strange spot to find grouse

mister2 · Post by **mister2** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:38 am

So 2 weekends ago we were doing a guys camping trip up to my cousins camp in Redfield, NY. They had tons of snow up there. Anyway we were drinking beverages by the campfire around 11pm and my 9mo old GSP went silent so I shined my headlamp looking for him and noticed he had something large in his mouth and it was moving. He had caught a grouse. Weird thing is the grouse was within a foot of the house foundation. It was still alive when I walked over and Sam, my dog, gave it to me. Keep in mind this was at 11pm.

Is this strange or what? I thought grouse roosted in trees. Why would there be one on the ground and huddled next to a house? Could it have been sickly? My cousin plucked it and didn't mention anything about it being wounded or anything.

Rod W · Post by **Rod W** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:16 pm

No, grouse prefer to roost in the snow where they are warmer. They do roost in trees if snow conditions are not favorable to a snow roost, but this is very hard on them in this extremely cold weather.

Wildirishman64 · Post by **Wildirishman64** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:11 pm

They need atleast 7 inches to dive bomb into and protect themselves.

mister2 · Post by **mister2** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:28 am

I did not know that. I just did a quick search and found a report someone wrote on that. Interesting. I always see them flying in/out of roosting trees during deer season so never gave it a second thought. Should I be getting concerned now since my pup has already caught a pheasant during the 2013 season and now a grouse. Not sure if the pheasant was a cripple but it went under a dead end log and only way out was thru my dog. It got airborne about 4ft and he batted it down and gave it heck.

Bounty_Hunter · Post by **Bounty_Hunter** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 12:39 pm

mister2 wrote:I did not know that. I just did a quick search and found a report someone wrote on that. Interesting. I always see them flying in/out of roosting trees during deer season so never gave it a second thought. Should I be getting concerned now since my pup has already caught a pheasant during the 2013 season and now a grouse. Not sure if the pheasant was a cripple but it went under a dead end log and only way out was thru my dog. It got airborne about 4ft and he batted it down and gave it heck.

My Britt runs down wounded pheasants too. He did it a few weeks ago with a hen phez , He pointed it out and when I got close he took off after it when it wouldn't fly and he never brought it back to me as if to say you didn't shoot it so its mine. I let it slide but would never put up with that if I killed the bird. Didn't know that about those grouse and the snow, very interesting.

ruffbritt4 · Post by **ruffbritt4** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:02 pm

mister2 wrote:I did not know that. I just did a quick search and found a report someone wrote on that. Interesting. I always see them flying in/out of roosting trees during deer season so never gave it a second thought. Should I be getting concerned now since my pup has already caught a pheasant during the 2013 season and now a grouse. Not sure if the pheasant was a cripple but it went under a dead end log and only way out was thru my dog. It got airborne about 4ft and he batted it down and gave it heck.

My brittany has caught 2 pheasants this season, both crippled. He was on point both times and I went to walk in to flush and nothing flew. I told my dad I will relocate him, bird must be running. I relocate the dog and he take a fewsteps forward. So i go in the clump of grass in front of him and a rooster jumps a few feet in the air, and the dog grabs it. Thats how it happened both times. I just have the dog retrieve it and move on. He is still steady until I flush the bird, which is all my dad and I want him to. Good luck

Wildirishman64 · Post by **Wildirishman64** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:01 pm

My GSP 3 year old female is lightening quick and can handle any wounded bird on the ground. These dogs are agile and unreal noses. Sound like you have a great dog in the making

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