I just got back from some grouse hunting in Northern Michigan. It is supposed to be a down year in the grouse cycle but I kicked up about 10-12. But I only got a bead on three. The rest I just heard go off. The grouse were pretty well scattered and there were lots of leaves on the trees. I may have gotten all three but I only found one of them. I blasted into the tree leaves on the two that I couldn't find. I don't have a dog. While I lose some birds, I find that I learn more about the birds habits by just walking around looking for crab apple and other berry bushes. I often hear what I call the click! click! boom! of the birds taking off. Thats the sound I hear as the grouse hit the ground with their wings just as they take off and the initial sound of them in flight as they scare the dickens out of me.
As a pheasant hunter who was trained by his dad to never shoot hen pheasants, I find that I often hesitate on flying grouse while I look for the ring on a pheasants neck. I have a Stevens Hump Back 12 gauge that I never use on grouse because I only get one shot anyway. I use my old dependable Kresge single shot 12 gauge instead. Its a lot lighter.
Yes, grouse don't run much, but they run good enough to run to the other side of the brush or tree before they flush. In a thick crab apple or other berry bush, I try to shoot them just before they run to the other side of the bush and flush. I find most of my birds that way.
Without a dog, I find that I have to do just the opposite on grouse then what I do on pheasant. I take bigger zig zag swings and try to be a lot slower and quieter. You gotta sneak up on grouse or they will flush out of range. Wet brush is good because you make less noise. Snow covered ground is best because you can look further and see the grouse as they began to panic. On pheasants, you have to make the most noise that you can to scare them into trying to sit tight or they will run. Every so often you have to stop and be perfectly silent with pheasant so that the ones that sit tight will get scared and flush.
Right now I am sitting here wondering the best way to cook the one bird that I got. I think that I will try to boil the breast in onion soup.
Big Norm
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