Great Lakes Grousin~

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MN Bonasa
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Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by MN Bonasa » Tue Sep 18, 2012 4:19 pm

Whats the word out there? Wondering if anyone is finding some birds and there observations? Any opinion on how the bird season might shape up this year? I have high hopes for a decent year. I will get my first real hunt in this Saturday hoping to find Mr. Bonasa Umbellas.

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JeffLex00
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by JeffLex00 » Tue Sep 18, 2012 11:32 pm

I only made it out on opening day for a couple hours this year, and things did not look so good for me so far, but things are VERY dry compared to how they were the last several years, so it's going to take some time to locate some areas that are a little wetter. I have been reading some reports (and talked to a couple guys) in far northern Wisconsin though where guys were reporting decent numbers of flushes. We need to continue on with the cooler weather and get some leaves to start dropping, but even though our DNR is reporting a major drop in drumming counts, it appears (like always) if you put your time in, you should be able to still find some good pockets of birds.

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dugger13
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by dugger13 » Wed Sep 19, 2012 7:33 am

made it out monday after work for the first time of the year. Had 4 flushes. Shot 1. Ran into a couple woodcocks too. It is still very dry, all my normal swamps are hard as a rock. Very green out too.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by laxhcky4 » Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:48 pm

I had a couple buddies out last weekend. They limited out and saw 29 birds Saturday, 19 by noon on Sunday. I'm heading out this weekend so I will try to report back!

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by MN Bonasa » Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:06 pm

laxhcky4 wrote:I had a couple buddies out last weekend. They limited out and saw 29 birds Saturday, 19 by noon on Sunday
Well thats an encouraging sign of good things. is it the weekend yet?

Hopefully this wind today wreaked havoc on the leaves and opened up the woods a bit more for this weekend.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by bigdaddy » Thu Sep 20, 2012 11:09 pm

laxhcky4 wrote:I had a couple buddies out last weekend. They limited out and saw 29 birds Saturday, 19 by noon on Sunday. I'm heading out this weekend so I will try to report back!

Where?

I was out for a coup,e of hours Monday and didnt flush a single bird.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by DogNewbie » Fri Sep 21, 2012 8:53 am

bigdaddy wrote:
laxhcky4 wrote:I had a couple buddies out last weekend. They limited out and saw 29 birds Saturday, 19 by noon on Sunday. I'm heading out this weekend so I will try to report back!

Where?

I was out for a coup,e of hours Monday and didnt flush a single bird.
Good luck with that question on a grouse year like this one :D

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dugger13
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by dugger13 » Fri Sep 21, 2012 9:56 am

Made it out again for a couple hours last night. Saw more birds, and a few more woodcocks. Looks like the woodcock opener will be successful if i can shoot straight. Saw 6 different grouse, and about the same number of woodcocks.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by mik » Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:07 pm

was out for 4 hours today.....had 7 points on woodcock of the 4 i had shots at hit 2....2 solid points on grouse no shot offered and had 4 other grouse flushes with no shot offered and not near the dog.....the thunderchickens were jumpy today but was very happy to find some on only the 2nd outing of the year and 4 miles from home :D

Otto also had a rock solid point on what turned out to be a hawk of some sort preying on a snake in some taller grass...as I approached otto's point the hawk went up with snake in his grasp....a first and pretty cool....glad the dog didn't break his point or he would have learned a good lesson the hard way :D

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by MNeric » Sat Sep 22, 2012 9:46 pm

Went out for about 5 hours today close to an hour north of Duluth mn. No grouse, but about ten woodcock flushes. Wouldn't have had a shot at more than 3. Took one just to get the dog a bird, seeing as he hasn't had much experience on wild birds and he had pointed (kind of) the first of the pair which flushed in the thick stuff leaving its mate out to dry. Overall, A few shaky points today, but were making progress. Not a fan of woodcocks though and looks to be a slow year for grouse, as predicted. Looks like I'll have to make my first ever pheasant trip this winter :mrgreen:

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by millerms06 » Sun Sep 23, 2012 11:07 am

Took my six month old GSP Morgen out this weekend. It was her first time hunting and the last time she came across birds they were liberated birds in July. She was introduced to the gun during that time as well (I posted videos of her on a different page of the forum). We totaled four flushes and three birds. It wasn't the birds that excited so much as her working them. Her point was steady, she stayed steady at flush, and at shot. Not a bad start for my pup so far. We will be back at it again next weekend!

