Rory and I met online back in 2008. Our first date was at a Starbucks, where I proceeded to shock him by ordering hot chocolate on a 100 degree day. I'm not sure if that is what prompted him to follow up and ask for a second date (a hike up nearby 'mountain' looking for Shorthorned Lizards), and then a third (another hike on another very hot day), but whatever the reason, a bit over a month later I found myself out hunting for basically the first time of my life.
September first for Rory means grouse hunting. And from the start of our relationship, I've tagged along - taking pictures, staying behind the hunters, and keeping a look out for grouse & where they fall once shot, and then more recently I've joined the hunt with a shotgun myself.
That first hunt we got up at what I (somewhat) affectionately refer to as stupid-o-clock, which basically means anytime far earlier than usual, generally well before dawn starts to make the outside world visible. Rory was living at his old house in town, and I was down visiting. We had a 30 minute drive just to get to where we live now, then further still on the forest roads to get up to the good grouse spots.
There was nervous excitement in the pit of my stomach, and chilly wind blowing on my cheeks, in part to alleviate the foul air that I've come to accept as part of the Jeep experience. I quickly realized I was expected to peer sideways out my wide open window either upslope or downslope, depending on the road, and look out into the dawn light for grouse sitting on the ground, on logs, or on stumps, or perched on tree branches.
I don't remember whether he shot his limit that first time out or not, but I know I had a good time. Although by now I've hunted other animals with Rory - ducks, quail, huns, chukar, turkeys, and deer, my favorite by far is grouse. There is something about that first hunt of the fall. The cooler morning temperatures, the early dawn light, the scenic views from where we grouse hunt, the leaves starting to change color and drift to the ground, the first waft of smelly Jeep air.
Grouse hunting is something we do as a family, usually just Rory, the girls, and myself, with the hunting dogs bringing up the sides. We drive around looking for grouse, go on hikes with beautiful views, and have so much time to bond as a family - experiencing nature at its finest, while bringing home meat for the freezer.
As I looked back through 6 years of September grouse hunting pictures to accompany this post, family is definitely the center of the event. I can look and see Maddycakes growing up, from the first year I hunted grouse, when she was in my belly, to the following year where she wasn't yet walking, and on and on to this year, with new little Elsa just 3 months old.
That brings us to this year, these hunts with 2 littles, and a mama not yet back in shape from pregnancy. Rory's been just as interested in hunting every morning and night he isn't at work as ever, and hasn't been put off by us slowing him down. Ever the gentleman, he's instead adapted to our speed, accepting our limitations in stride. Too bumpy of a road for the baby? Nevermind mama, we'll just do this one over here instead. Too tired to be anything but cranky? Nevermind mama, how about I hike in and find you another grouse to finish out your limit and call you in when I've got it perched in a tree. Baby occupying your hands so you can't even help feather one bird? Nevermind mama, you just sit over there and Maddycakes and I will feather all your birds.
Although the first day this year we focused on getting him his limit, the second day was all about getting me mine. The daily limit here is 4 birds per person, and that second day we both limited out on our morning hunt. While the first day was a joint effort spotting the birds and finding where they lit up, the second day was all Rory. Bird after bird he spotted, and I'd move in for the shot. Five birds he spotted for me (the first one I would have gotten if I had been shooting high base not the low base that scared it off but didn't penetrate), and four birds he feathered and cleaned for our freezer for me.
With the baby this year, I'm not going to be duck hunting, and don't expect to be doing any deer hunting either. But grouse hunting was one thing that brand new baby or not, I was not going to skip out on this year.
On day two of grouse hunting here in north central Washington my one goal was to get my wife a limit of grouse. I was not going to shoot any grouse until my wife had her limit. This time I got a few hours of sleep the night before and again I woke everyone up to get going at first light. I rode the lucky gate and we headed to what we call "The Lower Road."
We get to the top of one hill but before we drop into the next drainage we have to go through another gate which is old, heavy and not fun to move at all. As I was going to get out to open it my wife tells me she will get it. As she drags it open like a pro I give her a smile as I drive through. After a couple moments of waiting for her on the other side I look in my mirror to see her moving the old heavy gate about an inch at a time and with a very flustered look on her face. I get out to HELP her and she quickly returns to her seat with a 'hurry and get this gate closed so we can go hunting' look.
A short time later I see the first grouse in the grass along the road. It flushes into a tree and my wife gets out to shoot it. She shoots a 7 1/2 12 gauge low base shell. So I like her to get a bit closer than she was when she pulled up for the shot. When she pulled the trigger feathers floated down out of the tree and the bird set its wings for the bottom on the valley. There are three choices to choose from in this situation.
A. Positive feed back. "Hey don't worry, at least you got feathers, we will see more."
B. Silence. "..............................................sniff, sniff........................................."
C. Poking fun. "Hey Annie Oakley did you have your eyes closed?"
I tend to start with A and after getting the just shut up look move to B. And if we ever do get some grouse I might be brave enough to move to C.
