The "Pa'tridge Blog"The "Pa'tridge Blog"
The propaganda contained herein is written in a continuing effort to provide you, the reader and presumably hunter, the latest information in the pursuit of the objects of our desires, the esteemed ruffed (not ruffled) grouse and American woodcock. As in bird hunting, it may not always be pretty, but hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and will provide you with a brief respite from those things referred to as "responsibility" and "the real world". Don't let your boss catch you reading this.
Season Tote Board: Time Spent in the Woods: app. 108 hours
Grouse & Woodcock seen, heard, moved
and otherwise molested: 320
Bird / Hour Average: 3 Birds / Hour
Grouse & Woodcock Taken: 17 grouse, 14 woodcock
Favorite Hunting Propaganda: "A High, Lonesome Call"
by Robert Holthouser. I'm not just advocating this book
because we sell it in the lodge -it's truly a beautiful
depiction of going on a bird hunting odyssey out west.
But beware: read it and you'll want to go ...
November
30 - December 2: "My Turn to Pursue the King of the Gamebirds"
Believe it or not, in all of my years of grouse
hunting, I have never pursued the gray ghost in the wilds of the great state of
Maine. Now Maine has the reputation of being the grouse hunting capitol of New
England, with good reason - there's huntable cover in almost every part of this
state. When I was invited by Paul O'Neill, one of my guiding clients, to
experience Maine grouse hunting for
myself,
I jumped at the chance. In addition to this, we were also to be guided by a
legend of Maine grouse guides, Jo Ann Moody, for three days. Jo Ann is a breeder
of excellent grouse hunting springer spaniels, and knows a lot about all things
grouse, hunting and hunting dogs. She really was a fountain of information for
three days and she also had some pretty entertaining stories from her 25 years
of guiding experience. Her Downeast Maine accent took a little getting
used to, but Paul was there to interpret - Paul's been guided by Jo Ann for 11
years straight. Truth be told, I thought hunting in Maine would be similar to
our hunting here, but it turned out to be totally different - in fact, so much
so that I thought their grouse were a different bird entirely from what we
pursue here. You see, not only do they receive a fair amount of hunting
pressure, but the composition of the forest there is
quite
different from here. While our predominant tree species are conifers and yellow
birches (I know, maples too), their forest is comprised of mostly southern
hardwoods - oaks, beech and ash are major species there and there's not as many
conifers there as what we have. The hunting pressure, coupled with the sparser
tree cover in places results in a grouse that truly is the "King of the
Gamebirds". They are jumpy and skittish and not afraid to bolt from an area if
things don't look and sound right. That's why Jo Ann emphasized that we quietly
approach areas and not go bumbling through the woods in pursuit of grouse, and
we always had a plan of attack for each cover. Her spaniels were excellently
trained and hunted at a nice distance from the gun, but it was still difficult
getting used to hunting behind flushers as opposed to pointers. Now, I'll always
be a pointing dog man, but Jo Ann's spaniels did such a nice job that I can see
why some people prefer hunting grouse behind a flusher and they gained my
respect. While I watch for my own dogs to slow down once they contact bird
scent, it was exactly the opposite with Jo Ann's dogs. Once they kicked it in to
high gear, we put our track shoes on to get in position for the flush. While
Paul connected on one of his shots of the 39 grouse flushed, I came up empty on
the four shots that I took with the 28 gauge (next time, it'll be a 12 gauge).
We had a great time with Jo Ann and look forward to chasing birds again with her
next year!
November 5 & 6: "The Final Trip"
Yes, all good things must
someday come to an end, and so it was with my grouse guiding season in 2009.
Coming along for the ride out this time were Dean and Paul, repeat customers
from my 2008 season. Now, last year we had what I would call a "Bataan death
march" of a grouse hunt - we only put up a mere 10 grouse in two days last year
- numbers that just don't add up if you've been a frequent visitor to this page.
