When you think of hunting grouse and woodcock, you think of English setters or Pointers... The Hunter, decked out in Orvis or Filson, carrying his favorite side by side/over and under. Sorry, we don't fit that stereotype! Well, OK... Maybe the side by side and the over and under...AND...I do like Filson... But hey, these dogs are a little more progressive and fit within the flusher category. A buddy of mine and his Chessie joined me and my 2 Wachtels on a short, few hour road trip to chase the birds around on the Michigan woodcock opener...
As we progressed to our destinations, we made a stop here and there. The first spot amazed us with the amount of berries/thorn-apples... Woodcock were spotty as was the grouse... We had about 8 to 10 flushes total and game in the bag. The one highlight for myself was that Findus found a porky within an hour of starting to hunt. All I could think was how fortunate I was that he learned his lesson last year and only took about 20 quills to the lower lip....WHEW!!! The unfortunate part was that he was not near as tolerant to me pulling them out. I was able to pull out the majority but he still is sporting one or two... Hopefully time and some antibiotics will assist in their "moving" out.
The second site, was the opposite of our base camp location. Less grouse and a few woodcock but nothing substantial. I was able to scrape down 1 woodcock... Later in the day, I also knocked down one grouse... The tough thing was all the cover and have a clear shot. I learned if you don't shoot, you don't get! Jim failed to produce some birds but he was able to put a dent in the squirrel population with 1 fox and 1 gray squirrel. I was amazed at all the oaks/acorns. That was the only thing I found in the grouse's crop.
The second site, was the opposite of our base camp location. Less grouse and a few woodcock but nothing substantial. I was able to scrape down 1 woodcock... Later in the day, I also knocked down one grouse... The tough thing was all the cover and have a clear shot. I learned if you don't shoot, you don't get! Jim failed to produce some birds but he was able to put a dent in the squirrel population with 1 fox and 1 gray squirrel. I was amazed at all the oaks/acorns. That was the only thing I found in the grouse's crop.
Above was our location for our campsite with a pop-up trailer. It was not far from the start of a well-known river. For the sake of protecting our covers, I will not disclose a location except we were in the upper half of lower Michigan.
Below is pictures of our results for the first day. I was VERY impressed with Jim's shot placement while utilizing a shotgun to shoot squirrels. The majority of the pellets hit the head and there was little meat damage.
Below is pictures of our results for the first day. I was VERY impressed with Jim's shot placement while utilizing a shotgun to shoot squirrels. The majority of the pellets hit the head and there was little meat damage.
By the end of the first day, both us and our dogs were exhausted. We made a small fire and watched the river slowly meander by. PEACEFUL! We were quick to bed in anticipation of the next day's adventures and dreams of doubles. We were up at a reasonable time the next morning and had the camp packed up by 0830. A quick run in for fuel and some McDonald nutritional supplements; we were on our way to the next cover. Let's just say that we got in THICK with the woodcock. I would guess, between the two of us, we had probably 75 plus flushes. Lets just say that the ammo companies were extremely excited about our shooting abilities! HOWEVER, we were able to scrape together a 2 man limit. Grouse, on the other hand, seemed to be a little more illusive. No birds to add to the bag but we had a couple of flushes. We just could not seem to find any type of consistency or concentration of birds. I did take the camera out and snap some pictures of the dogs... Just difficult to find them in the thick cover. It has been a while since I have been in birds like that and it was nice to watch the dogs develop as this was excellent exposure for them as well. I learned to read the dogs and find openings to stand in so when the bird flushed; I was ready. It still did not help my shooting.
Dahlia decided that she wanted her bird back!
I was having some fun with the effects of my digital photo program...
Stay tuned as I will continue to share my experiences as the season begin and progress!
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