So this time I give her some positive feedback. As we are looking for more grouse after a few minutes I realize she is not that pleased with herself so I move to silence.
A few corners later I spot the next grouse. My wife gets out and drops it. and I revert back to some positive feedback.
When we finished the lower road my wife had three birds. So I put my big boy pants on and went in for some Poking Fun. "Well I did my job, I showed you 4 birds." with a smile and after an "yeah, yeah" from the wife, I knew she was feeling a lot better now that she had three birds in the bag.
I again decided to take the big loop around, with the idea of stopping in one creek bed where we have had good luck with ruffed grouse in past years. I pull the Jeep over and my wife asks me what I am doing. I told her I was going to go find some grouse. We both get out of the vehicle and load our guns. I went straight in to the thick and nasty stuff and my wife stayed out on the road. ( sometimes I like having someone out of the thick stuff so they can see where the grouse flush to.) Meanwhile our two Wirehaired Pointing griffons start working the creek bed.
5 minutes into the walk the bushes explode with flight. I yell to my wife "Get in here". Her response is "I am busy helping Maddy go Potty". I knew what that meant. BANG, BANG, BANG. My wife yells to me "How many are there!?" I told her - well I just shot three. The dogs start coming out of the brush with birds in the mouth like worker bees bringing pollen back to the hive. They drop the birds at my feet and go back for more. When all the downed birds are back they go back to searching for live birds. I see Remi get birdy and about 10 feet above her a grouse was sitting in a tree. I again yelled for my wife to get in to the bushes. She yells back and says she is on her way. She gets back to me, shoots the grouse, and I tell her I will get the bird and she can work the 70 yards back to the Jeep and kids. I retrieve her 4th and final bird of her limit. Remi flushes up another bird and I see the general area it went to. I have to crawl under some of the thick brush to get to it. I drop it with one shot and with 8 birds our day is done.
So peration get the wife her limit is complete. We sit on the side of the road and feather all of our birds. Maddy dances and plays in the falling feathers as part of a perfect grouse hunting morning.
The night before grouse hunting opened I had to work a night shift. I arranged my schedule to get off at 4 am instead of my usual 6 am. That gives me two hours to drive home, get ready and get the family up and awake for hunting. So I get home get both the car seats moved over to the Jeep. The best thing for me about getting the family up is waking up my three year old daughter Maddy by giving her a little shake and asking her if she wants to go hunting. I am always greeted with a big smile and a soft whisper of "yes". The wife heard me get home so her and baby Elsa got up without any help. We loaded everything up and got going about 10 minutes late.
While I am grouse hunting I am very superstitious. Silly things like, I have to be wearing the right clothes, I have to ride the gate to our hunting road and when I am driving I have to hold two shells in my one of my hands. I don't know what to say but it work for me.
We get to the road we will be hunting and start the slow drive. Since we had the baby a few months prior my wife wont be doing any long hikes this year. We get all the way to the end of the road and did not see a simgle grouse. I figure its going to be one of those frustrating opening days. We tell ourselves that sometimes we see birds on the way out to make ourselves feel better. So we turn around and start making our way out. A ways down the road I see the first grouse. As it starts running through the bushes it flushes into a tree. The wife offers me the first grouse of the year and I take the shot. The bird came tumbling down out of the tree.
A few minutes later I found my second bird. As I drove around a few corners all of a sudden there was a grouse running for its life in front of the Jeep. The grouse flushes into a tree and I get my second bird of the day.
A few more corners down the road I find one for my wife to shoot up in the bushes. So now the pressure is off and everyone is happy. Except now my wife has a bit of confidence and she tells me she would like to limit out in one of the up coming days.
We get to the main road and I decide to take the main loop around instead of the quick drive home. While driving down the main road I catch a flushing grouse out of the corner of my eye. I slam on the breaks walk back find the grouse and add my third grouse for the day.
We drive a few more roads and did not find any more grouse for the morning hunt. But we did see a bear with a funny yellow patch of fur on his right rear thigh. I was also able to get a rabbit in the bag as well.
We returned home so I could get some sleep since I had been up since 5 PM the day before.
My wife woke me up for the evening hunt. I was having a really hard time waking up, but then I remembered I only had one more grouse to go for my limit. We went to the same area but drove the upper road. A mile in on the road I spotted a grouse running through the grass about 40 feet off the road. I chased after it and it flushed. I shot at it in the air and missed. I shot under it as it flew into a tree. I knocked it out of the tree and returned to the Jeep with my limit for the day. We did not see another grouse for the night.
Five grouse for opening day was good enough for us and we went home very happy and content.
So grouse hunting starts in a week here in Washington State. This is the first day of serious hunting for me and my family. The family and I decided to take a drive around the main road in our hunting area to see if we could find anything.
We start off just before dusk, I mentally gave us enough time to get home just before dark. Of course everything goes out the window when you have a baby, and of course I did not factor in feeding time for Elsa.
We get back on the road and start seeing some rabbits. We get through some more of the popular grouse area's without seeing anything. When we get to the paved Forrest Service road where we normally would take a left to hunt, we took a right to take us back to the main road which will take us home.
