09-09-2007, 08:06 PM
The day I have been waiting for finally came this year and It was a pretty good one.
We headed up to Monte on Friday night to camp. We had some dinner and talked about the fun that would happen on the morrow. When the sun came it was like a dream come true and the hunt was on. Three of my friends met us at camp in the morning and already had three grouse that they had spotted and chased into the trees from the road. We drove to spot we wanted to hunt and began the hunt. There were six of us so we knew we would kick up something. We began pushing through the pines with no success. We pushed for about 45 minutes, hiking ridges and canyons that we have jumped grouse in the past, but nothing came off the ground. After a little drink break and some discouraging looks we decided to hike one more ridge. We began the ascent and when we reached the top the grouse hunt began. Grouse were flying everywhere! One of our guys took two out of the air while I watch as three jump up about 50 yards ahead of me. Another jumped and was taken down by another one of our guys. Once it calmed down we evaluated the situation and tried to remember where the live ones landed. We continued pushing the ridge and dumped another one.
After our long hike we headed back to the truck for some lunch. Half of the group decided to go to Woodruff and do some fishing, while me and two others (the ones that hadn't shot any) tried for some more grouse. We drove to a new spot and hiked until we couldn't hike anymore. No Grouse. Finally on our way out we spotted a ruffie from the road and chased it into the trees until my friend Justin finally dropped it. A few yards down the road he dropped another ruffie. After that we were too tired to hike anymore and called it a day. We headed over to Woodruff and were surprised to see that the other three were loading up to go home with their limits of cutts. It was a great day even though I didn't get to bag a grouse. But you can betcha I'll be out there trying again. The group ended up with nine grouse for the day and 12 Cutts with one going 18 inches. Here's the pics!
(Sorry, none of the fish)
Hookjaw
[signature]
We headed up to Monte on Friday night to camp. We had some dinner and talked about the fun that would happen on the morrow. When the sun came it was like a dream come true and the hunt was on. Three of my friends met us at camp in the morning and already had three grouse that they had spotted and chased into the trees from the road. We drove to spot we wanted to hunt and began the hunt. There were six of us so we knew we would kick up something. We began pushing through the pines with no success. We pushed for about 45 minutes, hiking ridges and canyons that we have jumped grouse in the past, but nothing came off the ground. After a little drink break and some discouraging looks we decided to hike one more ridge. We began the ascent and when we reached the top the grouse hunt began. Grouse were flying everywhere! One of our guys took two out of the air while I watch as three jump up about 50 yards ahead of me. Another jumped and was taken down by another one of our guys. Once it calmed down we evaluated the situation and tried to remember where the live ones landed. We continued pushing the ridge and dumped another one.
After our long hike we headed back to the truck for some lunch. Half of the group decided to go to Woodruff and do some fishing, while me and two others (the ones that hadn't shot any) tried for some more grouse. We drove to a new spot and hiked until we couldn't hike anymore. No Grouse. Finally on our way out we spotted a ruffie from the road and chased it into the trees until my friend Justin finally dropped it. A few yards down the road he dropped another ruffie. After that we were too tired to hike anymore and called it a day. We headed over to Woodruff and were surprised to see that the other three were loading up to go home with their limits of cutts. It was a great day even though I didn't get to bag a grouse. But you can betcha I'll be out there trying again. The group ended up with nine grouse for the day and 12 Cutts with one going 18 inches. Here's the pics!
(Sorry, none of the fish)
Hookjaw
[signature]
