Enough info to fill a book…. Pheasants Forever does a good job with its annual pheasant forecast. But since ol’ ruff seems to have […]
The following is excerpted from this Nevada PDF, which is only worth reading if you want to know more about chukar surveys and counts. The bottom line is that chukar hunting looks good in NV this season. Buried in the document is this info: “The 2010-11 chukar hunting season is expected to be good for […]
$220mm Train Keeps a-Rollin’ Could South Dakota’s pheasant population really be better than the average pops over the last 10 years? Apparently so, according to a well-written article by John Pollmann for the Sioux Falls, SD Argus Leader – and it seems to have improved partly due to bad weather. Seriously. Before getting into some […]
Pheasants Forever’s state by state (not all states) Pheasant Forecast for 2010 is out. Some of the state info is helpful, some not. Would be great to have it in graph form to see trends. Anyhow, here’s the overview plus the links for each. “Pheasant numbers appear to be holding steady in the Dakotas, Kansas, […]
by: A buddy of ours! Upland bird hunting is a team sport, and the dog is definitely the athlete in that equation. And just like human athletes, our canine “teammates” benefit greatly from a good preseason conditioning program. If you haven’t started your dog on such a program yet, now would be a good time. […]
Just read this article on hunting ruffies in MN this year. So much of it, while well-intentioned, is wrong. Here goes: > The good news is, counts were up 34 percent this spring in parts of northern Minnesota. Counts remained stable in southern Minnesota. This COULD mean that there’s more easy birds (young ones) early […]
Lessons from 2012 Maine-NH Hunt
Don’t know if we’ve fully recovered yet from our not-quite-a-week of hunting Maine and New Hampshire for ruffies and woodies. We all actually bailed 2 days early, having put in 5 consecutive days instead of our usual 7. Felt like wimps about it, but hey, we were BEAT…from 5 days of the most brutal hunting […]
No Grouse Comeback in SW Penn?
Sounds like ruffed grouse will never be as much a part of the landscape of southern Pennsylvania as they once will. “Never” sounds ominous. Permanent. But that’s the conclusion of an article by Bob Frye in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Why should you care if you don’t live or hunt in PA? Reasons: > Pennsylvania is […]
Hey: All Ruffies Drum Differently!
Did you know that? Not until now…. This info won’t help us hunting, but it’s interesting – and makes sense. Here’s more, from newscientist.com: Male ruffed grouse are the first animals known to make unique non-vocal sounds. Humans and many other animals, particularly birds, can be identified by their voices. But no one had looked […]
Ran across this quote from an article about Iowa’s pheasant count: > “I haven’t even gone pheasant hunting the last couple of years because the birds just weren’t there,†said Tim Wolf, a 61-year-old bank president who lives in Waukee. YES THEY WERE! They most definitely were there. Maybe not like this… > “But I’ve […]
Top 10 Reasons To Go to Phez Fest
Pheasants/Quail Forever’s Pheasant Fest/Quail Classic is coming up soon at KC, MO (see info in right column), and just in case you’re thinking it’s too far or whatever, here are the Top 10 – really just 10 of many – reasons to go. We’re doing it Letterman-style, 10 to 1. 10. What else are you […]
Across the Pond Bird Follies, Vids
Ah the UK, the land that gave the world 17 pieces of silverware on the table, animal rights and other questionable stuff. Okay, it wasn’t all bad – that’s where our bird hunting came from too. But it’s different here…or there, depending on your perspective. Here’s some recent bird news plus some interesting vids. Katie […]
Do Congress, Tea Party Hate Pheasants?
We make it a point to try not to get suckered by political hoo-ha, so that’s not what this is about. We ran across a blog post on the Discovery-owned treehugger.com titled “Why Does Congress Hate Pheasants?” and a related one, “Do Tea Party, Heritage Foundation Oppose Hunting?” Interesting stuff, written by the same gent, […]
Quail, the most beleaguered of our beloved gamebirds, is getting a helping hand in Kansas. Or rather, a bigger helping hand. The state just announced that it’s “launching a new quail restoration initiative aimed at making a difference in declining bobwhite quail populations at a landscape level.” Here’s more: > Includes the designation of two […]
Worms and Birds: What Else Don’t We Know?
Believe we’ve talked about this at least once, but a recent Wall Street Journal article on the plight of Texas quail got us thinking about it again. Here’s the applicable stuff: …Rolling Hills Quail Research Ranch, a 4,700-acre spread an hour west of Abilene. Last month, researchers there found that the levels of parasitic worms […]
Top 10 Reasons To Go to Phez Fest
Pheasants/Quail Forever’s Pheasant Fest/Quail Classic is coming up soon at KC, MO (see info in right column), and just in case you’re thinking it’s too far or whatever, here are the Top 10 – really just 10 of many – reasons to go. We’re doing it Letterman-style, 10 to 1. 10. What else are you […]
Lone Star Outdoor news recently carried an article on a speech given by Dr. Dale Rollins of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch near Rotan, Texas. Seems that a major threat to quail, at least in the Lone Star state, may be an eyeball worm. News to us! Highlights: > Especially mysterious were the continued […]