At this point my wife starts telling me how she doesn't know where we are. I told her we never come this way because there is no grouse on this part of the road. Just as I said that we saw four Ruffed Grouse on the side of the road next to a small stand of aspen. My wife chimed in well I guess we will be coming this way this year.
The rest of the drive home we just saw a bunch of rabbits, more than we normally see and 4 whitetail deer(No Bucks). My prediction for this year is that it will be a good grouse season in North Central Washington. I think the spring rain held off long enough for the chicks to get big enough to withstand a heavy rain. We then had some early summer rain which would of let the berries and other food for the grouse come in nicely. Only time will tell.
I was contacted by The Muck Boot Company asking me to review their Woody Sport
Boot. I gladly excepted and a week later I received my boots. The day I got
them I was going on a weekend duck hunt so it was perfect.
Muck Boots only make whole sizes; I wear 9.5's so I ordered a size 10. The
boot is a bit big for me but fits ok when wearing big wool socks.
I have always hated rubber boots, they have never appealed to me in any way.
But boots that are made out of flex-foam are great. They are comfortable
and they really keep my feet warm weather sitting in a duck blind or marching
through icy creeks after grouse.
I like the stretch fit tops it makes it easy to slip in and out of the
boots. For me that is important going in and out of the house to get firewood
or to feed the animals. They don't even feel like you’re wearing boots more of
water proof slippers.
The only thing I would not recommend for these boots is steep hill hiking.
They just don't provide and stiff support your ankles need for steep mountain
walking.
I use these boots as an everyday around the farm and hunting boots. I know I
will be rough and tough on these boots. So far so good, we will see where we
are after a year of abuse.
I would recommend these boots to anyone who has a farm/ranch, hunts,fishes
or does anything outside where it might rain or snow.
Here are some facts I got off of the Muck Boot website.
Muck Boot woody Sport $150.00
Stretch-fit topline binding snugs calf to keep warmth in and cold out
5mm CR flex-foam bootie with four-way stretch nylon, 100% waterproof, lightweight and flexible
Additional achilles overlay for added protection
Molded rubber Speed-Tracker outsole with molded EVA midsole
Reinforced toe
Added toe protection with a wrap-up bumper
New Mossy Oak Break-Up® Camo
Comfort range of -20ºF to 70ºF
I like these boots so much I am going to give a pair of them away. Here is
how the giveaway will work.
You can enter the contest by:
-Liking R-Dub Outdoors on Facebook
-Following R-Dub Outdoors on Twitter
-Following the R-Dub Outdoors blog
Or do all three for three entries, remember you have to comment below and
let me know each time you did one of these things. When the contest closes on December
24th I will use the random number generator to pick a winner and announce the
winner on Christmas. One lucky winner will get one more Christmas present from R-Dub Outdoors.
So earlier in the month I spoke about the difference I have
seen in hunting dog #1 and Dog #2. The main premise is that hunting dog #2
being younger with hunting dog #1 always around can afford to be lazy. So I am
going to jump into this idea and see what other hunters think about it.
Sage
I got Remi my German Wire Haired Pointing Griffon (Griff) in
December of 2006 after my first hunting dog Sage a German wire haired Pointer was
killed by a car.I trained Remi just
like I trained Sage though the school of hard knocks.I would definitely say I am strict with my
dogs.
Now for those of you who don’t know all that much about
pointers, they are not like labs when it comes to water.They need some coaxing/training/ butt kicking
to get in when young. Sage hated the
water as a young puppy. She was kind of a princess and didn’t like to get her
feet on cold water. I found that just throwing her into the cold water worked
great. Since she was already wet she swam for anything. Through a summer of
swimming together she got the hang of it and I didn’t have to throw her in
anymore.Remi was the exact same way at
first. Although she started to like the water way faster and didn’t take to
many times of getting thrown in to make her realize she is going in no matter
what. Now Remi won’t get out of the water. She will swim miles after a wounded
duck of goose and will spend hour swimming around a bunch of cattails trying to
find a duck. So Remi is dog #1 in the premise.
Now enter dog #2 Lily another Griff, who became a family
member around July of 2009. I figured since I now had a wife who was getting
into hunting I should get another dog so we each can have a dog to hunt
behind.PS my wife was also pregnant
with Maddy when we got Lily. Now I am a
huge supporter of getting puppies hunting as early as possible once away from
the mother. So Lily was hunting that September
for grouse. Lily has a great nose for birds.
Remi
Now at Lily’s 2nd year hunting I started to notice
something. When grouse hunting I would give Remi and Lily hand signs to run up
or down a hill in search of grouse. Remi would run way up on the hillside but
Lily would just get a few yards off of the road. When it came to duck hunting
Remi would swim out after any duck in the water and Lily would just wait in
about knee deep water for Remi to bring the bird in close enough for her to
steal it.So for a couple holes I would
leave Remi in the truck and send lily out for ducks in the water. At the beginning
of the season Lily would only wade up to her knees to get a duck and by the end
of the season she would swim maybe 20 yards for a duck. But she would always give you that look like “can’t
we just get Remi to go get it” first. But if there were any weeds or grasses in the
water forget it she wasn’t going. This was very frustrating for me.
