Porcupines
 

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

Quills
 

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.

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.

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

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

Day 2 at Pine Ridge
 

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.

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.

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?

Last Day at Pine Ridge Grouse Camp
 

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.