It was very tough and I felt sorry for the guys. Needless to say, the
pressure
was on to produce results this year, and it thankfully worked out very well. We
hunted in the NEK of Vermont for this last hunt - not only had the black powder
deer season began in northern NH, but, more importantly, the deer season had not
yet begun in the Green Mountain state. Greta and Rudy were fired up and ready to
go after a few days lounging on my couch, so all
systems were "GO". Our first morning alone in
Vermont produced 8 grouse, nearly equal to our two day total last year. We would
chase around 8 more in the afternoon for a one day total of 16 grouse. Chasing
grouse is one thing - actually getting a good shot at and hopefully hitting them
is another matter. Dean managed to scratch down one bird kicked out from the
spruce beside a trail, but that would be all that day. Still, there were some
good chances and great dog work, so everyone was pretty happy with the day's
events. The next day would be even better - 20 grouse flushed, seen, heard and
otherwise disrupted from their normal routine. Once again, there was great work
from both hounds and some good chances came Dean and Paul's way, but none fell
on this day. We had a great time over the two days together and thoroughly
reveled in our scotch and cigars at the end of the hunt. I look forward to doing
it again in 2010 ...
October 30 & 31: "Family Reunion"
Late October is great for hunting grouse. Not only are the temperatures nice and cool, great for exerting yourself nearly to cardiac arrest in the woods, but there are no leaves blocking us from actually seeing the objects of our desires. The good hunting continued with Harry, Matt and Pete, a father and two sons that have lots of upland hunting experience. They're 
geographically spread out, but they still get together for waterfowl excursions on occasion. The upland hunts are tougher to schedule now, so I was glad that we could get out together. Now they've been up here before several times but had devoted themselves to hunting for woodcock mostly, so our first day of hunting revolved around seeking grouse. We didn't see a lot of grouse that day (12), but both Matt and Pete had many good chances at birds, which is not always the case as we all know. We had some excellent dog work from Pete's shorthair Shane, while Rudy and Greta both had moments of bird dawg bliss. The points were impressive, and the boys hooked up on four of their shots. The next day we got more into the flight woodcock and in a mere four hours we put up 15 timberdoodles and two more grouse. One of those grouse came very close to meeting his maker after an incredible point from Rudy, but he sailed away to safety - the culprit of the errant shot will remain nameless ... Four of the woodcock made it to the rear vest pocket, so Matt and Pete had four grouse and four woodcock to show for their two hunts. Harry did a great job of keeping up with all of us, but made the crucial upland bird hunting mistake when he had a woodcock fly right in front of him down the trail. You see, Harry was midway through the telling of a hunting tale to me, and was essentially unprepared when that bird got up. By the time I nudged him to let him know there was a bird begging for his attention, it was too late. I'm sure the woodcock is appreciative of Harry's generosity, and is probably slurping down an earthworm in Harry's honor as I type this. Just kidding Harry! The grouse and woodcock gods smiled upon this group and granted our intrepid hunters some momentary success, and we give a heartfelt "thank you" to them for this.
October 26 & 27: "Beginner's Luck? I Think Not!"
What a hunt this turned out to be! Tom from Nova Scotia wanted to take his twelve year old son Cam on his first grouse hunt. We were also accompanied by Tom's wife Leslie and springer spaniel Winnie and things couldn't have worked out better, at least on the first day. We put up a lot of birds that first day - 21 grouse and a woodcock flew before our eyes, and while the guys were shutout that morning, they turned things around in a big way with the afternoon hunt (must've been the minestrone soup!). Using my 28 gauge SxS, Cam made a wonderful left to right crossing shot on a beautiful male grouse, his first ever, and it was quite a proud moment for Tom and Leslie. We kept onward and in a short while Tom had his first NH grouse of 2009. Near the end of day one, we also hunted an old apple orchard, a frequent haunt of bonasa umbellus. Once again, Cam put me to shame with another fantastic wing shot on a grouse and before we knew it, he had harvested two grouse on the wing in his first day of grouse hunting - quite an accomplishment. Now, this was truly a wonderful thing to behold for all of us, but the young grasshopper may have become spoiled with this amount of success in merely his first day. We all know that what the grouse gods giveth, they must surely take away (and usually it's the very next day). While we saw even more birds the next day - 16 grouse and 11 woodcock - very few flew Cam's way, and he began to learn the hard way that harvesting two grouse in a day is the exception and not the rule! Once again, the dog work was exceptional - Rudy was his usual steady self and Winnie really did fantastic, doing the springer spaniel breed proud. In any event, I had a great time hunting with Tom, Cam, Leslie and Winnie and an even better time watching young Cam start on his path of grouse hunting.
