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[size 1]Well,
I got a chance to go out forest grouse hunting on Sat. 9/13, the opening day here in Utah. Went up above Heber towards the Timberlakes area, continued on Past the Currant Creek turnoff. Ended up in Coop Creek by Strawberry Reservoir. Got out and hunted in an area of the Center Creek turnoff, but didn't see anything. On the way way, stopped in Daniels Canyon and went up one of the side canyons. We saw one blue grouse after a steep hike, and bagged im. What a tasty treat. Going to eat him tonight. Hope to get out again soon and hopefully see more than one!!! [/size]
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Hey Catman,
I too got afew blue grouse(pine hens). What a tastey treat. We found ours at the water holes at first light and in the pines near the water during the day. We were on the west side of the oquirrhs above erda on horses.
Got a bunch of doves on the opener too. This is just the beginning of the hunting season and so far its been a riot. Hopefully I can get in some fishing in between. Good hunting!(and fishing)
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Great report fisherman! I ate my grouse last night, boy was it tasty!!! I like the blue grouse best cause theyre a bit bigger than the ruffed. I saw mine just outside a stand of pines on a steep slope, near many chokecherries and other berry bushes. His crop was chuck full of chokecherries and green leaves.
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Whats funny, is when you are hunting them, they are never to be found. But when you dont want to see them, they seem to be every where.
In my deer hunting hole, I cant walk down any ridge without spooking tons of them. About a month ago I was up there doing some scouting, and couldnt move ten steps without flushing one or two. I must have flushed thirty on one ridge alone.
It has been years since I have hunted grouse, I hate shooting a gun in my deer canyons before the season causing the big boys to hide, and become wary earlier then usual.
But like I said before, since I dont hunt them there, they sure are easy to find.
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[size 2]That's just like Quail in California. They know when hunting season starts. I was on a nature hike in the foothills and they were everywhere.[shocked][/size]
[size 2] My friend was with me without his shotgun and was having a fit![sly] [/size]
[size 2] He loves Quail. I personally only like cow and chicken. Cows don't put on much of a fight though[crazy][/size]
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yessa, i hear ya there. but the problem is with our partridge there few fer betwixt the last few years and the fisher cats. and cause of our winters, they didn,t have little ones cuase of all the rain in the spring and sleet crust with the snow so,s they couldn,t dig to the feed. just bad 2 years. seen a few, that,s it. but do like the taste and good eatin .
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Well, here in Utah we've had some decent snowstorms -- not enough to end the drought quite yet, but the valleys have no snow right now. The mountains are about 140% of normal so we're doin good so far. Wow, 28 inches would be fun. I'd have to take the truck out for a spin in 4WD!
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I just stumbled across this hunting web board and your Utah grouse hunting post caught my eye. Sounds like you and I hunt the same areas. I found good numbers of grouse in those same areas, at least with a good dog. Before I got my Brittany, it seemed that the grouse numbers were very small. After getting the dog trained, Grouse seem to be everywhere. Can't wait for mid-September to come around again to chase the ruffies & blues again.
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Hey MRJ Welcome! Yeah grouse hunting is one of my favorite things to do! And they sure are tasty to eat as well! It's great excercise cause ya gotta do so much hiking in the timber, which is also good. The areas that grouse frequent are always so beautiful!
I don't have a dog -- never have. I've never had a problem locating birds though. You just gotta walk quiet and listen for them and usually you can get close enough that you could take them out with a rock, bb gun or arrow before they take off. When I was deer hunting above Daniel's Canyon I was sitting in a pine stand watching a clearing opening morning to see if any deer would come by. After an hour or so a nice blue grouse approached slowly, feeding on berries and buds of bushes. I just watched it for like a half an hour before it moved on. Beautiful!
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I ran into a bunch deer hunting up on top just past Danies during the deer hunt as well. A couple of times they came up right under me while I was poking though the thick stuff and I just about had an accident, something I have not done since I was two. A good dog is great because they will cover five miles for every one that you do. With their nose they really zero in on the birds and are indispensible in tracking down cripples. After years of hunting without a dog, they are like American Express, don't leave home without one. They really improve the quality of the experience.
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Yeah, you're right. I've always wanted a hunting dog, but as a kid my dad wouldn't allow a dog, and now my wife won't allow it either! Man I thought when you grow up you get to do what you want! [crazy]
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Well, the next best thing is to know someabody that has one. You don't have to shelter it, feed it, or clean up after it. Maybe next season we can cross paths on a hunt? Mr. J.
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That would be cool. I usually go with my little bro. or my dad, but it'd be cool to meet up sometime.
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