Salton Sea to Arctic Ocean

[glass eye]

My niece’s husband hunts big game but became inspired to try upland bird

 

[glass eye]

Quick detour on the way home.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Dang near a grouse grand slam on this one trip.

That’s awesome.

 

[glass eye]

Dang near a grouse grand slam on this one trip.

That’s awesome.

Saw 1 Ruffed Grouse that my dog flushed up into a tree but before I could get in position it flew off. That was north of Chicken Alaska.

 

[nastynate]

Awesome trip! How does the lab do with all the prairie grouse? I have a pretty close ranging lab that is great with pheasants and ruffed grouse, and want to go get some of those other prairie birds! Feels like most prairie grouse people use pointers. Do you flush a lot out of range? Do you personally have experience with your lab and pheasants? How do the prairie birds compare?

 

[glass eye]

When I see Centinela in Mexico (Mt. Signal) then I’m home.
10,465 miles (trip odometer went to zero at 10k)
17.5 mpg
Almost 220 hours behind the wheel
After 33 days on the road I come home to find that it has cooled down from 119* to 100*

 

[Salmonchaser]

Mighty impressive, well done.

 

[glass eye]

Awesome trip! How does the lab do with all the prairie grouse? I have a pretty close ranging lab that is great with pheasants and ruffed grouse, and want to go get some of those other prairie birds! Feels like most prairie grouse people use pointers. Do you flush a lot out of range? Do you personally have experience with your lab and pheasants? How do the prairie birds compare?

I jump shoot ducks with her so she knows to stay close, although she forgets that sometimes.
This was her first upland hunt and she loved it and I loved watching her. However, in Montana she wore herself out and now she walks like a 16 year old dog (she’s 4) I hope she recovers 100%
It kills me to see her like this.

 

[Id-Dave]

Thanks for taking us along. Heck of a road trip...

 

[crock239]

Glad your trip turned out so well! Looks awesome.

Jealous of your photography skills! Wish I could capture my travels that well.

Great adventure, thanks for sharing.

 

[Hunting Wife]

When I see Centinela in Mexico (Mt. Signal) then I’m home.
10,465 miles (trip odometer went to zero at 10k)
17.5 mpg
Almost 220 hours behind the wheel
After 33 days on the road I come home to find that it has cooled down from 119* to 100*
View attachment 293202View attachment 293203View attachment 293204

Awesome stats

Awesome trip! How does the lab do with all the prairie grouse? I have a pretty close ranging lab that is great with pheasants and ruffed grouse, and want to go get some of those other prairie birds! Feels like most prairie grouse people use pointers. Do you flush a lot out of range? Do you personally have experience with your lab and pheasants? How do the prairie birds compare?

Just saw this, thought I’d throw my .02 in. Prairie grouse don’t run like pheasants. They’ll sit pretty tight (until they’ve been pressured a bunch). IMO a flusher is ideal for them. Particularly early season they’ll sit until the dog dang near catches them. A close working dog will often be putting up birds in your face….sometimes a bit too close.

Then in late season they flush at 1/4 mile

 

[nastynate]

Awesome stats


Just saw this, thought I’d throw my .02 in. Prairie grouse don’t run like pheasants. They’ll sit pretty tight (until they’ve been pressured a bunch). IMO a flusher is ideal for them. Particularly early season they’ll sit until the dog dang near catches them. A close working dog will often be putting up birds in your face….sometimes a bit too close.

Then in late season they flush at 1/4 mile

I’ve only encountered them on late season pheasant hunts (cause that’s the only time I’ve hunted prairie grouse habitat) and indeed they’ve always been waaaaayy out there. Maybe some year when it’s a cool early season we will try it. My dog would cook in 5 minutes with the temps that started this season off…

 

[SaskHunter]

Awesome trip! The wife and I have been talking about doing something similar with the overall intent to reach the arctic ocean. Thanks for sharing!!!

Must get fierce winds there, no trees.

Trees help, the main issue is the lack of significant high features or mountain ranges to block the wind. She gets windy!