More American guns in camp than I first realized. The new guy to our grouse camp, a very experienced shotgun man, brought model 21’s in 16 gauge and 20 gauge.
Final tally for the day for my hunting partner and I were:
grouse flushed: 12
Shot at: 4
Killed: 3
Woodcock flushed: 10
Shot at: 4
Killed: 0
I missed a grouse, and three woodcock including a gimme. The downside of chasing dusky grouse all September is being too slow for ruffed grouse come...
We are hunting our way NE from Minneapolis. 10 grouse flushed so far today with three kills. Alas, none by my hand. It’s good to be back in the Northwoods.
A couple of the guys who drove from PA have been hunting in the UP the past few days and caught most of that front on the chin. Too bad for them! Looks like we might get lucky on the weather front for the next week.
1am drive to DIA for a 6:20am flight starts now. One of the few upsides to living in Chicago was being 15 min from O’Hare but I don’t miss the rest of what living there meant. The trip to Northern WI from NW CO will be more effort this year as opposed to making the trip from Chicago as in years...
My personal 16 gauge is a an old model 12. I’ve told myself and my friends who shoot high end English guns that I shoot vintage American shotguns because I’m an American but truth is it’s just what I can afford!
I’m catching an early flight out of DIA tomorrow morning to Minneapolis and then making the drive to N WI to meet a bunch of friends for our annual WI Grouse trip. One of the guys is picking me up in Minneapolis and we are gonna hunt our way up to camp. This is the fourth year we are doing this...
Should be a good time. We are headed to N WI for a week beginning this upcoming Saturday. Remember, every ruffed grouse killed on the wing is a trophy! After all, he’s the King.
-pay up front for tag cost when applying
-scrap ability to return tag unless for medical reasons/death in family/military deployment
-weekly random lottery for reissued tags, apply Tuesday evening after weekly reissue preview list comes out and random lottery is run Wednesday
- any A-list tag...
I ordered one as well based on this thread and others reviews I read. I chalked it up as a birthday present to myself and cheaper than a new to me vintage SxS shotgun. Vest is supposed to arrive today, stoked to get my hands on it.
I love opening crops as well. I didn’t photograph any of the crops from duskys in NW CO this fall thus far but an interesting mix of berries in some and green leaves in others. Here are some crops from ruffed grouse in N WI from the past few years.
Fall 2022
Fall 2021
No fall bear for me. Had a shot at a big one opening weekend at 350 yards and missed. My buddy had a shot at one, same distance same weekend and whiffed as well. So we had our opportunities but didn’t take them. There’s always next year.