Season ends, R&D continues.

New Boots

Well, both the Grouse and Pheasant seasons have ended.  I pretty much missed out on the late (after Christmas) season this year for a number of reasons...a real disappointment.

It looked like we were going to get out the last week of the Grouse season.  It also looked like it was going to snow in the Laurel Highlands where we were planning to go.  Based on these likelihoods I broke down and ordered a set of dog boots for Sunny.  On previous hunts in the snow Sunny has been plagued by iceballs forming on the hair between the pads of her feet.  This only seems to happen at temperatures around or just above the freezing mark, but it is annoying to her and on a few occasions has pretty much taken her out of the game.  I've tried trimming this hair to a very short length and applying a wax called Mushers Secret.  These things help, but in hope of a more dramatic improvement, I thought I'd try boots on her.  As it turned out, we did not get out for "one more hunt" but after the end of the season we did get some snow, so I took dog and boots to a local park to try them out.

At first Sunny tried to step out of the boots by lifting her legs very high, which made for a slightly hilarious gait.  Once I gave her the OK to run,  the incentive of an open trail and smells to explore made her forget about the boots and she ran like her old self.

Other than a slight tendency for her back feet to slip out on hard turns, she didn't seem to be limited at all by the boots.  I had to adjust the front ones at one point as I did not have them tight enough at first, but after that she romped through the snow with wild abandon.

When Sunny's initial enthusiasm wore off, she again turned her attention to the front boots and tried to figure out how to remove them.  I'm optimistic that in a hunting situation, where her enthusiasm seems to never wear off, this won't be as much of a problem.  Maybe a couple more trial runs will help her get more used to them.  Anyways, the boots themselves seem to perform quite well, at least in the brief test that we put them through.  The boots that I purchased are called DeLuxe Neoprene Dog Boots.  I got them from Lion Country Supply

RGS Fundraising Shoot

My friend Tony and I traveled to Franklin, Pa. in February to participate in a sporting clays fundraising shoot for The Pennsylvania Northwoods chapter of The Ruffed Grouse Society.  We shot on a beautiful, fully automated course at the Sandy Creek Conservancy.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I should add that we shot poorly, both of us achieving something like a "personal worst".  Not sure what happened there, but I think I was shooting with a mounted gun and trying too hard to "aim".  This was the same gun which served me well during the bird season, shooting instinctively, but when pressured to hit in front of an audience I mounted first, and mostly missed!.  Whatever, the course and day were great.  The included lunch was pretty forgettable, but no matter.  We had fun and helped the cause.  There were 77 shooters participating - a good turnout, I felt, so I figure the chapter made a few bucks.  I'd like to go back and shoot the course in the spring, though it is an hour and a half drive from my place.

January Duck Float

In October my friend Ben and another hunting buddy of his had floated a stream in the laurel highlands in pursuit of ducks.  On a crisp beautiful October day they drifted down the stream flushing wood ducks with some regularity and shooting several of them.  Now that deer season was over and duck season  open Ben suggested that we float that same stretch in his canoe.  We could take turns, switching about as bow gunner and canoe pilot.  The small ponds in the area had some ice on them but the stream was ice free, so, he reasoned, ducks would be drawn to the open water of the stream.

Since the Pittsburgh weather man that I had listened to was gushing about unseasonably warm weather for the day with showers not moving in until late that afternoon, I decided to go with a lighter cotton camo jacket rather than my bulky waterproof camo parka.  As soon as I stepped from my car in the mountains I was pretty sure I had made a mistake.  The temperature is always lower in the highlands than it is in Pittsburgh, and I should have figured on that.  When we dropped off  Ben's truck at the takeout point, we saw ducks swimming downstream from where we parked.  They were far off and downstream from our takeout point, but it was encouraging to know that there were ducks in the area, and they were on the stream.  We drove my vehicle back up to our launch point and set off shortly after 11:00 a.m.

At 11:15 it started to rain.

