We are finally back at Cabin #6 in Northern Minnesota, our 35th year of grouse hunting here in the Northwoods. We arrived to snow squalls and cold temperatures, our first day never rising above freezing. We are finding grouse -- a flush rate over 3 birds per hour -- but not getting many shots. We've opted to go later in October the past few years to avoid the hunters of the warmer temperatures. Fewer hunters now, but spookier birds. It's all part of the hunt.
We have our new pup along, which presents both great pleasures...and challenges. Prairie Rill is a bold pup, and needs watching closely on our walks. She got to scent her first wild bird, one of what I hope will be many in the future. A hunter has to be optimistic to take on a puppy.
Key to photos:
1. The first grouse of the season is special. When it's taken fairly, with a cherished gun, and over a pup you trained yourself, it's even more poignant.
2. Little Rill is just barely 10 weeks old, but she liked her first sniff of grouse.
3. We don't seek out woodcock on these trips, but they are a welcome gift when we find them. Our dogs don't seem to like them as much as grouse, but they do like pointing them. Like others with woodcock experience, I'm finding the birds seem to move out from points more now than in the past.
4. My gun for the first week of our hunt is my 1904 DH 16. It's a #1 frame gun with original 26" barrels and high dimensions for its straight/splinter configuration. Spreader 8s for the right barrel, with spreader 7 1/2s in the left, make the tightly choked barrels good for these late October skittish birds.
5. Prairie Aspen is in his seventh season, and he is a comfortable-to-shoot-over dog who adjusts his range to the cover. He's getting most of the hunt time now that Alder has some years on her, and he likes his "couch time" after a long day in the woods.
6. Two more tired "old dogs" take a nap on the couch. Clearcut Notorious Black Alder (age 10) and wife Elaine of Italian heritage (age withheld for the safety of the poster). Yes, Andy, there are some Italians in Minnesota
. Please don't tell Elaine I posted this photo, or I won't get supper for the rest of the trip!
Northwoods Grouse Hunt: Chapter 35
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