North to the Border Line

[Bruce Day]

Heading up to meet with friends and chase north country ruffs.

Dad's old hat, a well used pair of Russels and a 1910 20ga.

[Mark Callanan]

Nice wood on that one
Great shape also
Nice to have dads items
Great memories …...

[charlie cleveland]

your dad had a nice choice in hats...good choice in ammo too...and the little 20 is a dandy for sure... charlie

[Todd Schrock]

That's a great 20 Bruce..........good luck!

[Bruce Day]

A few photos from up north. Warm and sunny the first day, then colder and rain, but finding birds. Today up to the border after sharptails.

Was fortunate to bag a nice rare golden color phase grouse for mounting.

These old 100 year old Parkers still work.

[Jim Beilke]

Hi Bruce, have a great time. We are still picking corn. Getting much needed rain, however at this time of year rain is not our friend. Pheasants around here are nearly zilch. Hope you find plenty of birds. Jim

[Mills Morrison]

Great photos! Looks like a lot of fun.

[David Weber]

Should have figures out a way to go! Thanks for the post and pictures!

[Dean Romig]

I've never seen a "golden phase" here in the northeast. Can you show pictures of it?

The birds you and Charlie are holding are what we call a "brown phase" here in the northeast and the only other color phase we talk of here is the "gray phase".

[Bruce Day]

Sharptail hunting by Baudette and Rosseau. Flocks of birds. Supposed to snow Sunday. The giant fish at Baudette has new underwear from when I lived up here.

On the way up, we stopped by Puglisi's and ran into Steve Cobb and Ernie Houseman. In a few days we hunt with Randy and Jerry Havel by Grand Rapids. Been seeing lots of birds. Heard about the Julia auction results. Some bought some nice Parkers. People have been doing some serious buying down of Puglisi's stock of Parkers. We also got the word that the Julia auction was about $17 mil of investment grade guns and was the second highest firearms auction in history, and that the Parkers did well overall.

The golden ruff is a light golden color and the brown is darker. Don't see many golden ruffed grouse. After a red tailed one next and preferably a gray one with red tail for mounting.

[Kenny Graft]

Picture of ruby ...my Gordon on point....We head for potter county P.A. on Thursday...(-: Cold weather is on the way...

[Bruce Day]

That is Dick Dow's Gordon setter.

We also ran into Mark Ouelette and his wife at John Puglisi's . They were passing through en route to acquire a pointing lab pup. Forgot to mention that above and didn't mean to slight him.

There was an outstanding GHE 20 at Puglisi's if people are interested, as well as some other nice guns.

[charlie cleveland]

good picture of the setter...looks to be around aold house place... charlie

[ed good]

looks like you are in northern minnesota?

[Mills Morrison]

Great story and great photos!

[Richard Flanders]

Snowin' an blowin' today in Waskish Minnesota so a slow one here in the barn. The guys just went off to the antique shop to peruse and buy wild rice, leaving me to guard the homestead. The day started off with tasty eggs supreme by Pete Kappes. We definitely needed something to dilute the Grain belt beer and Makers Mark from last night's BS session.....

[ed good]

back in the eighties and nineties, used to find grouse on state game lands in potter cty pa...birds became scarce in late nineties...are they back now?

[Kenny Graft]

P.A. is managing the forest better with some clear cutting for the past few years....its helping greatly! Yes there are hunt-able numbers in the northeast, north central part of the state (north of 80) A hunter must enjoy the woods and wild places and be happy with any bird shooting we get. Some days are better than others for shooting. My friend jumped 25 doodles saterday morning in potter co....did not shoot at them but returned in the afternoon to hunt and shoot a bird for his 3 year old male setter and they all were gone. Must have been flight birds? The Grouse hunting is getting better each year...(-: Im packing as I type....Ruby is chomping at her lead! Oh happy day! The weather for-cast is good for hunting this weekend as of now....SXS ohio

[ed good]

sxs: thanks for wonderful report re potter county. wishing you good weather and good hunting. ed

[chris dawe]

I've never seen a "golden phase" here in the northeast. Can you show pictures of it?

The birds you and Charlie are holding are what we call a "brown phase" here in the northeast and the only other color phase we talk of here is the "gray phase".

You talking about one like this Dean?...its my third golden /buff phase grouse,this guy threw Heiko and myself for a loop on four different occasions last season ,He just wouldn't hold for a point or fly right in my face if he did ...when I finally brought him to bag I felt like dirt for doing it .