Ben had us well prepared.  He had camo netting for his lightweight canoe, some decoys,  and a black, short barreled 12 gauge pump, which I soon realized was very well suited to what we were doing.  My standard size walnut stocked semi seemed visible and cumbersome by comparison, especially when we had to get out of the canoe to drag it through shallows and pass it over or through "strainers" which blocked our progress down the stream.  About all I really contributed to the effort was a camera and a thermos of hot tea, which turned out to be a welcome addition.  Ben had the sense to wear a rain jacket.

The rain was little more than a sprinkle at first, and I pretty much ignored it.  That worked for a little while, but as we floated along marveling at our surroundings it began to rain harder and more steadily.  My cotton gloves were the first thing to become completely soaked and totally useless, I wrung them out, but finally decided that I was better off without them, so tossed them aside.  The camo ball cap that I wore does not mention gore-tex nor claim to be waterproof anywhere that I can find on it, but it certainly seems to be.  It kept my head nice and warm and dry.  I decided to concentrate on that.  The rain and accompanying mist made visibility a little tough as I studied the stream ahead for ducks, but when a wild turkey launched from some hemlocks on the left bank about a hundred yards ahead of us and flew across the stream, it was clearly visible.  When we got to about 50 yards from the trees, a couple more turkeys followed, then a few more, then a steady stream until 43 had crossed in front of us all told.  For a few minutes the woods ahead on our right were full of turkeys running around, a fascinating sight, then they were gone.

About that time I was beginning to think we were not going to see any ducks, and noticed that I was starting to get wet through my coat.  Then, all of a sudden there were ducks up ahead!  I could see three ducks swimming around and it was clear that they had crested heads, but with mist, drizzle and heavy overcast, I saw them pretty much as silhouettes.  We had a brief whispered discussion about whether or not they were mergansers, beautiful birds but noted for their poor table qualities.  If so, I was not interested, no matter how exciting it might be to shoot at them.  Then they flushed.  Mergansers get off the water by first running on the water to get airspeed, it is a very distinctive and recognizable approach.  These ducks just flushed right from their swimming posture.  Wood ducks!  As Ben excitedly called out the I.D., I pulled the gun up but didn't shoot and muttered "too far".  Then we had a brief discussion about whether or not that was the right call.  I like to think it was.  Regardless, I figured we would encounter them again and, since I had not shot, we would likely get closer to them next time.  Both of us have had that experience on previous non-hunting floats.  These ducks apparently were unaware of that policy and never let us get that close again before flushing!
They also avoided being ambushed by always staying in spots where they could see both up and downstream, so we could not sneak around a bend and "get the drop on them".   It was frustrating to get excited seeing them up ahead, only to have them get up and go before we were in range, but it did help take my mind off being cold and wet.

Passing the canoe through a fallen tree

Our hopes rose when we spotted a flotilla of mallards far down the stream, but they proved to be even spookier than  the woodies, and flushed well out of gun range in a line that spanned the stream from bank to bank.  My hopes for a gun emptying shoot 'em up dashed, I noticed that I was shivering pretty steadily and suggested that we pull over and have a hot cup of tea.We both agreed the tea was a wonderful lift.  While I gulped some down to get the warmth in me as quickly as I could,  Ben tossed out a few decoys and blew on a duck call in an effort to bring the ducks back.  We hid under the low branches of a streamside hemlock, but when they did not return after a while we got back into the canoe and set off down the stream.  We had a few more duck spottings but never were able to really close the distance enough to get any shooting.  As frustrating as that was, it was all in all a great day, and a bit of an adventure.  We congratulated ourselves on getting out, even though conditions were a little tough. Next time I plan to err on the side of overdressing.

A good day, gun fit, gauges and loads

My Brother John and I had a good day about a week before Thanksgiving.  I gave him a call Thursday evening to see if he was free the next day and, if so, if he'd like to go hunting.  I knew he had been working 4 ten hour days some weeks, but wasn't certain if this was one of them.   I don't usually hunt Saturdays and like for him to have an opportunity to hunt with Sunny, since he had helped me train her as a pup.  Turns out he was off Friday and up for some bird hunting, so off we went.  We headed to a State Game Lands in Armstrong County where we sometimes hunt pheasants and grouse.  We did not encounter any grouse that day, but both got our 2 bird limit of Ringneck roosters.  While I won't say we didn't have any misses, I was proud of our shooting, which I felt was pretty impressive overall.  We set up the above I-phone photo to commemorate our day.

