Dean you are making bird contact so you will connect soon. My son and I had 7 woodcock flushes yesterday three shot but heavy leaf cover resulted in no birds down. Still a beautiful day. Our Labs did well.Good luck. Craig

This popped up on FB today. The first year I brought Cam to grouse camp... he was 7.


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How very fast the time goes....

Great memories for both of you...

Today, 10/17/2020, it started snowing in the wee hours of the morning and now with daylight coming I see we have some accumulation and it’s still coming down. Should be interesting hunting today... but it’s a wet snow falling on already wet covers from a day of heavy rains yesterday.
Grace and I hunted for almost an hour yesterday morning and put up 5 grouse and 2 woodcock. I blew it on a big cock grouse that lifted off the ground almost as if he didn’t want to fly. He wheeled left at ablot 20 yards and was a beautiful brown phase and I put the bead on his beak but couldn’t pull the trigger... not that I didn’t want to- I think I didn’t push the safety far enough....
But he flitted back down under a cluster of spruces only about 25 yards from where he flushed.
“This is going to be easy.” I thought to myself, so I sent Grace in to locate him and he burst out the far side about 30 yards from me in a hard right to left. I fired just as he disappeared behind a spruce bough and I could see my shot pattern chop through the greenery. “Dead bird!” I hollered to Grace. After 5 minutes of scouring the area she declared me a liar.

So... we’ll see what today brings... it’s lighter out now at 7:12 and it’s still snowing.

We have about 30 turkeys in the field about 400 yards in front of camp. They roosted in the adjacent pines and just now flew down.

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It turned into a magnificent fall day abour 45 degrees and bright sun. A little breezy for good grouse hunting as they are a little jumpy on windy days.
The first hour produced no points, no flushes, and no action at all. But as the covers dried out we got into some action. Gracie pointed then flushed a big brown cock grouse and I cartwheeled him and he disappeared behind some cedar greenery. Jamie was on the other side and, honestly, the bird came busting out the other side. He shot but didn’t connect. We never saw that bird again. More points, more flushes and more shots fired. I said to Jamie that we should be ashamed of ourselves... until...
Gracie went on point about 10 yards from me. I thought it would be a woodcock but it wasn’t. I released Gracie for the flush and up flew this nice little hen partridge. It was a classic station 8 low house and with one shot with my little 28 gauge prom queen I took its head clean off.
I LMAO long and loud.


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Well done, I can never remember to let that shot go and turn around and try it going away. If i ever do it will disappear into a spruce stand i forgot was behind me. Give Gracie a pat on the head for me.

Turkeys flew down again this morning at sunrise.

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Beautiful good luck

Grouse camp
 

Thanks for sharing, Dean

sounds like you are having some good hunts.....turkey season will come before you know it....charlie