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by laxhcky4 » Sun Sep 23, 2012 8:44 pm

Well I was out this weekend close to the same spots I reported the outrageous numbers. I didn't see nearly that many birds. I think I counted 8 ruffed flushes and 3 woodcock saturday, I managed to get 1 woodcock that was a wild flush. I was joking all day about my "German Shorthaired Flusher". Sure seemed like she was having a good time haha. It was raining on and off all day saturday so I think it was tough scenting conditions. Went out this morning for about 4 hours of hunting and flushed 6 grouse and 2 woodcock. Stella locked up on a woodcock and I started moving towards her and her curiosity got the best of her and took 2 steps and it flushed so I held back my shot.

Next thing that happened was a first for me. Grouse had been flushing out of the trees and I could see that Stella was real birdy. She ended up locking up with her nose straight up in the air looking at the trees. I walked around looking and the bird flushed about 10 yards down. We tracked it down and she had a real nice point on it. I was able to move in and got off a nice shot and put it on the ground. About an hour later, she locked up again and I put another one down. Shes 2.5 years old and I'm hoping she is starting to learn how to handle grouse. I sure saw improvement over the weekend so that was great!

I'm heading out waterfowl hunting this week and going to do some bowhunting this weekend. I'll be heading out the following weekend to chase ruffies again but I'll be in a different location. Hopefully we will see some birds and get some good dog work!

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by laxhcky4 » Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:00 pm

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MN Bonasa
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by MN Bonasa » Sun Sep 23, 2012 10:04 pm

This one came on a xing shot. Elli held a steady point on what turned out to be a covey of four on the way out back to the truck. 14 flushes for Saturday and half day Sunday all grouse no woodcock. Deer were on the move this morning I saw 6 on the way to my first spot, perfect grouse hunting morning also. Since I mentioned deer, Elli started to take chase on what appeared to be a doe and fawn, with a LOUD and STERN NO! she stopped dead in her tracks with no e-collar correction. That was a relief to say the least since I was pretty far back in the woods and that was the first time i had an encounter like that with my dog. The Astro logged 24 miles on the dog for 1.5 days of hunting. She gets a five days rest and will hit it again.
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by C.painter » Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:36 am

In northern wi last weekend and from our 3.5 day hunt I would say grouse numbers are down from last year, but woodcock numbers seem way up .

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by laxhcky4 » Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:16 pm

Any new updates? I'm heading out this weekend and will report back Monday!

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by dugger13 » Fri Oct 05, 2012 6:49 am

Looks to be a rough weekend weather wise. We have had 30 mile/hour wind gusts all day yesterday and continuing today. Rain and snow tonight and tommorow.

Leave are full colored and falling fast, might all be gone by next weekend if the wind keeps up.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by laxhcky4 » Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:30 am

well, my weekend got cut waaaay short. We drove up to north Friday after work and got settled in the hotel around midnight. Got up early the next morning and saw 4 grouse and 8 woodcock on our first walk that was about an hour and a half long. My GSF "German Shorthair Flusher" was back in action but it was good exposure.

We went to the next spot and didn't get 10 minutes down the trail when Stella came out of the woods holding her front paw up. As I got closer I saw more and more blood. Starting investigating and found a pretty good cut right in front of her pad Its about an inch long and deeep. Carried her out of the woods and cleaned it up good.

Got to town and got in touch with the vet. His recommendation was to let it heal on its own and that it wouldn't need stitches.

I'm pretty bummed for more than one reason. It was a new area and my wifes first grouse hunt and I was hoping for a better experience. This also means that Stella will be on the sidelines for a bit and I have a ND Pheasant hunting trip planned so I hope she's recovered for that.

As of right now, Stella is limping around and laying down on her dog bed, she doesn't seemed to pleased about the whole ordeal any more than I do.

Hope all the other Grouser's are having some luck!