Guns that fit are guns that hit

Both John and I have made adjustments to our shotgun stocks to make our shooting more instinctive and consistent.  John made his "home made" adjustment to his Winchester pump years ago after realizing that he was consistently shooting too high and missing birds by shooting over them.  He determined that his stock was too short and did not have enough "drop" to line up his eye with the rib when the gun was shouldered.  Being a resourceful and self-reliant guy, he fashioned a wooden spacer that also dropped his recoil pad a little.  He immediately started shooting better, and is one of the most consistent wingshots that I know, especially when using his "custom fitted" gun.

I started hunting with a 20 gauge over/under last year.  I liked carrying the smaller, lighter gun (compared to the 12 gauge that I had been using), but was pretty inconsistent with it.  When I decided to pattern it at the beginning of this season, I found it a real challenge to get my pattern down to center it on the paper.  I was shooting considerably too high.  Rich at Economy Gunsmithing, Inc. (724-266-0232) watched me mount the gun a few times, then installed an adjustable butt plate/recoil pad, after first shortening the stock so the length of pull would not be changed.  In this case, too, my shooting immediately got better.

Our "customized" stocks

John had a good idea of just what he needed, and seems to have nailed it right off.  My gun can be adjusted by removing the pad and loosening and re-positioning the plate with an allen wrench.  When I picked it up from the gunsmith, I felt that it looked like too much adjustment.  He had the pad dropped considerably and the bottom of it kicked out a little away from my shoulder (toe out I believe this is called).  I brought it to my shoulder and, to my delight and surprise, it seemed perfect!  Shooting it showed that I was hitting a lot more consistently than before but hitting a little low, so I made a tiny adjustment and it now seems just right.  Somewhere I read or heard that you should make 2-3 fine tuning adjustments at most then throw away the wrench, so you aren't tempted to keep messing with it.  Seems like good advice.  Sometimes missing is just missing, your fault, not the gun.  Set it and forget it.  Thinking about it (or thinking about anything, for that matter) is the enemy of instinctive wingshooting.  Use the force, Luke!

A lot of people seem to keep trying different shotguns in search of that magic one that they will shoot well, or dreaming about getting a stock custom made to their dimensions.  Neither approach is within my financial reach, nor, I'd imagine, that of a lot of other folks.  If you are fortunate enough to have a gun that fits you well, that's terrific.  If not, It is not that tough or expensive to get the stock that you have shortened, lengthened, or otherwise modified to your needs.  John even did it himself - and more hitting is a wonderful thing!

Gauge, Chokes, Loads, etc.

Several years ago I started shooting clays with a group of work friends.  I was consistently the worst, or at least one of the worst shooters.  I determined to change that and started getting out to practice more.  While practice did not "make perfect", it certainly helped, and I made the leap from "poor" to at least "decent", though erratic or inconsistent could also apply.  As I became more interested in shotgunning, I began to read and research in an effort to enhance my performance and enjoyment.
I read a lot about chokes, gauges, types of shot, etc. and tried to pursue a policy of "doing and using what is best.  After considerable time, effort and experimentation I've arrived at the following conclusion:

Good shooting trumps everything.

Everything I read advised that the use of more open (Imp. Cyl., skeet, or even cylinder) chokes would increase your chances of hitting by allowing more "margin of error", especially at shorter ranges and that the harder shot in premium quality (read expensive) ammunition was a big advantage.  I don't doubt that either of these things are true, it is just that neither is anywhere near as important to the simple act of hitting rather than missing than basic good shooting.

The two most consistent wingshooters that I have the good fortune to hunt with are my friend Ben and my brother John.  Ben shoots a vintage Fox 16 gauge side by side with double triggers.  For reasons of personal ergonomic preference and long term habit he shoots the rear trigger full choked barrel first.  He rarely misses, even on close shots.  John hunts with an improved cylinder choke in his gun and I have seen him kill birds with #5 shot at distances that I would have thought would be out of range.