[Dean Romig]

That's a very nice PHE Bruce... wonderful condition.

I was fortunate enough to handle a 12 ga. PH on the 1-Frame in Vermont on Saturday. It was an extremely unusual example in that it had Laminated Steel barrels where the composite barreled Grade-1 Parkers normally had Twist Steel barrels. But to further confuse the admirer, the rib was roll stamped "Damascus Steel" and it appeared to be 'right as rain'.

[Marc Retallack]

Kenny,

Shhhhh... We have hardly any birds in PA. Please refrain from spreading this nonsense of jumping 25 woodcock and improving grouse numbers. I'd hate to see somebody waste their time based on this spurious information.:whistle:

Looks like you'll have perfect weather the end of this week in northern PA. Best of luck.

Marcus

[ed good]

along the pa/ny border, there used to be three color phases of grouse...brown, red and gray.

[Russ Lindsay]

Dick Dow, that Parker looks familiar. ;>) I trust it still shoots straight.

[ed good]

in your travels in northern mn, did you see any turkeys in the grouse woods?

[Bruce Day]

A few photos from Parker people the Havel's, the grandson is named Parker. Things done right. Great food and great hunting. One day done and two to go. Grouse and woodcock. Nancy Whitehead, the acclaimed photographer went hunting with Charlie and took photos of his dogs.....expect to see them on the cover of some national magazine sometime.

My setter Triple got into a porcupine yesterday just as we were heading back to the truck. Pulling a hundred or so quills out is not pleasant for anybody.

So Pine Ridge Grouse Camp is a first class operation. FOC'ers ( friends of Charlie) might call him on his cell phone sometime between 10 and 4 . He'll be happy to chat. Many miles each day in tough popple and spruce. We have the Parker cabin.

So we have a bunch of 20ga Parkers.....B, D, G, P, and V's. Many Damascus.

[Russ Lindsay]

Sure sorry to hear about Triple. Seems like, when you take a dog afield, something always arises that needs emergency medical attention. The cover and the firearms seem outstanding. Good luck and safe travels.

[Dean Romig]

Great pictures Bruce! I had no idea that Pine Ridge was that big.

Oh, by the way, I want that grouse lamp - what a beauty!

[Mills Morrison]

Great photos!

[Eric Eis]

"My setter Triple got into a porcupine yesterday just as we were heading back to the truck. Pulling a hundred or so quills out is not pleasant for anybody. "

I've been there Bruce, hope Triple was still able to hunt, couple of years ago my setter Magic got nailed in the hindquarter with over 200 quills, put him out for the rest of the season.:crying: Keep an eye on Triple, I found a quill three weeks later that had migrated from the outside of his hip to the inside of his hip, that's right went right through so keep an eye out for anything that seems to be poking thru.

"Only good Porky is a dead one.....!"

[Jeff Christie]

Sorry to read about Triple. I too had a dog decide to bite a porky. It was in the North Woods of Wisconsin last Sat a.m. Very ugly. She had quills in nose, lips, tongue, gums, under tongue and roof of mouth. I got some out but it was still a harried run to a vet with lots of porky experience.

She came out of it fine. In fact she pointed a grouse on the way to the truck with a mouth full of quills. I couldn't shoot as the bird went out too low. She was hunting again by mid-afternoon.

There was a lesson in the incident. KNOW where the vet is before you hunt. Have his number and call ahead. I did not have either and it made for a very near run experience. I will heed the above advice and have a follow up check out here at home.

Northern Wisc was terriblefor bird numbers. I had great conditions, weather, habitat etc. Just no birds. Roosters start here in Iowa on Sat. Promises to be a very slow season.

Good luck.

[Eric Eis]

Sorry to read about Triple. I too had a dog decide to bite a porky. It was in the North Woods of Wisconsin last Sat a.m. Very ugly. She had quills in nose, lips, tongue, gums, under tongue and roof of mouth. I got some out but it was still a harried run to a vet with lots of porky experience.

She came out of it fine. In fact she pointed a grouse on the way to the truck with a mouth full of quills. I couldn't shoot as the bird went out too low. She was hunting again by mid-afternoon.

There was a lesson in the incident. KNOW where the vet is before you hunt. Have his number and call ahead. I did not have either and it made for a very near run experience. I will heed the above advice and have a follow up check out here at home.

