Grouse Season is Almost Here

[Hunting Wife]

Ok @Ben Lamb, this one’s for you.

The only flush before we were driven from the field by the mosquito horde. The rain seems to have made them extra voracious.

 

[Ben Lamb]

The only thing about eastern Montana that I dislike are those blood sucking little buggers. Thanks & nice work!

 

[jbowlin]

Got the pup on his first upland hunt and the old dog out to start another season. Not a bad morning in the Sandhills.

 

[jtm307]

What was going to be a sage grouse hunt turned into a dusky grouse hunt. Bagged a brace with my Brittany and brother in Colorado and turned the birds into a couple of fine camp meals.

 

[Ben Lamb]

This was my grouse weekend.

My sister went on vacation & my wife went to a hot springs for the weekend, so I got catsitting duties. I am a failure as a hunter.



I did turn a front quarter of a doe pronghorn into mostly edible jerky though, so I got that going for me.



Hoping to get out for a long weekend to look for sharpies starting Friday though.

 

[Hem]

Got in to just two birds yesterday morning. One good point but the Blue flushed in to a tree on the opposite side of me and boogeyed as I tried to side hill to get a better angle.
Ground swatted one out of frustration soon after.
Found a sweet swimming hole though.

 

[Hem]

Better hunting today.
Blues were being crafty and the dog was being patient. I gotta get a GPS collar, tough to keep track of points in mountain terrain.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Took a couple of long walks in armpit-high grass and only moved some meadowlarks, a goshawk & a decent whitetail buck that Greta thought she should continue the chase on. At least the scenery didn't suck.

 

[Ben Lamb]

30 MPH sustained winds on the Continental Divide this morning. No birds to be found. It was nice to play hooky from work this morning & get out for an hour and a half.

 

[onpoint]

Ben your last two post's pics look like awful gentlemanly terrain. No deadfall, cliffs, sliderock, general lung burning. And that smokewagon looks a little European and snobby. And where's the dog?

 

[BrentD]

That "smokewagon" looks a bit twisted with those barrels stacked like that. Real, snobbish European smokewagons have them laid out side to side, properly and aerodynamically for those fast swinging birds that are passing left to right or the reverse.

What species of neodinosaurs were you looking for ?

 

[Ben Lamb]

Ben your last two post's pics look like awful gentlemanly terrain. No deadfall, cliffs, sliderock, general lung burning. And that smokewagon looks a little European and snobby. And where's the dog?

These were gentlemanly hills I was hunting this morning, but I did gain 400 feet of elevation in 1/2 mile, hunting pockets of willow/aspens w/snowberry bushes, springs & knik-knik cover.

The one before that was in search of sharpies and what you don't cover in elevation, you double in miles.

The gun is a 1939 German Greifelt o/u in 12 gauge. It's a svelte 6.5 pounds and carries like a dream. The price point was less than a new Citori, and it's got a bunch more character than those plebeian Turkish guns you shoot, sir.

 

[onpoint]

A couple days before the skewering, a much happier pup pic. Saw one bird that morning, not a stellar year so far.....

 

[onpoint]

Would that be mt

These were gentlemanly hills I was hunting this morning, but I did gain 400 feet of elevation in 1/2 mile, hunting pockets of willow/aspens w/snowberry bushes, springs & knik-knik cover.

The one before that was in search of sharpies and what you don't cover in elevation, you double in miles.

The gun is a 1939 German Greifelt o/u in 12 gauge. It's a svelte 6.5 pounds and carries like a dream. The price point was less than a new Citori, and it's got a bunch more character than those plebeian Turkish guns you shoot, sir.

Would you be speaking of my plebeian CZ Bobwhite 16 SxS or my plebeian Canvasback 20 O/U. Both have experience, memory and character, thank you.
Or Maybe my tank of a 12 O/U Lanber, killed many roosters before being relegated to an unusual Turkey specialist.
And go ahead and pooh pooh my Citori feather 16 with the English stock - go ahead.
And to prove I'm not a snob nor a purist, my newest - the Benelli Monte in a lefty - is pretty sweet.
So you and Brent Look-At-MY-Guns go ahead and feel superior - Montana (ex) state employee's make due with what works. And/however - my dogs ARE superior

 

[Ben Lamb]

Trigger me timbers!

 

[onpoint]

This plebe use to be about the only dedicated blue grouse hunter in Bozeman 34 years ago. A Mossberg 12 was the weapon back then. Our dog was a toy poodle. All I had to do was step out on the porch, shoot in the air in the general direction of the Bridgers and 5 blue grouse would fall at my feet.......................................................

Most of the "real sportsmen" back then were slumped over the bar at Staceys

 

[Ben Lamb]

From now on, Onpoint shall be known as Beorn.

 

[onpoint]

That's plain weird. Internet meming and stuff.

Staying around the house babysitting an injured dawg, bored, spending time on an Interweb forum, is a bad idea.

Think I'll watch reruns of Cheers...........................

 

[Ben Lamb]

Beorn was the shapeshifter in the Hobbit - a guardian of wild things and wild places. He was cantankerous & hated dwarves. He hated orcs more, but still.

He's a good comparison. Better than an Ent.

As for Cheers, they're always glad you came.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Another quick outing after work between rain showers. A bird short, but a bonus shed in the bag.



The dog hasn’t been out in a couple weeks, so she was happy this evening.