Choke selection can have a real impact on "how" you hit.  A full choke hit at close range can be quite dramatic, for instance. Whether or not you hit seems to me much more a result of how you handle the gun than anything else.   A good shot can make long shots with an open choke because even though the bulk of the shot spreads wide, there is still a relatively tight cluster in the center "core" of the pattern to do the work.  Obviously, this same "being ON" allows a good shooter to hit at close range with a tight choke.

Good shooting is far more important than what choke or shot quality you put in your gun, or even what gauge it is.  Shoot poorly, or incorrectly and it won't matter what you use.  When I rush my gun mount and shoot without bringing the stock up tight to my cheek as I often do (a flushing bird still causes me to go to pieces!) I miss.  Sometimes I empty the gun and watch a bird fly off unharmed, still well in range, so I know that I rushed my shots unnecessarily.  Taking a moment to get it together and calmly and correctly bring the gun to your cheek is far more important than any decisions that you might make concerning choke and load.  I've learned that taking my time and "cheeking" rather than "shouldering" the gun first makes a big difference.  Think of it as bringing the gun up to your cheek (and therefore your eye) rather than planting the butt into your shoulder then trying to get your head down onto it.  The gun should hit your shoulder last, not first.

I believe that having a gun that fits you and shooting it correctly makes gauge (except for .410) almost irrelevant.  I 've been getting more birds hitting them with a 20 gauge than I did missing them with a 12 gauge!

Kayak wood duck hunt

                
                                 The front end of my kayak draped in camo netting and our decoys

I bought a kayak this summer and had really been enjoying it, so when a friend invited me to go wood duck hunting using our kayaks I jumped at the chance.  Any endeavor which has you in the great outdoors to watch the light come up in the sky is exciting to my way of thinking.  Throw in being out on the water and wingshooting, and I'm in!  It was my first wood duck hunt, so I was pretty excited to say the least.

We were at the lake well before first light on the first day of the early southern zone season (mid October).  The small Pa. Fish Commission lake in the Laurel Highlands once was full of flooded trees at one end.  Over time the trees died and rotted off at the water level with the stumps remaining just below the lake's surface.  This makes paddling in the dark somewhat of an adventure.  Get going a little too fast and you could run your bow up on one of the stumps and tip over -  dumping you, your gun, and all of your gear into the "drink".

As we paddled into our selected spot in the shallows of the lake, I was startled to hear someone whistle from the shore to let us know that spot was already taken!  We changed direction and were heading along the shore line when we found ourselves among someone else's decoys.  Backtracking a little bit we decided we had better get set up before it got light, so staked out a claim of our own between the other 2 parties.

I had visions of the old cartoon where a lone duck is winging peacefully across the dawn sky when all of a sudden hunters pop up everywhere and open up on him.  Fortunately, that was not the case.  When dawn arrived we could not see anyone else, though we could occasionally hear them call.  Their calling was not convincing enough to fool me, so I can't imagine it helped their case much with the ducks.

Being a wood duck rookie, I expected that birds would come in high, cup their wings and drop into the decoys, so I pulled in behind a tree that had fallen into the lake to achieve a little better "hide".  This proved to be a poor choice because soon a group of "woodies" came speeding in about 2 feet above the lake's surface.  Since we had hurriedly dropped our decoys in he dark, we didn't have a hole in the spread for the ducks to drop into, so they joined it at the right end, putting the fallen snag between me and them.  By the time that I saw them they were right in front of me with the snag complicating my view in the still dim light.  I pulled up my shotgun and fully expected they would  flare and give me a shot opportunity but, to my amazement, they landed!  Momentarily befuddled by this development, I quickly determined to flush them and try to get a shot as they took off,  but before I did anything they sped out keeping the snag between me and them.  I fired a shot just as I lost sight of my target duck against the hill on the other side of the lake.  There was no splash.  My partner said "You may have just "opened" the season!  I guess that's possible.  I might have fired the first shot of the region's 2011 duck season.  Maybe.  One thing is certain.  I missed!

After a while the wind really kicked up and the lake became very choppy so we decided to round up our decoys and go have some lunch.  The wind only increased as the day progressed, and when we returned there were whitecaps on the lake.  Hardly ideal kayak conditions, so we called it quits.

