Fin explains his Grouse Slooshing - Guest on another podcast

[JTHOMP]

I have always said that if you have to shoot a bird flying then you should shoot a deer running. Changes things a bit doesn’t it?

Sadly evening in the hunting and fishing world where we like to have common ground many still hold their standards higher over others. Public vs private, bow vs gun, spikes vs let grow, mallard shooters vs spoon bill and dos gri killers, bass fisherman vs fillet eaters (I can do this all day). I hope Mrs. Fin takes a notion to flying fishing again if it something she enjoys.

 

[thusby]

There is nothing easy about pounding a brushy patch of alders for a grouse. If I catch one trying to slip by on foot and pop him, I am just as happy as if I wait for him to fly.

 

[2rocky]

Depends who we are hunting for. If I am out hunting for the dog, then Point Hold Flush Shoot. If I'm hunting for me, then Headshot City.

I've always been fearful that I was going to arrow a grouse and spook a buck that was bedded nearby. But I've softened on that stance. I'm more about making sure I have a good backstop so I don't lose a $16 arrow.

 

[rwc101]

The romanticism of shooting a grouse on the wing disappears when it's a blue grouse you have to kick up the rear end just to get it in the air.

 

[JLS]

The romanticism of shooting a grouse on the wing disappears when it's a blue grouse you have to kick up the rear end just to get it in the air.

You’d be surprised how different they act when you’re hunting with a dog. Night and day difference.

 

[blueridge]

Made me laugh to keep hearing Ronnie flicking his lighter to light up cigarettes one after the other, plus popping the tabs on periodic cold ones.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

The romanticism of shooting a grouse on the wing disappears when it's a blue grouse you have to kick up the rear end just to get it in the air.

Some of my finest wingshooting memories are blue grouse hunting.
Near Logan, Utah steep avalanche chutes loaded with mountain ash berries, let the dog track upslope
and 20-40 flushes all headed down steep slope so classic overhead pass shooting.
When I lived in Utah I used to ignore the ruffed grouse on the hike in to higher country and those mountain avalance ash chutes.

In Salmon River canyons of Idaho, blues feeding on hawthorn berries on south facing slope, let the lab go
and the grouse fly back towards the Doug Fir on north-facing slopes for some fun pass shooting.

 

[LoveBirdDogs]

Ground swatting like shooting an elk tied to a tree.

 

[MTLabrador]

Ground swatting like shooting an elk tied to a tree.

Except the bird can run... I snipe grouse with no shame.

 

[LoveBirdDogs]

Except the bird can run... I snipe grouse with no shame.

I would rather give them fair chase. Wing shooting is easy.

 

[MTLabrador]

I would rather give them fair chase. Wing shooting is easy.

I love wing shooting. I used to shoot trap competitively. I shoot a lot of birds with an over/under over a dog and I snipe a few mountain grouse with a .22. Both are perfectly fair chase in my mind. The bird can still get away.

 

[Big Fin]

Ground swatting like shooting an elk tied to a tree.

Ouch! Come on, man. That hurts.

 

[huronmtns]

I would rather give them fair chase. Wing shooting is easy.

Wing shooting is easy if you are hunting cover that is anything like what was represented in the video. The cover that the Ruffed Grouse are in where I hunt is a lot different. Visibility is 15 to 20 yards due to to stem density and mixed evergreen thickness with topography changes added to the equation. The grouse don't hold for dogs or just fly up into trees. They flush wild and strategic. The put cover and/or topography between you and them when they flush. A good hunting dog will move out beyond visible ranges at times because of they navigate the cover faster than humans can. The visibility stack-up starts to add up against you. The dog at 15 yards from the shooter, the grouse 10 or more yards away from the dog. Add those two things together and we are at 25 yards or more and well beyond a visible shot. Hearing grouse flush with out a shot fired can get old. Hunting with other hunters improves the odds that a bird will fly in front of some one. The issue is trying to keep track of each other and maintain a line for directional safety adds to the challenge too. I generally will hunt grouse alone and take the shot that presents. It is fair chase in this type of cover. A good season for me is shooting more than three grouse for the season. Just enough to make a couple of great tasting meals and teasing me to continue hunting tough country that I predominately hunt deer in.