So 2011 came around year three and same thing I felt like I had
to train Lily all over again going to get ducks, even though I spent a summer
swimming with her in lakes around the house. Lily will swim as far as she needs
to get that bumper in the water if it is 80 degrees out. 2012 is
turning out to be the same thing. This year there was a teal off the bank at
about 10 yards in deep water.I had Remi
in the truck and Lily would go out to her knees and come back. So I tried the
good ol’ stand by and threw her in. Well that didn’t work she basically flipped
me the bid and left the area. Remi came out and got it without any direction.
Lily as a puppy
Now my brother also had 2 Griffs. The same thing with them
Dog #1 is a swimming Champ, and Dog #2 who is at 6 years will not swim for
birds. My brother’s dog #2 is also Remi’s litter sister. I know that my brother has put in just as much
time with dog 2 as dog 1.
So is it that the #2 dogs are allowed to be lazy because dog
#1 is always there for the save.I
thought maybe with Maddy being born I didn’t get enough time training Lily. But
that doesn’t make sense because Lily has been with Remi and should have learned
to be a water dog. Or is it that we just happen to get two dogs that don’t like
water?
All I know is I will keep trying to get Lily to become a
swimmer because I know one day Remi will not be around to clean up after her.
So when I go out hunting I either just take my dog Remi pr both hunting dogs which includes Lily. Bother are German Wired Hair Point Griffons, Remi is 6 years old Lily is 3 years old. I have this theory that when you have a really good dog at swimming for ducks and you get another dog. The second dog wont be as good at it because the good dog is always there to get the ducks. The theory is deeper than that but that is the gist of it, but I will get deeper into it on another post.
So I decided to just take Lily duck hunting with me for the first time ever. I was nervous that she would not swim out and get any ducks I shoot in the water. We get down to the hunting area the Run Way and sneak into our first spot. It is a spot where the ducks will be in one of two spots and you just have to guess which one. Well today I was wrong and I guessed the spot where the ducks weren't and a group of mallards got up off of the other spot. A look down the canal I saw three swans. I have never seen swans in this area before. After they saw me they took off like 747's with their wing tips slapping the water as the fought to gain altitude.
Lily
So I went to the next spot down the canal. It doesn't provide much cover for sneaking but usually enough. Except when there are more swans and their three foot necks see you coming. Again when the swans busted me a small group of mallards left eh hole.
So far Lily has been doing a decent job staying in heal and listen to me. So we walk up to the upper holes and check them for ducks. I am beginning to think this day was going to be a bust. Then at about 200 yards I see a duck stretch it wings. Lil and I go way around and come from a direction so the tall grass would give us better cover. I come up over the little hill blocking the ducks view of me and a Widgeon gets up and I drop it, then a teal and I drop it when another widgeon comes around my gun jammed and I did not get a shot off on it.
Lily jumps into the water and the Teal is swimming / running wounded in front of her at about 10 yards. I know she sees it and I yell "Get That Bird" and Lily just watches it run into the tall grass. I make sure the Widgeon is dead and make my way over to where Lily is. After searching for the Teal for about 10 minutes we give up. I was not happy I do not like losing wounded animals. I don't like losing anything I have shot. Anyway we go over to the widgeon and Lil walks out into the watch and retrieves it with no problem.
So we left the run way with one little ducks, hardly worth the trip. But it was nice to get out and get Lily some work. On the drive home which takes about 5 minutes I decided to pick up Remi and see if we could go get some grouse above the house. With the 4 inches of new snow we had it was a great walk through the snowy woods. But we did not find any grouse, although we did see a huge mule deer buck. He just looked at me and I got within about 10 yards of him trying to get a picture of him.
So on Tuesdays I stay at home with Maddy. This Tuesday we were outside feeding the animals and I asked her if she wanted to go hunting. Her response was a simple yes. Her only request was that we bring her water, which was fine with me. So I packed her day bag with some crackers and duck jerky to snack on.
We set off to a spot I know grouse like to winter. I didn't want to be out long so I had a short trip in mind.
As soon as we get to where I think the grouse are one flushes into a tree. As i get out of the jeep another one flushes into a tree. As I load my gun a third flushes. Now I am trying to keep track were each one is. I find the first one that flushed and as I walked towards it it decides to leave and I dump it. I then went for the third one that flushed. As I see it in the tree I aim at it ready for it to flush as I get closer. While aiming at the third on About 10 feet away from me in my peripheral vision I see a the second one looking at me. I dump the third one and turn the the second still looking at me. I can only see his head and I know if it flushes out the back side of the tree I will not get another shot at it so I shoot it in the head right out of the tree.