I definitely "bobbled" my first kayak wood duck hunt, but look forward to doing it again next year

The(sort of) Great Grouse Hunt

Well things got busy, and though I still haven't written about the last 2 topics that I promised were to follow, let alone my introduction to wood duck hunting,  I am already behind on reporting of my NW Pa. grouse hunting trip.

I'd love to say that I bagged a pile of grouse, but it just isn't so. I have had a good time, though, and encountered a very satisfying number of birds.  My first day, a Friday, was actually spent pheasant hunting.

Since I planned to start the trip from a base of operations in Ridgway and my friend Ben wasn't able to make it there until that evening, I decided to check out a Pheasants Forever Project near Shawmut, south of Ridgway, on the way up.  This is actually an addition to the already huge State Game Lands #44.  Along with PF, a number of local Sportsmen's organizations and a couple of companies added support.  Everyone is credited on the impressive sign in the first parking area that you see upon arrival.   As a PF member, I felt proud of their involvement.

Despite the constant rain, I decided to hunt.  Sunny and I put several birds in the air out of range before she locked on a solid point beneath a small pine tree.  When I moved in to flush, a big ringneck shot away on the ground, tried unsuccessfully to take flight, then continued to run.  It never got far enough ahead of the dog that I could shoot and Sunny eventually caught it.  This was a big bird with beautiful very long tail, hooked beak and hard spurs.  Cleaning it showed that it had been wounded far back on its body on one side.  Later Sunny tried to flush a bird out of the woods to me, something she does with some regularity ( I've got witnesses, more about this under dog training - or not, later ), but the bird went a little wide of the mark just out of range.

We moved across route 219 to a second part of the game lands near Brandy Camp, and continued our soaking wet hunt.  Sunny had an exciting 45 minute point-relocate-run-point-relocate chase with a phantom bird which she eventually nailed down for a beautiful point and explosive flush,  as if materializing from nowhere.  I  shot the hen pheasant (legal here) with what I thought looked to be a solid hit and it fell into an evergreen tree, and started floundering down and around the tree.  I thought it was falling to the ground so didn't bother shooting it again, when suddenly it was sailing down into the deep valley past the tree.  We never located it, so ended the day getting a bird I didn't shoot, and shooting a bird I didn't get.

The next day we hunted grouse in the Allegheny National Forest.  Ben and I drove around a bit and looked at areas that had been recommended to me, until we agreed on a spot that looked good to both of us.  It was.  The rumors of good grouse numbers above Interstate 80 seem to be completely true.  We somehow managed to not bag any, despite several good opportunities.  Between a gun mis-fire, shooting a tree, a couple of plain old misses, and a bird that was hit but made a mid-air recovery, we came out of the woods with the same number of birds that we started with.  It was however, an enjoyable day, with Sunny having a few great points, and our enthusiasm definitely stoked.  We had high hopes for the next day, but a  sudden late October snowstorm that blew into the central part of the state overnight forced Ben's hand, and he had to leave before sun-up the next morning to get home and take care of  things.  Sunny and I were in no rush to get started that day but once we did we really got into birds.  We returned to the same general area as the day before.  The trees were bent with heavy wet melting snow which found its way down the back of my shirt with incredible frequency and precision.  It hit me that I was not really dressed properly for these conditions.  I'm not certain that you actually could be, unless maybe you had a blaze orange wetsuit!  Then we started flushing grouse in rapid succession.  I only had one really good shot opportunity, but it was all you could  hope for.  I missed it twice and am still second guessing myself about it.  Grouse flushed from under pines and from high in pines, audible but not visible.   I quit counting flushes at 7, 3 of which I saw.  In an hour and a half we were both soaked and shivering and retreated to the warmth and comfort of the vehicle.

We returned to the hotel soaked  for the 2nd time in 3 days and spread out every article of clothing and hunting gear to dry - again.

