Rocky Mountain Grouse - Scouting begins..

[David]

Well Grouse season scouting was so promising - and then I managed to get a little run of bad luck -

Got Covid just before the opening and man does that do a number on me. I was out of commission for a good while and no thought of hiking at 9,500 feet for Grouse. That behind me I finally got out for some short outings.. but . No birds to be found.

Not sure if they got hunted out while i was sick or if the cold wet weather had them hunkered down but we got blanked our first attempts.

I finally got my first grouse with a Parker on our third outing. I think the dogs were a bit frustrated by a lot of hunting and not a lot of birds and they got in a fight over the dang Grouse.

In my haste to get to them I banged the stock of the Parker on a log and it popped the wrist just like that. dang. done. So i sorted the dogs and just sat for a while trying to re focus on the big picture.

I shipped the Parker off to Will Brothers Restoration to see what they can do- and got back out there with a 28Gauge caesar geurini - it's taken a few more grouse in the last week. I found them walking a power line that goes through a nice area right at 9,500 feet or so. The grouse hit the kitchen where my wife worked her magic.

Grouse wrapped in Prosciutto with apricot and orange glaze and zucchini from the garden. Hoping for a few more grouse and then heading after some Pheasant in October... life. what a ride.