Remi jumped out of the jeep and went to work. She found the three big blue grouse right away. As I climbed back into the jeep a fourth grouse flushed about 40 yards up the hillside into the a tree. I load back up and walk up the hill. Just as I see it it flushes and I can not get a shot through the thick fir trees. Just then a fifth on flushes back down by the road. I try to see where it lands and I think I have a good line on it. As I am walking to where I think the grouse is two more flush out of a tree and I get one of them for my fourth and final grouse of my limit.
I walk back to the jeep which is about 30 yards with my four grouse. The smile on Maddy's face when I come back with birds is priceless. Maddy always asked for a tail feather or two to play with on the drive home.
This is my first limit of grouse in November.
We did stop by a lake up in the grouse woods to see if we could get some ducks but they did want to fly over me.
The next day I was up cutting wood. Driving home with my second trailer full of wood a ruffed grouse almost flew into the jeep. I watched it land in a tree I got out of the jeep and shot it and Lily went out a retrieved the bird. When I got home my wife is has grouse envy with all the birds I have seen the past two days.
So every year in September after my Dad gets back from his boat trip to
Alaska he tries to find some time to come to The Methow valley to do some
grouse hunting with me. I always enjoy hunting with my Dad so I look forward to
this every year.
This year he arrived and we basically had one day to hunt. So that morning
we set out with the whole family because my wife and Maddy decided to tag
along. We went to an area we call the upper road and went for a short hike. We
did not see anything but had a fun trip.
We got back to the house and my wife went to work and my dad and I hung out
with Maddy all day.
I like to start my evening hunts by leaving the house around 4PM. This time
it was Maddy , my Dad and I. I decided to take him to the next canyon over from
the house since we have been having good luck over there. We get off the main
road and right away I spot a grouse on the side of the road. As the good host
and guide I let Dad get out and shoot it as it flew up into the tree. About 200
yards down the road Dad spots a grouse running down the road. We get out and
chase it and just as its getting into the brush and about to get over the
hillside I say to Dad you better shoot it before its gone. Dad pulls the
trigger and down it goes.
It is at this point I see how the day is going to go, I see the grouse Dad
shoots it, Dad sees the grouse Dad shoots it.
Anyway we get to where we were going to start our hike with Maddy on my back and right away Dad
see's what looks like the biggest grouse ever sitting on top of a rock. Dad
sneaks up on it staying behind trees and shoots it. When the dog recovers it,
it turned out to be the smallest runt hatchling ever. I thought it was a quail,
HAHA.
The rest of the hike did not turn anything up. On the drive back home I see
a grouse fly up into a tree. I jumped out of the car as fast as I could and
shot it before Dad knew what was going on. In that split second I had two
choices. Let Dad get it so he could have a limit of grouse and never hear the
end of it how I was not able to shoot a grouse. Option two was shoot the grouse
and hear about how I was so mean and didn't let Dad get a limit. Of course I
chose the latter and shot my grouse.
The best part of hunting with my Dad is the variation of how everything
happened. The same event will have a million different stories depending on who
you ask. OOO what is going to happen next!
So this September I went on my first ever Washington State High Deer Hunt. I went in to the Pasayten Wilderness in North Central Washington. The areas you are allowed to hunt are no motor vehicle access areas.
So Monday after work I drove an hour to the trail head where I was going to hunt. I left the car at about 5:30 PM with my pack and gun and started up the hill. I had never been to the area I was going but had somewhat of an idea how to get there. After about an hour and a half it got dark out. Of course I was on a steep side slope with loose rocks. My pack for this trip was about 30 pounds and the bag was not fitted for me so it was making life hard on me. With my head lamp on I continued and kept telling my self one foot in front of the other.
I had no idea where I was going to camp. I knew I was looking for a steep meadow which is where I would be hunting the next day. At about 8pm I found the grassy area and started looking for a place to camp in the trees. I decided this trip to pack a hammock to see if I could avoid sleeping on the ground. I found a small protected area about 10 feet of the trail and used a bone saw my dad gave me to cut some spruce branches off two trees to set my hammock. After the hammock was up I set a tarp over the top of the just in case of some wet weather. You never know up at 6000 feet.
I got my bed set up and went straight to sleep. A few hours into my sleep I noticed my backside and feet getting cold. I was in a 0F degree sleeping bag and it was only 35F degrees out, I shouldn't be getting cold. I realized that as I sleep I was slipping down in the hammock so my feet were getting above my heart which was making it hard for the warm blood to get there and warm them. With my backside it was cold because there was no insulation besides my sleeping bag under me and the wind was blowing . After a few hours of trying to ignore it I got out my sleeping pad and slept on the ground. The only reason I had my sleeping pad was because my mom who was visiting while I was packing said " You never know you might not like the hammock."
After tossing and turning for the rest of the night on the ground I got up right before sun up and got dressed. With my gun I walked over to a near by creek to get some water for the day. As I did this some deer started walking out of the woods into the grassy area at about 70 yards. All I could think was "Please let there be a buck and we can get this over with right now." After I watched the 5 does for about an hour I continued to get my water.