                                      
                                       Sunny chills at the Royal Inn, just south of Ridgway, Pa


When planning the trip, I thought it would be a good Idea to have a rest day in the middle, so figured a Sunday would force that and keep me from running the dog ragged.  As it turned out, with Saturday's hunt being so short, the dog and I were pretty well rested by Sunday morning, and had the whole "no hunting" day to kill.
We did some scouting, watched the Steelers, and packed to leave at first light.  My plan was to hit the Pheasants Forever project early, then head back north of Ridgway to hunt grouse in the afternoon.  We did manage to pick up a ringneck in the morning, but felt the pull of home pretty strongly after that, so continued south.  On the way home we stopped at a spot I know near East Brady for a short, unproductive hunt.

Things I learned


The Royal Inn near Boot Jack Summit is a dog friendly motel with a great restaurant.  It is only open for dinner, but it would be worth driving to Ridgway for the dinner alone!  Straub dark beer on tap and a good hot meal with a hunting buddy is a good way to end the day.

As I traveled around the ANF I was pleased to see signs crediting various hunter/conservationist groups for their habitat work.  It's always good to see that involvement.  Good for wildlife and good PR for the organizations as well.

I'd like to do this again next year if possible, but think I will pick a Monday through Friday stretch.  The Sunday lay-around really caused a loss of momentum, as well as adding to the expense of the trip.  I thought that I should nail down the dates to assure I'd actually go, and not let other considerations interfere, but in retrospect I should probably have watched the weather and adjusted accordingly.  I like hunting in the rain better than I thought I would, but it does take a lot out of you.

Next up:  The kayak wood duck hunt

Southwest Game Farm, planning the Great Grouse Hunt, support the cause

Southwest Game Farm

It poured down rain Saturday so my plan for a 2 hour dog conditioning run went out the window.  As disappointing as that was, it freed my time to take advantage of the open house at The Pennsylvania Game Commission Southwest Game Farm near New Bethlehem.  I've driven past this facility several times, so was familiar with the location and more than a little curious about it.

While most of the "pheasant belt" has always been in the midwest, Pennsylvania was once one of the country's top ringneck pheasant states, somewhat unique for its eastern location.  That all changed in the mid- 70's when a perfect storm of sprawl, pesticides (some of which are now illegal), earlier hay mowing which often destroyed hen and nest in one swoop, clean farming, and a "predator boom" among other factors, came together to practically eliminate wild ringneck pheasants in our state.   Avian predator populations blossomed under federal protection (rightfully so, I think) and mammalian predator populations soared as public taste turned against wearing fur (the "all natural" outerwear ?) in favor of manufactured synthetics.

There may have been other factors as well.  Whatever happened, they are pretty much gone.  Pheasant hunting in Pa. is almost totally supported today by the PGC stocking program.  They have been at it a long time, and are very good at it.  The birds that they currently release are beautiful, robust, and challenging to hunt.

The tour was interesting.  The eggs are laid in nesting boxes in the large pens that cover the farm.  They are then gathered, hundreds at a time, by farm personnel, washed, and held in cold storage until a full batch is gathered to fill the large incubators (21 days) then into a temperature controlled hatching cabinet, where hundreds of eggs become hundreds of chicks.  For the 1st four weeks of their lives these chicks are under the watchful care of PGC workers in temperature controlled shelter, with gradually increasing "yard time".  By 5 weeks they are pretty much free of their high tech start and living outdoors on their  own.  Though prevented from leaving the premises and protected (mostly) from predation by fencing and overhead netting, they are free to fly and forage at will within those limits.  I was impressed by the cover and food plots in the flight pens, as shown in this photo.


 Occasional predation does occur.  Our tour guide mentioned a mink getting into a pen and killing 57 birds in one night, seemingly for the thrill of it, as they weren't eaten.  Raccoons are also a problem.

While there I also had the pleasure of meeting Ryan Toth, who recently returned to the area after completing his military service which took him to Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.  Check out Leatherwoodoutdoors on Youtube.com, a video venture that he and his hunting and fishing buddies are involved in.
They are obviously great deer hunters, and serious "shed" hunters as well.  The"Archery Eve" dinner at their camp, the subject of one of their videos, sounds like a great time.

There were more than 30,000 pheasants at the SW game farm yesterday, an impressive number of birds.  Unfortunately that is approximately how many pheasants were lost when the Susquehanna River flooded 2 other PGC Game farms in central Pa. recently.  Sad to see that much work, and that many beautiful birds lost.

