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