So I decided to walk up the steep meadow for the morning hunt. At the top of the meadow it turned into a big alpine bowl with a lake at the very top. It took me a few hours to get to the top. It was beautiful up there, with the high cliffs and even a little bit of snow. I saw lots of deer sign but no deer. I did flush a big blue grouse but missed it with the .22 revolver I had with me. When I got the the small lake it was about 11am and I found a nice shady spot and laid down for a little nap. The lake was 100% clear and beautiful. A half hour into my nap I was awoken by the sound of a voice. At first I thought I was dreaming but I kept hearing the voices. I looked up over the little hill I was sleeping on and sure enough there were two hikers walking up through the rocks. I yelled to them letting them know I was in the area. The couple walked over to me and we chatted for a bit.
As we were talking a falcon started chasing a small tweety bird, every few times the falcon would dive the smaller bird you could see a puff of feathers come off the small bird. The small bird finally hit the water and the falcon quickly scooped it off the water as if it was nothing.
The couple said their good byes and they went on their way and I hiked back down to camp. At camp I cooked my lunch of top ramen. By the way did I mention all I packed for food was three power bars and six packages of top ramen. After an even longer nap in the hammock in camp, which was very comfortable during the heat of the day I explored more around camp.
I decided at dusk to sit at the bottom of the meadow and see if anything comes out. As I was sitting there a Mother bear with three cubs came into the meadow. My camp was about 70 yards to my right and the bears were about 50 yards directly in front of me. I did not get a picture of the bears as it was too dark for the camera I had with me. After watching them for a while I got up and ran them off in the opposite direction of my camp.
A bear scratch marks on a tree
I returned to camp and cooked my self a second helping of top ramen. After dinner I went to bed, this time I started sleeping on the ground. Through the night the mice were crawling on my sleeping bag. I would kick the mice off the bag and hear them land off in the bushes. After getting tired of that I placed my sleeping pad in the hammock and tried to go back to sleep. The pad solved my backside being cold but not my feet.
Again I woke woke up at daylight and went to sit in the meadow area. I was sitting next to a stump and I could hear something walking through the bushes on the other side of the stump. I got up to look what it was and it was two other hunters who seemed just as surprised to see me as I was them. We told each other what we each planned to do for the day so we would not interfere with each other.
After the other hunters walked up the meadow I decided to walk up the main valley to see what it had to offer. I found that 30 steps pat my camp was a real campsite with flat places to sleep. Well at least I know this for next year. As I continued up valley, the main trail stopped about 1/2 mile past camp. I then entered into thick old growth forests. As I got further back it started to open up a bit. I found a avalanche slide path that looked good to hold some deer. As I sat down I could hear something walk through the thick brush. I waited for about 15 minutes four does walked down a path. I was hoping that a big buck was going to follow them but I was thinking that it was going to be a pain in the ass to get that deer out of there if I shot one. But of course just does.
On my walk back to camp I decided with my lack of a good sleep, lack of seeing bucks, only having one more day before I have to be back at work and my lack of energy due to the awesome choice of food I brought I should likely pack up and get out of the woods that day before dark.
So I got back to camp made and while making some food next to the creek the other two hunters showed up. They said they saw a little two point up next to the lake but that was it. I spoke with them for awhile and then went to camp and packed up and got home.
I had a great time hunting in the high country and I learned a lot of lessons. #1 Bring Protein, #2 leave the hammock at home and #3 it would be better with a 2nd hunter. I cant wait to do it again next year.
So here in Washington State September 1st is opening grouse hunting and the start to my crazy busy hunting seasons.
This year the 1st, 2nd and 3rd I had to work till 5 and drive 40 minutes home before I could go hunting. I told my wife that she needed to have herself and Maddy ready to go when I got home so all I had to do was change clothes get in the jeep and go hunting.
Of course when I got home everything was good to go and we went hunting. We got up to where we go hunting and there was a log across the road. So since we did not have the chain saw with us we parked and walked the rest of the way.
Remi started getting birdy and I sent her up onto the hillside. Remi flushed a grouse which we heard but did not see. My wife went up the hill to see if she could find it in a tree. Remi went up with my wife and Lily and I continued to walk down the road. Lily then got birdy and led me to a wide spot in road and a grouse flushed from behind a log. I shot the grouse and hit it and it continued to fall about 100 yards over the steep hillside. The dogs and I walked down there and we were unable ti find the bird after about 15 minutes of searching, which did not make me very happy. I hate wounding a bird and not recovering it.
The rest of the night we saw 7 birds and were not able to get a shot at any of them.
On night two of course I had to work again and of course when I got home things were ready to go hunting. As we pulled out of the driveway the jeep had a strong pull to the right and i knew right away something was wrong. I got out and of course my luck we had a flat tire. After changing the tire we got back on our way a bit late. I did not see one grouse the whole night.