October 22 & 23: "The Conversion from Waterfowl to Upland Birds"
Is it possible to change from one style of hunting to another, almost entirely different, type of hunting? I'm not sure, but we made a valiant attempt at it for two days with Warren and Yvonne. In all honesty, Warren had pursued upland birds prior to this, but Yvonne was a true novice to grouse and woodcock hunting. A duck and goose hunting enthusiast, Yvonne 
may have been used to the sudden explosion of wings from incoming waterfowl. In grouse hunting, we have explosions too - of a different kind, and they take some getting used to if you've never done it before. She learned quickly that things happen very fast in hunting upland style. Good numbers of pa'tridges and timberdoodles went up, and four of the woodcock made it to the game bag. Only time will tell if Warren can convince Yvonne to slog through the north country uplands again in pursuit of our favorite quarry!
October 18, 19 & 20: "Get Out of Denver"
Chris and Frank from Denver were my victims for grouse and woodcock chasing for these three days. We hunted together last year as well and they must have been gluttons for punishment, because they agreed to contract my services again this year. Now, not only did I have to endure their constant taunting about how the Broncos beat my beloved Pats the week before, but I also had to listen to them taunt each other on their shooting abilities. Truth be told, Chris and Frank are two of the best shots that I've seen - those easy swinging 28 gauges have sent many a grouse and woodcock to the great covert in the sky. Let me tell you, we had a great time together - all told, we had sixty (yes, that's 6 - 0) flushes for three days of traipsing over hill and dale. Chris was a great sport, as he continually slogged
through the slash to leave Frank on the trail to take all of those "easy" shots. Frank held up his end of the bargain most times in connecting with most of his attempts. There was one day however, where the birds just weren't flying his way, and Chris had to pick up the slack in limiting out on woodcock. Four grouse and five woodcock made it to the game pouch for them over the three hunts. We also had the good fortune of hunting behind Chris's gordon setter Watson over the three days. If you've never hunted behind a gordon, do so if you can - Watson was very thorough in his searches for birds and his desire was second to none. Hunting behind a gordon also takes you back 150 years or so when this great breed was a fixture for upland hunting. With Rudy on the IR from a foot injury the week before, Greta helped out mightily and was very tough on the birds. She's the consummate pro and I never get tired of watching her work. Both Chris and Frank earned their scotch and cigars at the end of each day - nice job guys and I look forward to doing it again next year!
October 10 & 12: "Columbus Day Reunion"
Hunting often brings together folks that don't get enough time throughout the rest of the year to spend with each other. Schedules being what they are, it can be difficult to make those connections with regularity. This was the case with John (from Connecticut) and Bruce (from Virginia), so it was great seeing friends since grade school hooking up once again. Sounded like this is a one shot deal for them to get together and hunt each year, and I was glad they gave me a call to help them out in pursuit of grouse and woodcock. Due to a foot injury that Rudy suffered several days before, we had to make a call to the bullpen, so Greta saw her first action of the season. Much like Kirk Gibson coming off the bench to hit that homer in the world series some years back, Greta gamely returned to her playing field, the grouse woods. She did not disappoint! Quite a few points and some great dog work later, Bruce and John had harvested a woodcock and grouse, and Greta made a nice track of John's winged grouse. The weather was chilly but sunny after several days of bad weather, so this probably helped get the birds motivated and moving around.
October 5 & 6: "Inaugural Trip of 2009", a.k.a. "The Search for the Grey Ghost"
This year's grouse guiding season was led off by Randy and Leighton, two veteran grouse and woodcock hunters from the great state of Vermont. We stayed in the NEK for this one, as the fellas wanted to learn some new areas of the Kingdom that they hadn't yet hunted. We've hunted together several times and it is truly a pleasure to tromp around the grouse woods with these two gentlemen. Now, we had some great dog work from Randy's dogs Cocoa (pointer) and Nugget (GSP), as well as from Rudy. Unfortunately at this time of year, you are more likely to hear fleeing birds than to actually see them, much less get a realistic chance of hitting them. The jungle of foliage in the early season gives the birds a big advantage over us Elmer Fudds. However, we had a fair number of bird contacts over our two days together, but Randy and Leighton were unable to bring anything to the game bag. C'est la vie! That is grouse hunting, pure and simple, and we've all had days like this. After all, grouse are, well, grouse! As you dedicated grouse hunters already know, they don't give us too many easy chances. If you can think of more good hunting excuses, please insert them here: ______________________________________
Good luck this season and enjoy your days afield with your dog (s)!
This page was updated on: 12/12/09
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Email Address: Tom at Tall Timber
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