Pa.'s pheasant stocking program is not without its critics.   Some people say that they aren't a native species, so don't really belong here, something which I never seem to hear about the brown trout, which isn't either.  Others claim that stocking is a waste of license money.  Again, I never hear that when the state dumps some big non-native trout into a favorite Pa. stream.  That being said, It's hard to argue the fact that the money spent raising and releasing pheasants  over the years hasn't resulted in a tangible wild breeding population and could have added substantially to the State Game Lands System, or other use.

Still, on a nice fall day, when the dog points and I see and hear that powerful flush and "Ert-Ert-Ert" cackle, I'm really glad they do it, and do it so well.


Planning the Great Grouse Hunt


When I decided to plan a NW Pa. grouse hunt I sent out inquiries to several State Forest and Allegheny National Forest offices asking for info on what might be good areas to try.  I already had a few areas in mind based on casual inquiries of anyone who would listen and happenstance encounters with forest service workers, other hunters, and with actual grouse.  My formal inquiries to professional forestry personnel resulted in a variety of responses ranging from extremely helpful (marked up maps, specific area recommendations) to relatively generic ( "grouse are everywhere in the forest", "they like brushy areas").  When the recommendations reinforced something that I had previously seen or heard, I considered that a double hit and marked it on a map.  The same goes for specific or emphatic recommendations - mark the map!  Some of the areas have good enough reputations and/or memorable enough names that I don't expect to be alone there, others are just a dot on a map that I'm not even sure how to get to - those are especially compelling to me.  That done, I've started looking for dog friendly motels to work from.

One of the most helpful responses was from a woman who identified herself only as "Mary".  She said she is an avid grouse hunter and an active member of The Ruffed Grouse Society, and she closed by saying that she hoped that I was also an active member.

 Turns out I am.  Well, - a member anyways, depends on your definition of active.

I have been a member a few times and let my membership lapse a few times.  I'm currently a member at least partially because my wife Peggy and her sister took part in a "becoming an outdoor woman" event.  Peggy had also completed her hunter safety course.  Either of these qualified them for free admission to the RGS Neshannock Creek Chapter Banquet.  Can't beat free.  My paid admission re-upped my membership.
I left a few bucks behind, and didn't win anything, increasing the value of my "donations".  I heartily endorse Mary's approach.  Not necessarily specific to RGS, but if you love the outdoors, and are passionate about hunting or fishing or just "the great outdoors, whatever, put your money where your mouth(or heart) is.
There are plenty of great, active, and influential organizations working on our behalf and I believe that if you want to see things get better, or at least get worse a little more slowly, you should support their efforts.  One of the things that makes me proud of hunters and fishermen is that they have historically "put their money where their mouth is" for wildlife conservation.  Keep that alive.  Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, Ruffed Grouse Society, Pheasants Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, there is no shortage of organizations that work on behalf of the things we cherish.  Write a check to join the one that means the most to you. Participate in their activities and efforts if you can, but at least join.  Not a joiner?  No problem, I've got a solution for you -

                                                        BUY A DUCK STAMP!

   I can't say it much better than the caption.  5.2 million acres.  $15 at the post office (call ahead, not always avail. at all locations).  Get yours now.  The ducks, rails, ospreys, muskrats, eagles, herons, red winged blackbirds, frogs, pheasants, deer, foxes, and turtles will thank you.  Duck Hunters are required to buy these.  I believe that anyone who hunts anything, bird-watches, hikes, or just cares about preserving wild things and open spaces ought to.

Check back - The well trained dog (or not) and shooting (at) grouse coming soon

The Great 2011 Pa. GrouseHunt

I'm trying a little harder than usual this year to get my dog and myself in shape for the upcoming season.  The reason is that I'd like to go on a week long bird hunting trip, not to South Dakota ,Wisconsin or Minnesota, but to the NW corner of good old Pa.  For the last few years I have been hearing about good to great grouse hunting in northwestern and north central Pennsylvania.  Despite good intentions, I have not gotten up there to check it out.  I've decided that this year will be different.  Rather than hope that I can find the time and motivation to get up there at some point, I plan to schedule a trip just as I would if I were heading to the west or midwest.  I've heard rumors that  the Fall season has been better than the later Winter season, so we want to be ready ahead of time to take advantage of that.