Day three while sitting at work all I could think about was "I DON'T HAVE A GROUSE YET!" Then of course there is my 10 year old nephew with a picture on Facebook holding two grouse. This was just not going to do. Then I get a phone call from my wife saying "UMMM A bunch of fire trucks just went speeding up the creek." So i called and got some info..... Just great a 1 acre fire burning about 4 miles up the road from my house. (PEOPLE!!!!!! When an area has not had rain in over a month and 90+ degree temps you do not need to have a camp fire.) So for the rest of the day I was worried that there would be a major fire event at my house.
As I got off of work I could hear on the radio that some of the fire trucks were clearing the scene, which means they had it under control.
I got home and things weren't as ready as normal but nothing I couldn't handle. I helped get my daughter ready to go and loaded up the chain saw for the tree in the road. We left the house and I felt good about my chances. We get to the good area and the log I mentioned earlier had a freaking grouse under it. I got out and got it just as it ran off the trail. Then another one flushed and went into a tree and a third flushed and sailed over the hillside. The one that went into the tree was just right for my wife to shoot. She was out with her gun ready and POW limbs and sticks fell from the tree minus a grouse. I tasked my wife uhh can I shoot it now? She said no and then lost sight of it while I was watching it the whole time. It is amazing how time slows down when you think a grouse is going to leave a tree when you are watching it. Finally my wife sees it again and POW............. And the grouse flies down the to the canyon. This is not normal for my wife, I don't think I have ever seen her miss one in a tree. But i do know that my wife will be very upset at herself over this so I need to try and stay calm. So I tell her no worries there will be more. Which I am sure doesn't help her frustration.
So I cut the tree out of the trail and get going. A few corners later i see another grouse run across the road and then fly into a tree. Of course I load my gun get ready and let my wife take a crack at it. As my wife was getting her gun loaded I could see Remi and hard point over the hillside. As my wife shoots and gets the one in the tree and second one flies from about 2 feet in front of Remi into the same tree as I get ready to shoot it I hear "PLEASE , let me shoot it." So I lower my gun and let my wife shoot the second one which she does like a pro. We don't see anything for the rest of the night but it is ok because the weight has lifted.
I met my friend Goeman in 7th grade; he was the first friend I made who actually hunted. We had always talked about going hunting by ourselves. Well, in high school once I was 16 and had a driver’s license and a Jeep it was GAME ON. He had been telling me of a place called Twisp where he went deer hunting and said there is a lot of grouse. So we loaded up the Jeep Thursday before Labor Day weekend, so all we needed to do is stop at home to grab our guns after school and leave for the weekend.
Goeman and the first grouse of the trip,
we couldn't decide if it was a
bush are a grouse. 5 minutes after shooting
hours on the first morning
I am sure that our parents were nervous about the weekend's hunting and camping expedition. There is a famous quote between Goeman and his dad saying "If you two had half a brain between you, you would be dangerous." and Goeman replying "We don't have half a brain between us and we're still dangerous."
On friday, school was taking a little longer than planned so we wrote fake letters saying we had late afternoon doctor’s appointments and skipped out from school early. We had to write the fake notes otherwise the school would call home saying "Your student missed one or more classes". And of course our parents would not have let us skip out early.
Our friend Daniel who was not hunting decided to join us as well.
We all jumped in my newish Jeep Cherokee and away we went, starting a weekend chalk full of gas station food and I believe a playboy made it along for the trip too, nothing like some classy reading to pass the time. The next four and a half hours flew by and before we knew it we were in camp. Since it was early September we could not have a fire without the risk of starting a forest fire. I laid down my tarp after flattening an area to sleep on the ground. Goeman pitched his tent and Daniel slept outside as well.
The weekend was full of shenanigans and jokes, such as throwing fake spiders in Goeman's tent and jumping up in the middle of the night saying coyotes were surounding the camp. These stories have turned into stories that will be told to our grand children. That first weekend we shot 15 Grouse and a few rabbits, it seemed every corner we went around had some grouse sitting there.
We took some pictures on a disposable camera, which at the time seemed like a good idea and now I look back and think, did I really have hair like that?! We were young and dumb and full of piss and vinegar. It was one of the best times of my hunting life.
Here I am sitting in school counting the hours, minutes, and seconds as they go by. Knowing that Dad will be picking me up at the end of the day to go grouse hunting makes the day creep by. This hunting trip is especially significant because it will be the first season that I have my hunting license.
This is the 1974 squirrel truck, but you get the point
After what seemed to be days the last bell rang and there was Dad in the Squirrel Truck, a dark blue 1987 Ford F-350 crew cab all packed and ready to go for our five hour drive to Forks, Washington. I have been waiting for this my whole life and the whole drive all I can think about is shooting my first grouse.
We get to camp and my brother Eric is already there and has his camp set up. Since it is around 8 o'clock Dad sets up the truck camper where he sleeps and then helps me set up my tarp and cot. And for the next hour we sit around the campfire in anticipation of the next days' hunt. The sun vanishes into the clouds over the Pacific Ocean and we all retreat to our beds.
When I finally get to sleep, the night consists of me waking up what seems like every hour to check if the sun is coming up. When I saw a hint of dawn sneaking over the Olympic Mountains I got up and started the fire and waited for everyone else to get up.