Northern Wisc was terriblefor bird numbers. I had great conditions, weather, habitat etc. Just no birds. Roosters start here in Iowa on Sat. Promises to be a very slow season.

Good luck.

Jeff,
Checking for quills is something you need to do, but mainly if your dog got hit in the body, as that is when quills can migrate, two of the dogs I was hunting with got hit in the mouth and face and after the quills were out they were up and hunting again.:shock: For Magic that was not the case as it was a body hit, he didn't walk on that leg for two weeks:eek: So just make sure you keep an eye on the dog for the next few weeks

[Jeff Christie]

Eric- Thank you very much. I know she had 1 quill in her chest the vet found. I will watch her and have my local vet check her as well.

[Richard Flanders]

Bruce and I had a good day and definitely worked for our birds here today at Pineridge. The hunting is on a myriad of public and some private land around the area. More woodcock than grouse this year- 13 woodcock and 6 grouse flushed today. The mossy pine forest in pic 2 was an unlogged surreal bit of forest that is drastically different than the surrounding forest that has been logged 3-4 times over the years. I was shooting my inherited VHE20 yesterday - I've been shooting it for 40 yrs this year - and the 24" PHE16 today. The PHE is a great pointing gun for me and with no choke is deadly for close shots on woodcock. This is the first time I've shot RST shells. The lightly loaded 20's of 1125 fps are absolutely perfect for this kind of shooting. I can now see why everyone likes them so much.

[charlie cleveland]

mighty nice..them short barrels are the thing for close work..shoot one for me... charlie

[Russ Lindsay]

RF, it is good to see you getting a bead on some of that game. BD is such a game hog! ;>)

[Bruce Day]

More grouse and woodcock.

More great food, wine and fun.

So, here's some photos. Dick shot his first ruffed grouse and had a song written about him, plus a toast of Famous Grouse whisky. Tom Wooden ate two deserts. Charlie danced with all the girls.

Dick brought a Fox shotgun as backup.

Some have asked about Triple. She worked well today and was holding grouse and woodcock, but we were still picking quills out.....mouth, legs, she got hit hard. She was certainly more subdued today.

We are staying in the Parker cabin.....see the inside photos.

[Russ Lindsay]

BD and so it goes.... And how appropriate that the "Parker Cabin" has artwork on the walls of squirrels and nuts?

Your documentation of this adventure allows those of us at home sitting by the fire on this chilly morning to enjoy it vicariously. Thanks, green with envy.

[Bill Murphy]

I was beginning to doubt your choice of dogs, but then I saw the picture of the beautiful Wirehair. You guys can't be all bad. Whose pup is the Wirehair or Drat?

[Bruce Day]

A bittersweet last day. Had a wonderful time with great people. I can't recommend Pine Ridge Grouse Camp highly enough. Run by PGCA'ers, its a first class operation.

So a few photos of the last day and evening. Triple got into her second porcupine.....it may have registered this time. I sent Mr Porky to porky heaven with Rich's 16ga, then after holding Triple down , strapping her mouth open and pulling out each quill, we walked all the dogs up to the dead porcupine on a lead. If they showed any interest in it, they got the E collar on fry power. This time, she wouldn't go near it, and wouldn't even look at it except a sideward stink eye look. Rich took a photo of a mouthful of quills. If that had been me, I would have been down and out, but pull the quills, and a dog is raring to go again. Amazing.

The whisker faced dog in a previous post is a Drathaar.....my first experience with any of those whisker breeds, and I can see where they would appeal to many.

So a fellow had a birthday at Havel's, complete with cake and candles, a crown and throne.

Then Nancy Whitehead took pictures of the Parker gang which she will develop with sepia tones to look like a turn of the century hunt camp photo. What a talent.

So in the past I have said I only go ruffed grouse hunting every five years or so to remind me why I don't go ruffed grouse hunting every year, but this time, we had decent bird opportunities and a wonderful time up north and at Pine Ridge......so we already set a date for next year.

[Richard Flanders]

Here's a few more pics of the last day, including one of the "quill queen". It was a long but great day in the woods; I got two woodcock and my first ruffie of the trip, a large mature bird that we hunted well. My 24" PHE16 is a deadly little gun in heavy cover, even in my hands.

[Russ Lindsay]

Dick, that last photo ought to be in the RST catalog!

[charlie cleveland]

manthat picture of the quills in the dog s mouth sure made me sorry for that dog... looks like that 16 short barrel gun is what i need... charlie