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by dugger13 » Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:51 am

Never saw a bird yesterday. Hunted about 3 hours. Found a porcupine though :)

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by MN Bonasa » Mon Oct 08, 2012 9:04 am

This weekend was OK for grousin, Friday started out windy and wet. I hunted one spot on my way to the Northome area and didn;t move any birds.
When I got up there to meet my brother they had an inch of snow. We only moved a few birds and a few wood cock and blew a few holes in the sky. Weather was not bird friendly. Saturday was better I moved about 8 birds and again blew a few holes in the sky. Sunday morning flushed 6 grouse and finally one went down. Why is it when I unload two shells at the one flushing bird 1/2 second later two more have to flush - maybe should got an autoloader instead of the over under.
I know they say the hunting has been really good this year, but not sure I am seeing the birds like I did the last few years.
laxhcky4 wrote:We went to the next spot and didn't get 10 minutes down the trail when Stella came out of the woods holding her front paw up. As I got closer I saw more and more blood. Starting investigating and found a pretty good cut right in front of her pad Its about an inch long and deeep. Carried her out of the woods and cleaned it up good.
That sucks hopefully she will be on the trail soon.
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by Rustybolt » Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:30 pm

Heading up to Price County on the 13th. Any reports? How are the wolves?

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by DogNewbie » Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:38 pm

I saw about 20 birds this weekend. All pretty spooky. Looks like the dumb birds might be gone already. My pup had some great exposure, but still can't help himself when he sees those grouse moving in front of him. Bumped around 10 birds. All in all a good weekend.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by MN Bonasa » Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:17 pm

DogNewbie wrote: All pretty spooky. Looks like the dumb birds might be gone already
thats what I was thinking.
Rustybolt wrote: How are the wolves?
pack a sidearm cuz ya never know, thats what i do. if your dog doesn't range to far i wouldn't worry to much though.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by Ms. Cage » Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:47 pm

MN Bonasa wrote:pack a sidearm cuz ya never know, thats what i do. if your dog doesn't range to far i wouldn't worry to much though.
You guys that don't live in northern Minnesota worry to much. The chances of your dog being hit by a car or a 4 wheeler are far great then a wolve encounter.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by BigShooter » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:48 pm

Ms. Cage wrote:
MN Bonasa wrote:pack a sidearm cuz ya never know, thats what i do. if your dog doesn't range to far i wouldn't worry to much though.
You guys that don't live in northern Minnesota worry to much. The chances of your dog being hit by a car or a 4 wheeler are far great then a wolve encounter.
If Howie hadn't told everyone about healing his dog(s) to keep it/them close while being followed by wolves, just the folks hunting in Northern WI would be the ones who are worried. :P
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by Ms. Cage » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:47 pm

BigShooter wrote:If Howie hadn't told everyone about healing his dog(s) to keep it/them close while being followed by wolves, just the folks hunting in Northern WI would be the ones who are worried.
Two wolve encounters in 47 years of hunting grouse up here I'd say the a very low percentage. I've never had a encounter in wolves in 15 years hunting grouse. I don't even come close to the amount of time in the woods as Howie . My husbands a die hard grouse hunter. He's slowed down abit these days. I hope Howie reads the bold... :lol:

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by dugger13 » Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:34 am

After a 5 day cold snap in northern wisconsin, it seems that in my spots anyway, that the woodcocks are gone. I am flushing very few of them, only 2 yesterday, none the day before. I can't believe that they all are migrated through, but maybe the locals are now gone from my areas.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by BigShooter » Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:59 am

"Healing" instead of "heeling". :oops: Must be comforting to have a "healer" in the family. :lol:

In my past 47 years of hunting, I've only had one timber wolf encounter. Howie's last encounter was fairly recent though, wasn't it? Although I don't worry about encounters with predators in MN., they are on the rise. Last year I bought fencing from a fellow who nearly lost a horse to what a wildlife expert said appeared to be a cougar attack. The cougar had been spotted earlier, about two miles away at the edge of town near the school. 25 miles away at our cabin, my neighbors & a few months later my wife & son, heard what matched recordings of known cougar vocalizations. A week later I had a large predator hiss at me in the dark. It sounded about 20 yards away from the back door at the cabin, behind a blow down. Almost a roar, I'll never forget that blood curdling sound, about 300 times louder than a house cat. The next morning, I found a track in the sand on the road and matched it up to a cougar track on a DNR chart of animal tracks.