 

[FlatlanderAZ]

I didn’t even know grouse could fly. Never let them get that far. I’ve been known to opportunistically sleuce quail too.

“You run like a rabbit... you die like a rabbit.”

 

[LoveBirdDogs]

Wing shooting is easy if you are hunting cover that is anything like what was represented in the video. The cover that the Ruffed Grouse are in where I hunt is a lot different. Visibility is 15 to 20 yards due to to stem density and mixed evergreen thickness with topography changes added to the equation. The grouse don't hold for dogs or just fly up into trees. They flush wild and strategic. The put cover and/or topography between you and them when they flush. A good hunting dog will move out beyond visible ranges at times because of they navigate the cover faster than humans can. The visibility stack-up starts to add up against you. The dog at 15 yards from the shooter, the grouse 10 or more yards away from the dog. Add those two things together and we are at 25 yards or more and well beyond a visible shot. Hearing grouse flush with out a shot fired can get old. Hunting with other hunters improves the odds that a bird will fly in front of some one. The issue is trying to keep track of each other and maintain a line for directional safety adds to the challenge too. I generally will hunt grouse alone and take the shot that presents. It is fair chase in this type of cover. A good season for me is shooting more than three grouse for the season. Just enough to make a couple of great tasting meals and teasing me to continue hunting tough country that I predominately hunt deer in.
View attachment 144984

I hunt in MI so stem density is very high. That bird was on autumn olive. I placed myself between the autumn olive and the heavy cover knowing that would be the escape route once any birds were flushed.

Ouch! Come on, man. That hurts.

lol

 

[LoveBirdDogs]

Wing shooting is easy if you are hunting cover that is anything like what was represented in the video. The cover that the Ruffed Grouse are in where I hunt is a lot different. Visibility is 15 to 20 yards due to to stem density and mixed evergreen thickness with topography changes added to the equation. The grouse don't hold for dogs or just fly up into trees. They flush wild and strategic. The put cover and/or topography between you and them when they flush. A good hunting dog will move out beyond visible ranges at times because of they navigate the cover faster than humans can. The visibility stack-up starts to add up against you. The dog at 15 yards from the shooter, the grouse 10 or more yards away from the dog. Add those two things together and we are at 25 yards or more and well beyond a visible shot. Hearing grouse flush with out a shot fired can get old. Hunting with other hunters improves the odds that a bird will fly in front of some one. The issue is trying to keep track of each other and maintain a line for directional safety adds to the challenge too. I generally will hunt grouse alone and take the shot that presents. It is fair chase in this type of cover. A good season for me is shooting more than three grouse for the season. Just enough to make a couple of great tasting meals and teasing me to continue hunting tough country that I predominately hunt deer in.
View attachment 144984

I hunt grouse hunt in MI so stem density is high. IN the video you can see in front of me is heavy cover. I had placed myself between autumn olive and the heavy cover. Knowing any flushed birds would head to the cover. I get runners some times but not often the dogs are on them fast enough that running is not an option.

I have a video below of the same dog on a runner. Turned out the bird had been shot already and when I cleaned it it the breast was green on one side. You can hear me whistle sit the dog because the bird kept running out from her and the cover was heavy. actually missed the shot but she later ran the bird down and caught it. That dog typically catches a bird every season. She is my slow dog now she is 14. Drake one of 7 year old springers catches woodcock all the time.

 

[JLS]

I don't take myself so seriously I'm going to let every bird fly. A few ducks have died on the water in front of my blind too. The only time it's an absolutely a no-no is when dog safety is a consideration.

