Back from my upland trip to the great pacific northwet

Dani

Dani

Well-known member
Had a great time. I was able to add another species to my list of birds I shot: the ruffled grouse. (and YES I KNOW it's RUFFED Grouse...but I like RUFFLED better and it's my post)

The first day we hunted for grouse was up a draw in some mountains, with mountain sheep on either side of us way up high, chukar calling to each other across the draw and a decent sized creek running through the draw, elderberries, snowberries, rosehips galore, bear poop like crazy and gorgeous changing colors.

We were alternately throwing rocks into places we couldn't get into and Mike didn't seem interested in, just to see. One of the areas was a downed bunch of trees with berries galore all over it. Mike was getting excited as we tossed a couple rocks into the mess and out flushed at least two grouse.
One swung to my left and wonder of wonders I killed it dead in one shot. And then my heart dropped as I realized that I dropped it in the creek. So I push in through the thick stuff to get to the creek while Steve does the same thing down stream of me. Good thing he did too because by the time I was able to push through the woods and brush, the bird was getting ready to float on past Steve. With both his and mike's help, I now had my first grouse.

When we got back up to the area we flushed the birds, Mike started getting birdy all over again so I followed him until he flushed another grouse. Very shortly, I had my second grouse.

What a bunch of fun those birds are. Talk about tough shooting.

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Not to be out done, Steve also was able to bring down two grouse that afternoon. We were both shooting quite well.

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And lordy it was pretty out there with all the colors changing on the leaves.

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Another day we were chasing grouse we ended up in the snow...but it's a long hike up to it.

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Steve started out the day quite nicely with a pretty grouse

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I was able to get into the action as well...

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The grouse were a lot of fun to chase. I didn't have any more opportunities at grouse, but Steve did find one hanging in amongst some quail on another
push we were making through a different piece of woods.

They sure are gorgeous birds....and oh so tasty

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I can't wait for my next trip out there for upland birds.....

and I'll have lots more pictures to post as we get through them....

Dani
 
Congratulations on a fantastic trip! I think that grouse and chukar are in a close competition to be the best-tasting gamebirds on the planet, glad you got a chance to eat some.
 
Awesome job...and nice birds they are. Do you mind me asking if you were in OR or WA? ...and btw....when you fly across the country for birds, you can call them whatever you want. Congrats!
 
very nice Dani, looking forward to seeing what else you got. I have this romantic notion of taking all the upland species over my current dog. Sadly, i can't really see adding a new species this year.
 
Nice pics of the grouse. What state were you in? I have been chasing grouse since season opened here with no luck...our season is almost over so I get to focus on pheasant and duck.
Trying to get some upland birds before I move back home to Alabama
 
Great story and photos Dani, thank you for sharing them. And congratulations. Had to smile, I'm blessed with spectacular grouse hunting where I live and it's nice to mix it up with ducks (sometimes in the same hunt!). They are fun birds to chase for sure, especially over a good dog. It's nice to see what hunting them is like in other areas.
 
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Thanks y'all....I had a great time. We were in SE Washington. We got into quail, hun, pheasants and the grouse.

Kris- I'm hoping to be able to shoot a good deal of species over my dog this year. I'm certainly looking forward to opening day in about three weeks.

Wiz- Not really sure what's next in the short term other than lots of training for my new job, hunting over my black dog, and spending time with great friends. Next October though I've plans to go see Polar Bears in N. Manitoba. Which means I'll miss my upland trip......poooorrrr meeeeee

Bob- It was a pretty gun. Can you believe he wouldn't let me use it? Some silly idea that I'd use it to break my fall as I slid down a mountain side....get it all scratched up. Told me that's why I have a plastic gun....so I can beat it up all I want.....Silly man. Not sure where he'd get THAT idea from. I only a couple times lost my footing or used my gun to help me up the side of a mountain, or to cross a stream.

Mike is a great dog to hunt with....

Thanks again y'all

Dani
 
You will have tell us what type prep was needed for them to be good for the table. Great colors, great country and great memories when you have a really good hunt.

Dennis
 
We were on a 10 day trip with nothing but a cooler, so some care is required. We handled all the birds we shot, (Grouse, Pheasants, Quail and Huns), in the same way: if they weren't shot up badly, they were skinned after letting them age a couple of days in the back of the pickup, taking care to leave an identifying wing or leg to mark species and sex so that if checked by a CO there would be no issues. This might sound like a bit long but keep in mind that it never got above 50 on the trip and the lows were in the high 20's and low 30's. The cooler we used still had "original ice" in when we got back to Steve's for the final cleaning and that was (10) days after it was loaded.

Beyond that nothing special, (well Steve did make sure that I didn't allow the birds to be buried under shovels and dog bowls and the ever growing accumulation of dirty clothes and deer horns, and special sticks and rocks but other than that nothing special until cooking. And not to mention the bags and bags and bags of wild pears, apples and plums that we picked throughout the trip....gotta keep them off the birds too.

I hear that some grouse can taste like Pine-Sol late in the season because they get up in the trees and eat nothing but pine needles throughout the winter. I've never had a grouse that wasn't slap-yo-momma deeeeelicious.

Dani
 
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Dani
I had some on an elk trip in Idaho and they had an earthy flavor and needed better seasoning. The ones I had in Canada on Moose hunting trip all they needed was butter in the pan and they were the best.

Dennis
 
They were earthy? Dude don't use the same pan that you used for the latrine shovel.....or wash it first. :))

did you skin the grouse?
 
Dani, were you hunting with your dog or with Steve's?? Has yours ever hunted yet? My recollection was you rescued him about a year ago. I longer, damn I'm getting old fast!!

Trip
 
Trip-

My black dog technically isn't a 'rescue'. He's Mike's, (Steve's dog) half brother, and was owned by Steve's nephew. He was hunted his first two years and then was just a house dog after the nephew had too many kids and a business to be able to hunt. Steve negotiated the "get him to a home where he'll be used for his abilities" and thats how I got him. Steve keeps telling me that if my black dog continues to develop like he has been that he'll be renegging on my ownership. Which he now claims was a "loan."

I've only hunted him twice in early Teal so this season we'll find out how big a fight there will be when Steve pulls that "he's mine, thanks for taking care of him, give him back" thing. But I got him back in March.

Dani
 
And we were hunting with only Mike and Aspen, Don's dog when we hunted with him.
 
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