However, I worry more about one of my dogs encountering a prairie rattler west of the Missouri, than I do about predators in MN.

Back to the thread, I've experienced an OK amount of grouse activity in northern MN.
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by DogNewbie » Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:10 am

Ms. Cage wrote:
MN Bonasa wrote:pack a sidearm cuz ya never know, thats what i do. if your dog doesn't range to far i wouldn't worry to much though.
You guys that don't live in northern Minnesota worry to much. The chances of your dog being hit by a car or a 4 wheeler are far great then a wolve encounter.
+1. They do the same thing the deer do...clear out before we get to them. How many big game animals have you seen grouse hunting? Deer? Bear? Moose? All those animals know you're coming well before you get close to them and they simply clear out. Same with the wolves. We had a saying in Alaska when salmon fishing....for every 1 bear you see there are 10 bears you don't. They'll just go sit in the woods a little ways off the river and wait for you to pass. One of the reasons you know this is because, if the wind is right, you can smell them....that's how bad they smell. These of course were the smaller grizzly bears that live inland not the huge coastal brown bears that are so fat their bellies touch the ground. Those guys could care less if you're coming.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by MN Bonasa » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:21 am

DogNewbie wrote:+1. They do the same thing the deer do...clear out before we get to them. How many big game animals have you seen grouse hunting? Deer? Bear? Moose?
Not sure I agree with that, since I have seen several deer in the woods already this year while grouse hunting having to call off my dog that was about to give chase.
If its a windy type day an encounter can happen since the animals senses are off. Also I have already read in one publication a wolf encounter while grouse hunting north of Duluth and also another article of a wolf encounter by Tower while grouse hunting this year so it does happen and the likely hood of it to happen isn't that far fetched.
My dad got a pic of one on his trail camera last year, my nephew video taped a wolf from his deer stand last year and I saw one standing on the side of the road just as a I left a trail hunting grouse. I carry a sidearm for a piece of mind, to some that might be extreme but its not cumbersome. I have alot of money stuck into my dog why not try to protect that investment and at the same time if nothing every happens then so be it. The guy who doesn't think it would ever happen to him is the guy who usually has it happen. However I do believe that an actual occrance is likely pretty slim but if you spend a fair amount time in the woods the odds only increase.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by bigdaddy » Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:55 am

Well, we actually saw a bird yesterday. So, things are looking up. :minigun:

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by dugger13 » Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:18 pm

Took the afternoon off yesterday and had a great 5 hours in the woods. Woodcocks were everywhere, shot our limit in about 2 hours, and also took 7 grouse by the time the day was over.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by DogNewbie » Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:41 pm

MN Bonasa wrote:
DogNewbie wrote:+1. They do the same thing the deer do...clear out before we get to them. How many big game animals have you seen grouse hunting? Deer? Bear? Moose?
Not sure I agree with that, since I have seen several deer in the woods already this year while grouse hunting having to call off my dog that was about to give chase.
If its a windy type day an encounter can happen since the animals senses are off. Also I have already read in one publication a wolf encounter while grouse hunting north of Duluth and also another article of a wolf encounter by Tower while grouse hunting this year so it does happen and the likely hood of it to happen isn't that far fetched.
My dad got a pic of one on his trail camera last year, my nephew video taped a wolf from his deer stand last year and I saw one standing on the side of the road just as a I left a trail hunting grouse. I carry a sidearm for a piece of mind, to some that might be extreme but its not cumbersome. I have alot of money stuck into my dog why not try to protect that investment and at the same time if nothing every happens then so be it. The guy who doesn't think it would ever happen to him is the guy who usually has it happen. However I do believe that an actual occrance is likely pretty slim but if you spend a fair amount time in the woods the odds only increase.
You may be right....you see this in the star trib this morning?

http://www.startribune.com/local/173624211.html

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by MN Bonasa » Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:12 pm

DogNewbie wrote:You may be right....you see this in the star trib this morning?
Newbie, No I didn't see that article thanks for sharing the link. Difanately will not be showing that article to the Gal she would freak out.