The sun setting over the Pacific Ocean Forks, WA.
When people started to roll out of bed the fire was hot and ready so they could put their boots on with warm feet. We all got some breakfast and loaded up in the truck and hit the logging roads. The morning fog cloaked the landscape, due to the proximity to the pacific ocean. The fog encased everything it touched with a heavy layer of moisture.
We got to a road where we normally park the truck and walk due to the ditches dug to keep vehicles out. I was carrying a Remington 20 gauge pump that my older siblings had used as their first hunting shot gun in years past.
We were walking around a switch back and a grouse flushed out of a tree and sailed to the bottom of the deep valley. Another grouse flushes out of a tree and as it goes to land in another tree I pull up and pull the trigger. The grouse never made it to the branch and both my brother and my Dad said it looked like I hit it. We sent our German Wire Haired Pointing Griffon Alex into the dense underbrush. After a few minutes I too climbed down into the soaking wet brush to try and find my bird. My search ended in disappointment, discouraged I climbed back up the hill to the road where my Dad and Brother were waiting. Dad offers some advice "Maybe next time let the bird land before you take a shot at it."
For some reason I don't remember my first duck, grouse or any of my first game birds. I do however remember some of my first failures that taught me what I needed to advance to the next level in hunting.
So in my family September is Grouse hunting. We look forward to it for all 8 months once duck hunting is finished in late January. Grouse hunting is also my wife's favorite hunting season. She loves spending time with me, our daughter Maddy and the dogs. We love the mountain top hikes and the views while looking for blue grouse, as well as chasing the ruffed grouse in the creek bottoms where the grouse flush and you are lucky to get a clear shot. The good days are when we get to do both.
First two grouse of year
This year my wife was the lucky one who shot the first two grouse, and the first day ended slow my wife shot 2 and I shot one grouse and one rabbit.
Later in the year we decided to check out some roads we have never walked in past years. They did produce some grouse so we will add them into our routine of closed roads to hunt.
But the best day came one evening when my wife, Maddy and I decided to go for a hunt after work. we left the house at about 4pm. We first went to the 300 rd and I saw a quick glimpse of what I believed to be a grouse run from the road to the bushes. So the breaks came on and we jumped out of my old jeep. It always a great feeling when your standing in the bushes and can hear the grouse running on all the dry leaves around you, but you cant see them.
Maddy getting ready to go hunting
Finally the group of grouse erupts into the thick creek bottom. I could see one perched in a tree and as I was about to shoot it my wife yells I see one. Of course I think it is the same one I see, but being the good husband I am I tell her to shoot it. Bang, she shoots and says she got it, and lucky me my grouse is still in my tree so I shoot it. My wife gets into the creek bottom with the dogs to retrieve the grouse. While she was down there I saw a bee's nest in the tree that looks like a grouse. Of course right at that time my wife says she sees another one. I warn her of the nest and she is confident that what she sees is a grouse. When she shoots her grouse another one takes off right next to my head and flies up the hill behind me.
So I walk up to the top of the hill and it flushes. Just as it is about to drop over the next hill I dump it. After I find it I walked back down to the road and I end up shooting one more out of a fir tree. So we got a total of 5 ruffed grouse out of this group. In Washington State a daily limit of grouse is 4 per person of ruffed or blue grouse only.
Next we decided to drive over to the next canyon over and hunt the ridge between the that canyon and the one we were in currently. We drive to the top of the road and walk up to the top of the ridge. My wife goes towards the top of the ridge and I walk low around the shaded backside of the ridge with our dogs Remi and Lily our German Wire Haired Pointing Griffons.
All of a sudden Remi gets birdy. Of course every dog is different but Remi gets low to the ground and her nose works back and forth quickly and stedily low to the ground making a heavy sniffing sound and her tail stays very parallel to the ground and wags back and forth. She continues to work through the tall grass and I have to walk at a fast pace to keep up with her. Then Lily come over and gets birdy as well. We work the hillside for about 60 yards, then both dogs stop and go on hard point. I look up and about 15 yards in front of them there is a big blue grouse sitting on a rock above the grass. As I shoot the grouse 3 or 4 more take off from the grass below it.
My wife come running over to see if she can get into the action but of course everything is gone by the time she gets there.
So we walk to the top of the ridge with my wife a little disapointed. But lucky her the dogs get birdy again. They work for about 20 yards and with out warning blue grouse after blue grouse start getting up out of the sun dried grass. It was amazing so see them flush like this. It was very hard for me not to start shooting but my limit was done. My wife saw where some landed in a tree down the steep rocky hill. Like the determined hunter she is we hike our butts down the hill. She shot two of the grouse, and as usual when hunting steep terrain when the grouse fell they had to roll a few yards down the hill. Luckily we have our amazing dogs who happily go down an bring them back up to us. We hiked back up over the top and back down to where the jeep was parked and took some pictures right as we were losing the light of the sun.
We drove home that night with the feeling of MAN THAT WAS AN AWSOME HUNT!!! And a story we will tell for ever.
