Grouse

H20fwler

5 year old buck +
Made the trip up to the north woods with my two boys last week, I think we missed the peak of the woodcock migration but still found plenty. The dogs did great lots of points and some nice retrieves I even shot my first snowshoe hare.
We started the trip on the fringe of farm country pheasant hunting on an early frosty morning. Birds were thin this year dogs pointed three hens and one rooster in three hours, the scenery was fantastic. The wildest thing was around eight in the morning a wolf howled about a half mile away, then one answered in another direction half mile away and another and another! Really kept us on our toes keeping a very close eye on our pups...never hear anything like that at home.

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Then we switched over to grouse/woodcock mode and hit the little aspens and conifers for a couple days traveling to our favorite spots and found a couple new covers.

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My oldest son knocked a big grouse down and after the dog brought it back we noticed right away that it looked different...I have hunted grouse for over forty five years and have shot red phase/gray phase and color variants of both but had never seen one like this. We googled it and I guess this color phase is called a bronze grouse and is kind of rare. It had a copper colored band on its tail instead of black and its neck rough was red. If he hadn't shot it so hard I think he would have gotten it mounted, we ended up boraxing and pinning the tail fan out to dry . He will mount the tail in a wood wall holder and hang his dogs first bell that the clapper broke off under it. then hang that up in his office as a memento of the trip.

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It was a nice first fall trip with a few good tailgate lunches of smoked salmon and aged sharp cheddar.
Anytime I can get out hunting with boys and spend quality time with them for a few days is a dream come true for me anymore...the birds and dog work are just icing on the cake.
 
Great trip and pics! Our grouse season just came in, but opportunities are very limited. Woodcock does not come in until December, but we are eat up with them at our lease.
 
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