Close encounters with wolves are extremely rare in Minnesota, and law enforcement officials said Finck was justified in killing the wolf to protect himself and his dog.
"This was a bizarre, fluke event,'' said state conservation officer Samantha Hunter, who investigated the case Saturday near Park Rapids.
Dan Stark, Department of Natural Resources wolf specialist, said wolves are predators and territorial.
Can be risky to hunt with dogs
"We know wolves can be aggressive toward dogs, and hunters need to be aware of it,'' he said. "It's an inherent risk hunting with dogs in wolf country.''
Since 2009, wolves have killed 40 dogs and injured at least 12 others, according to state reports. Most of those occurred near rural homes, Stark said.
"Over the last three years, the number of incidents have been higher,'' he said. "Whether more people are reporting them, or whether there's been an increase, we're not sure.


Read the comments to the star tribune article I cannot believe what some people say - its unreal how they think.


I really, really hope that I never have to deal with an encounter, but 5 rounds of .45LC will be the difference.

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by DogNewbie » Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:42 pm

MN Bonasa wrote:
DogNewbie wrote:You may be right....you see this in the star trib this morning?
Newbie, No I didn't see that article thanks for sharing the link. Difanately will not be showing that article to the Gal she would freak out.

Close encounters with wolves are extremely rare in Minnesota, and law enforcement officials said Finck was justified in killing the wolf to protect himself and his dog.
"This was a bizarre, fluke event,'' said state conservation officer Samantha Hunter, who investigated the case Saturday near Park Rapids.
Dan Stark, Department of Natural Resources wolf specialist, said wolves are predators and territorial.
Can be risky to hunt with dogs
"We know wolves can be aggressive toward dogs, and hunters need to be aware of it,'' he said. "It's an inherent risk hunting with dogs in wolf country.''
Since 2009, wolves have killed 40 dogs and injured at least 12 others, according to state reports. Most of those occurred near rural homes, Stark said.
"Over the last three years, the number of incidents have been higher,'' he said. "Whether more people are reporting them, or whether there's been an increase, we're not sure.


Read the comments to the star tribune article I cannot believe what some people say - its unreal how they think.


I really, really hope that I never have to deal with an encounter, but 5 rounds of .45LC will be the difference.
Haha yeah. The gf wouldn't like that article either. Some of those comments are nuts. Nice to see there was some good support for the hunter though. Honestly, I was a little surprised that he killed the wolf with bird shot. Couldn't have been much more than 7 shot

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by SHORTFAT » Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:07 am

Opening day here tomorrow!.. I may be in trouble... I find the sight of a buck hardly stirs the silt of my excitement... but oh, when that bell stops!..
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by Simmy32 » Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:39 am

I've found em but they have been spotty and spooky. Normal spots have been hit and miss, so have been doing a lot of relocating and bouncing around looking for water.

Last weekend the dumb birds seemed to be gone... The cool down seemed to help though. Got into a real nice flight of woodcock with three buddies last weekend. Break out the Bacon and Jalapenos!

Weekend of the 22nd I did alright on Saturday (first pic). Second Pic from last weekend Sunday (total for the weekend of 2 grouse and 10 woodcock). Only a few more weekends before the Deer Hunters take to the woods!
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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by msuhunter » Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:06 pm

Hunted after work Wed-Fri not many flushes and only one grouse in the bag. Saturday its pouring so day might be a washout, Sunday dosen't look much better.posting.php?mode=reply&f=81&t=37606# Lots of leaves came down in the past week with all the wind.posting.php?mode=reply&f=81&t=37606#

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Re: Great Lakes Grousin~

Post by millerms06 » Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:08 am

The pup and I embarked in the northwoods of Marinette county on Friday. Grouse were holding tight in the thick cover and she had a nice point when we flushed what turned out to be eight or so birds. Through the malay of flying grouse, I picked one out and harvested a bird for her. We had to traverse down a rock outcropping and through cedars for her to find the bird.

As a side note, where I go hunting friends of the family bait for bear in the area, on the other side of the main road I drive down. We have never come across a bear hunting in this area. We know there are wolves also in the area but again never encountered one.

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