Hunting the Steep and the Deep

[Harold Pickens]

Hunting grouse in the foothills of the Appalachians is a rugged endeavor. Unlike the true mountains to the east where once you gain the summit, you can traverse along the mountain plateau, here one is either going up, down, or traversing a steep hillside. This is the view from one of my favorite covers on the hills above the Ohio River, on the Ohio side looking over into West Virginia.
I was accompanied by my 2 faithful setters, Betty, almost 10, and Shiner, 13 years old. Young Fancy would have to sit this one out. I was carrying God's gift to grouse hunters, a VHE 20 with faded cyl/cyl tubes. Certainly, other guns may be more highly adorned, but it is hard to improve on the basic package.
I set out with low expectations as grouse numbers have plummeted precipitously in our area. The last grouse I took in Ohio came out of this cover, when for the first time I carried the venerable old Fox pin gun 12 ga .
The dogs knew their business, and were soon covering the thick grape vine and briar tangles. I had just spotted a grouse track in the snow on an old log when I heard Betty's beeper and shortly after Shiner's chimed in. The grouse blew out like a chukar, flying straight downhill. I swung the gun on it but would not shoot at this bird that had made it so long thru the winter. Later, a bird flushed above me unpointed, while both dogs worked the slopes below. Working along a finger ridge with spectacular views of the Ohio River below, Betty came down hard near an old sandstone foundation, Shiner respectfully backing. There was no shot to consider as the bird went out as I pushed thru the thick brush. The hardy souls that built the old foundation certainly had bigger "stones" than I, what craftsmanship. I was working back toward the truck when Shine got birdy and soon pointed, this time it was Betty doing the honoring. It was in one thick, miserable bowl in the hillside. As I went in, a mutiflora branch raked my neck and I could feel the blood running. I cursed, and as Burton Spillers once wrote, I grudged that grouse and vowed to shoot it over the aging Shiner. It was not to be however. The grouse ran out and flushed with too much cover between it and me to catch more than just a teasing glimpse.
Not a shell was fired, 4 grouse exceeded my expectation, and two tired, muddy setters slept peacefully on the way home.

[Harold Pickens]

Guys, I have been trying very hard, but unsuccessfully to post some great pictures from the hunt. Never had a problem before. I will try again later, in the mean time use your imagination. I may try to load the pictures on the office computer tomorrow and try it from there
HP

[Mike Franzen]

Loved that story Harold. Reminds me of the hunts I used to go on near Vanceburg ky. Straight up and straight down. I remember one time being way back a holler and coming up on an old cabin that folks were living in. If you want email me your pics and I'll try to post them. 1mf@fuse.net

[Harold Pickens]

Thanks Mike, yeah, you would know what the terrain is like. I have not had any problems posting pictures before, as a matter of fact, the Parker forum is by far the easiest site to load pictures onto compared to other sites, and thanks administrators for that. There may just be a little glitch tonight.

[charlie cleveland]

mighty fine hunt and i really liked the ending...mr grouse speeding away....charlie

[Harold Pickens]

This is the only pic that will upload

[Bindlestiff]

Harold,
I don't know why your other pictures will not upload but if I were to guess, I would say the size may be too big to upload. There is a link to two videos at the bottom of the FAQ page and one is how to get a big picture sized to upload (if you use Microsoft's Windows) and the other is how to upload files. Maybe they will help?

[Mike Franzen]

That's a beautiful area. I turkey hunted around wheeling once. Loved it.

[charlie cleveland]

beautiful country for sure...charlie

[Gary Laudermilch]

Harold,

Now that is a wonderful late season grouse hunt. Good dog work, birds worked, and not a shot fired. They will be there the next time for the dogs to work. I hunted WV once. We have lots of multi-flora rose in my home covers which is nasty stuff. However, I have to say that the green briars of WV were just as bad. Impossible to hunt without blood running somewhere. I have yet to find a pair of brush pants that will reliably turn either.