 

[LoveBirdDogs]

Wing shooting is easy if you are hunting cover that is anything like what was represented in the video. The cover that the Ruffed Grouse are in where I hunt is a lot different. Visibility is 15 to 20 yards due to to stem density and mixed evergreen thickness with topography changes added to the equation. The grouse don't hold for dogs or just fly up into trees. They flush wild and strategic. The put cover and/or topography between you and them when they flush. A good hunting dog will move out beyond visible ranges at times because of they navigate the cover faster than humans can. The visibility stack-up starts to add up against you. The dog at 15 yards from the shooter, the grouse 10 or more yards away from the dog. Add those two things together and we are at 25 yards or more and well beyond a visible shot. Hearing grouse flush with out a shot fired can get old. Hunting with other hunters improves the odds that a bird will fly in front of some one. The issue is trying to keep track of each other and maintain a line for directional safety adds to the challenge too. I generally will hunt grouse alone and take the shot that presents. It is fair chase in this type of cover. A good season for me is shooting more than three grouse for the season. Just enough to make a couple of great tasting meals and teasing me to continue hunting tough country that I predominately hunt deer in.
View attachment 144984

I always hunt heavy cover with a back wind. This way the dog is always back scenting. This keeps the flushes closer to the gun. Keeps the dog from running out to far ahead on scented bird.

 

[huronmtns]

I always hunt heavy cover with a back wind. This way the dog is always back scenting. This keeps the flushes closer to the gun. Keeps the dog from running out to far ahead on scented bird.

Back wind is a great tip for thick cover. I guess I considered how to work the cover with not enough focus on wind direction being maintained. The topography changes also play games with the wind direction. I think I just hunt some very difficult cover. I see less than a hand full of dog hunters the entire fall. They must be smarter than me and hunt south and east by 30 miles for better conditions.

 

[geetar]

Today I got an email from a guy lecturing me about my bird hunting ethics. I don't think he understands the humor of this back and forth jabbing that is me shooting mountain grouse, or as I call them, forest chickens, at every opportunity and thumbing my nose at anyone who doesn't like it. A brief segment of that email is copied below, protecting the well-intended guy who wants to save me from the ground pounder's Hades.




I love watching a good dog work birds as much as anyone. I've had some good bird dogs that I loved dearly and enjoyed every day afield. But, some folks need to loosen the top knot and take a deep breath.

I was polite in my reply, giving some feedback about this ground pounding being a bit of humor in our content. I was going to ask about the ethics of messing up a fine bird breast by filling it full of pellets while wing shooting, versus arrowing them or picking off the heads with a 20 gauge while they are on stumps, all the while preserving in a pellet-free form every bit of breast, wing, and leg meat. I figured that might tip him over the edge.

Tightly wound people are what drove Mrs. Fin out of flying fishing here in our Valley where some want to proclaim as the center of the fly fishing universe. We'd knock a few spotted river carp (trout) on the head and toss them in a cooler. The comments from the Oncorhynchus worshipers were enough that if not for the presence of our young son, I would have tried to hone my pugilist skills. Rather than have our good fishing times rained out by the tears of over-geared and under-qualified tourists packing an attitude, we bought a motorboat and I got her addicted to walleye fishing, where she proudly proclaims, "If you hook 'em, you cook 'em." We even did a T-shirt to support her cause.

Now, if they are 16-20" Sander vitreus, they go in the live well, then to the fry pan, where we eat them with glee, singing praises to the "Catch and cook" gods while the annually growing masses of tourists flock to our ever-crowding Valley for their 100-fish days, seemingly unaware that they have probably killed 5-10 fish in the process. But, I guess the cormorants have to eat, too.

And while the last meal of summer walleyes disappears from our forks, my mind starts thinking about forest chickens. Where I will shoot them on stumps, from trees, on the ground, with a bow, with a shotgun, and be tone deaf to those well-intended souls unable to enjoy the pleasures of putting chicken in the pot.

To me, this style of grouse gettin' is akin to the simple life of bank fishing with a bobber, a worm, and a mess of fat summer bluegills sizzling in hot grease. I'm a guttin' and I'm a grinnin'. And I ain't apologizin' to nobody.

Those uptight C&R guys need to watch “ A River Runs Through It “ again. Even hollyweirdos like Brad Pitt keep the fish they catch.