Ruffed Grouse in Maine’s WMD 5

[Dean Romig]

Our experience while moose hunting WMD 5 for the past week is that grouse numbers are way down. We saw only 15 in 6 days and we saw six Spruce Grouse.





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[Steve Hodges]

I guess with the wet spring we all experienced here in Northern New England that is not surprising.

[Alfred Houde]

Did you take a Moose?

[Dean Romig]

Yes Alfred. We took a 425 lb. 1 1/2 year old spike. Had the tenderloins last night.





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[Chris Pope]

I love to encounter spruce grouse. Reportedly, Ruffed grouse numbers here in northern NH are way down.

[edgarspencer]

A guide friend in Greenville texted me last night and said they shot 8 grouse and 10 woodcock yesterday. Two ways to look at that: Either he knows where to look, or there are none left.

[Dean Romig]

Not hard to do when most natives of the North Woods ground swat them.
I'm not saying that is wrong and certainly the law allows it... but it sure is a lot easier to bag your limit I'm told.

And I am NIOT suggesting your guide friend would support that.





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[edgarspencer]

Heater Hunters rarely spend $600 a day for a Maine Professional Guide, and Professional Guides don't feed, train and hunt 4-6 dogs for those people. They work pretty hard to put a hunter on pointed and flushed birds.
If you want to shoot birds in the road, all you need is a pickup truck with a full tank of gas and a case of beer.

[Woodcock survey]

A ground shot from the window of a truck gets you 6 oz's of meat. A pointer trained and worked by you self, and a bird shot on the wing gives you 6oz's of meat and the satisfaction of the dog's work, a shot well made and a trophy of a memory.

Please do not tell me it is a dirt poor man trying to feed his family. He burns enough gas to buy 10 lbs of chicken and if he is so poor how did he afford that $50,000 pickup. He is a lazy man who will not play fair if he can cheat.George Evans refers to them as a common avicide.

Sorry if i offend some here but my son had to pick pellets out of his leg from a road hunter who sped off when hollered at him after he shot out the window at a grouse our setter had pointed. He wanted that bird so badly he never saw the white setter 15 feet away or the 2 orange vested hunters behind the dog

[Dean Romig]

Yup, I know that Edgar. I was making reference to those with a shotgun, an pickup truck and a case of beer. And we've all seen that if we've spent any time up there.
I'm not casting stones - just stating the the facts.

Once again, it's not illegal and as far as personal preference goes it's not even unethical, except to those of us who wouldn't take grouse that way.





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