 This proposed trip, which I'm calling The Great 2011Grouse Hunt, was inspired by the not-so-great 2010 grouse hunt which took place in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  My wife's sister's husband (does that make him my brother-in-law?) Zane and I went to the U.P.  for a week last year with our dogs, theoretically to shoot the some of the thousands of ruffed grouse that live there.  We managed to synchronize our trip so perfectly with "the most powerful storm to hit the Great Lakes since the one that sank The Edmund Fitzgerald" that we arrived and left there on the same day that it did.  We left western Pa. with a forecast of a week of good weather for the Upper Peninsula, but arrived as all hell broke loose.  I have no doubt that the U.P. is a sportsman's paradise because during the 3 hours or so of reasonable weather of our week there I saw wild pheasants in the roadside ditches (remember them?  remember that?) wild turkeys, ducks, geese, ruffed grouse, woodcock, and a whitetail buck whose torso more closely resembled a rodeo bull than any deer I've ever seen.  The rest of the time I mostly saw rain going sideways, huge waves in Lake Michigan, and lights blinking off as trees took out power lines.  I came home mostly wishing I could recover the time and money that I had left there.  NW Pa. may have less grouse, but I can easily cut my losses and head home if things don't go well, plus use a lot less gasoline, and I'm sure, still have a lot of fun.

With that in mind we headed out early this a.m. to a State Game Lands an hour and a half away for some field time.  Sunny really got into the swing of things with points on a woodcock and a holdover pheasant (more on them later) and even ripped her ear to make it all seem like actual battle conditions.  The ear injury was not bad, but it served to remind me to get out the small canine first aid kit that I carry in my hunting vest and get it in order, replacing used up and outdated stuff.

This seems like a good time to talk about looking out for the dog.

A few things that work for me.

Sunny is my first bird dog.  I'm learning as I go along.  She'll be 8 years old next month.   After buying and trying a number of dog specific products with varied success, I have started carrying New Skin Liquid Bandage.  This is available at the local drug store and works on both dog and hunter.  It is basically a flexible super glue with an antiseptic built in.  It is inexpensive, comes in a very small bottle with applicator and dries pretty quickly.  My vet suggested it when Sunny had a hard to heal tail wound.  It worked great.  Not sure why I didn't think of it myself.

This photo shows the protective vest that she wears in the early season when the cover is thick an full of burrs.  I've tried a number of these things and this is far and away the most successful on my dog.  Some very inexpensive ones lasted only part of a hunt before being rejected for chafing the dogs "armpits"(legpits?), getting twisted around, coming apart, you name it.  A more expensive one seemed like the ticket until Sunny got trussed up in it and became a 3 legged dog temporarily, a frightening sight in the woods, as I thought she had broken a leg. Due to it's design I had to cut a strap to free her, so we were back in the market again.  This one is from Lion Country Supply and is their own LCS brand.  It is called the Bird Dog Armor Vest.  It does not seem to interfere with her mobility at all, lasted through a whole season in good shape and has spared Sunny from a lot of abuse. It also makes it easier to see her in the snowy woods.   It is inexpensive.  I'd imagine that different vests would work better on different dogs due to variation in build and gait, but would advise skipping the "cheapies" that everyone seems to sell.

The third product is called Glycocharge, made by Annamaet.  This is a powder that is mixed with water and given to the dog at the end of a long hard hunt.  It helps them replenish the glycogen lost from muscles during strenuous exercise.  That's the claim anyhow.  I don't know about glycogen, but do know it works.   Sunny used to be stiff and beat the day after a hard hunt (and she makes every one of them a hard hunt!), but this stuff is very effective in helping her bounce back.  I put the pre-measured amount of powder into individual quart size zip lock bags that I call Glyco Bombs, and keep them in my gear bag.  At the end of the hunt I pour in a pint of water, shake it up to mix and pour it in her bowl.  She loves it and the difference in recovery is amazing.  This is also available from Lion Country Supply, as well as other gundog supply companies I imagine.

Coming soon -  Planning the trip, shooting, dog training(or not!).  Check back!