Opening Day Grouse Hunt (Part 2)

Full transcript for Episode 15: Opening Day Grouse Hunt (Part 2).

Tyce

Hey everyone, welcome to the Bird Dog Podcast. My name is Tyce. This is part two of the opening day grouse hunt — a field recap with the team. We had Jeff, Ian, Mike, Orlin, and me out in the mountains with a group of dogs, mostly shorthairs, on what turned out to be a wet and genuinely challenging morning. Nine birds in about three hours. Here's how it went.

Orlin

First grouse hunt for me and it was exactly what I expected — thick, nasty cover, deadfall everywhere, ground so slick we were all going down multiple times. But we got into birds and that's what matters. Mike's shorthair Hika got a beautiful point early on the first group and we knocked two out of three. Later in the morning I worked down into a ravine and came around a log and there were six or seven of them just staring at me. I started yelling for the group but nobody could hear me — birds ended up walking uphill toward the others before I could get a shot. Eventually shot one as it flushed and another that flew over.

Jeff

Happy to report I only fell a couple times. I was also the only one smart enough to bring a rain jacket, so I'll give myself that. The dogs did really well given the conditions — good bird work, only lost one dog briefly. I think the rain actually helped keep the birds tight. They were hunkered under the tree canopy staying dry and the dogs were able to get in on them close.

Mike

Given the conditions — wet, slick, thick ground — getting nine birds in a few hours is a good hunt. Bird numbers in this pocket look healthy. We'd get a clearer read on a dry day when the birds are moving more, but what we saw was encouraging. The short hairs were a lot of fun to watch. They just go — no hesitation, all day long in that kind of terrain.

Tyce

This was also a first grouse hunt for several of the younger dogs, and it was a learning experience for them in the best way. Getting in that kind of cover — dense timber, downfall, willows — is genuinely different from open country work. The dogs that have been on birds had a big advantage over the ones that hadn't. Hika, who's been on birds, had solid points and proved that experience pays off even when it's her first grouse specifically. For the young dogs, every trip like this deposits something into their brain — how to work tight cover, how to handle terrain, what grouse smell and sound and feel like when they flush. Those reps add up. Get your dogs into the field, even if conditions aren't perfect. A tough morning in the mountains with birds is worth more than a clean training session in the yard. Thanks for listening.