BZNHNTR
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Blue/Dusky Grouse Stories and Tips Wanted!
- Thread starter lpcoutdoors
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Thats a cool picture. I hope i can get on a couple dumb ones. It would be my pups first wild bird. My state (virginia) seasons come in later, late oct for grouse nov,dec quail and woodcock. Ive been working with this pup all summer so I am anxious to hit the woods. I am not exspecting much but at least 1 solid wild bird point would be amazing to witness, add a kill and i would be in heaven.
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I got skunked on Blue Grouse opening morning for the first time I can remember. And 8.9 miles, so we put in a little leather.
They had just moved a hundred or so head of sheep down the main access trail this morning/last night, so that is part of (most of) the reason, then it started raining (which is like a bizzaro world level event in CO this year) - but I feel very 'Fail-y' right now. I "talked" in my junior high level spanish with the Sheepherder that was in there rounding up strays and he hadn't seen any birds since Monday.
Couple of half-hearted "maybe there was a bird here an hour ago" points and a few spots where the dog got birdy, but we had one bird flush wild in some deadfall nightmare about 10:00 and that was it.
Damn "dumb" blue grouse
They had just moved a hundred or so head of sheep down the main access trail this morning/last night, so that is part of (most of) the reason, then it started raining (which is like a bizzaro world level event in CO this year) - but I feel very 'Fail-y' right now. I "talked" in my junior high level spanish with the Sheepherder that was in there rounding up strays and he hadn't seen any birds since Monday.
Couple of half-hearted "maybe there was a bird here an hour ago" points and a few spots where the dog got birdy, but we had one bird flush wild in some deadfall nightmare about 10:00 and that was it.
Damn "dumb" blue grouse
mountainlaurel3
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First success today (of any type of hunting).
Saw a few more, only took the one shot, bringing my lifetime grouse batting average to .333. 8,500 - 9,200 feet.
Thanks to bigfin for making me realize how much easier it is to shoot one off a limb...
Saw a few more, only took the one shot, bringing my lifetime grouse batting average to .333. 8,500 - 9,200 feet.
Thanks to bigfin for making me realize how much easier it is to shoot one off a limb...
I took my Gordon Setter out on Labor Day to the Snowy Range in WY and we walked the logging road up to Rock Creek Knoll. We ran into 5 bowhunters after elk. One said he had flushed three dusky grouse on the road. We spent the afternoon searching for our elusive quarry at 10,000-10,500 feet. Didn't find any birds. An interesting 7 miles for me and 16.4 miles for my dog. Found elk rubs and a nice wallow, but no grouse. There were some low bushes with berries and quite a few grasshoppers on the roads and in the open cut-overs, so food for them was there. We also worked up and down the sides of a small stream - nothing. Murron got birdy a couple of times and really got excited around a small clump of firs, but I wasn't able to stir anything out of there. It was also quite warm at 80F. Were we too high or not high enough?
Edited the quote given the very specific location…
Seems like you hit the right kind of cover but the birds may have been hunkering in trees or heavier cover given the weather.
happy to shoot you back a PM from the same area later this week if you edit the details out
Oh please do. That was our first attempt at duskies and I would love to get onto some. I am also looking at closer places here in Northern Colorado. To get to the logging road is almost 2 hour drive for us, but it is a beautiful trip! We didn't get onto the logging road until just after noon once we found the right place.
OntarioHunter
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I'm with you, Shrapnel. The birds shot out of the air don't taste any better than ones shot from a tree or on the ground.
Blues are unpredictable. Sometimes they're so "tame" I almost stepped on them. Other times on the same mountain they would bust at first glimpse. The limit was five back in those days and shoving that many of those big birds in a cheap daypack made for a miserable walk out in the evening.
Blues are unpredictable. Sometimes they're so "tame" I almost stepped on them. Other times on the same mountain they would bust at first glimpse. The limit was five back in those days and shoving that many of those big birds in a cheap daypack made for a miserable walk out in the evening.
That's fantastic gun. Maybe I should go take mine for a walk this weekend...
D
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Birdbander
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This is a great thread! I've never been to the mountains hunting but that will change. I live and hunt ruffed grouse & woodcock in Michigan, both in the UP and Lower. I'll be heading to northern Maine the week after next on my fourth annual trip. A friend from the UP just returned from his first trip to MT for blues and I'm fully inspired! I have two antelope hunts to get out of the way then it'll be all grouse all the time!
We were out 10 days ago (NW CO) and the family groups were (finally) congregating up high. The week before it was all single males. Heck - one drainage over was all single males the day before.
Was in Grand County, CO, this weekend. Hunting duskies from about 8500 to 10500. Worked areas with sage/aspen, aspen/pine, and sage/aspen/pine. Hit steep slopes, ridges, etc. Water in many locations. Walked whatever fire/logging roads I came across. Didn't see a single dusky. Don't have a dog. Any advice for a 2nd year dusky hunter w/o a dog?
Don't have a dog. Any advice for a 2nd year dusky hunter w/o a dog?Ummm, get a dog?Was in Grand County, CO, this weekend. Hunting duskies from about 8500 to 10500. Worked areas with sage/aspen, aspen/pine, and sage/aspen/pine. Hit steep slopes, ridges, etc. Water in many locations. Walked whatever fire/logging roads I came across. Didn't see a single dusky.
I find them on sage ridges when there is feed (currants and grasshoppers). Otherwise, I’d hike transition edges between timber, grass and sage.
You can find them driving forest service roads too if you want to be lazy.
shrapnel
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Was in Grand County, CO, this weekend. Hunting duskies from about 8500 to 10500. Worked areas with sage/aspen, aspen/pine, and sage/aspen/pine. Hit steep slopes, ridges, etc. Water in many locations. Walked whatever fire/logging roads I came across. Didn't see a single dusky.
Sounds like you were in good habitat. Sometimes you just don’t find them. I’d spend sometime driving around the area and seeing if you notice anything on the roads. If that’s not possible then hit that spot a couple more times and if you still don’t get into any birds go back to the drawing board.
I beg to differ! I don't often see them in aspens (if ever?) - it's the wrong aspect. We tend to stay away from aspens when hunting duskies. They like N facing pines/dark timber. Found a honey hole this weekend that had a series of old logging roads which they like because there's flat then a slope - flat then a slope - flat then a slope. They'd be on the flat right at the edge of the slope for easy escape.
802flyfish
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Bumped a couple different groups today. Probably around 5-7 in total around 9k. Crazy how spooky these birds are when you invole dogs. 
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