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Everyone that went post up and tell us how you did....
I had a big change of plans at the last minute. My friend that was going with me was moving all week and lost his kitchen pass for the weekend (go figure[  ]). So instead of going down by Fishlake I decided to head out to my old trusty area up by Strawberry. It was raining hard all day and I was guessing that the dirt road from Rays Valley up Diamond Fork to Strawberry Ridge would be a little messy. Little did I realize that this road was the least of my worries. We started up Diamond Fork and right past the campground there was a good deal of mud on the road that came out of the gulley. "Boy it really must of rained hard up here" I kept going and it was getting more mud and rocks the further we went.
Here is a picture of one of the spots.
[inline "Grouse 05 road 1.jpg"]
We was still able to get through them in with minimal problems, until we came upon this.
[inline "Grouse 05 road 2.jpg"]
[inline "Grouse 05 Road 3.jpg"]
The guy tried to go around the slide and we are guessing that the trailer tire hit the big rock in the last picture and it slid the trailer off of the road.
The worst part about it was some forest service fire crew came down and stopped the guy from working on getting it out. "Safety reasons" So we sat and waited for the Sheriff to show up. We he showed up he said do what ever you want to get it out. So they went back to work and got it back on the road right when the wrecker got there. This was a small 3 1/2 hour delay so we ended up camping off of the sheep creek road by the Rays Valley bridge.
We woke up early and got the wheeler and headed to the top of Strawberry ridge. We hiked 1 mile into my spot seeing tons of berries and promising areas but no birds. We hiked through the pines and no birds. We hiked the quakies and no birds. So we did not get a thing but we had a good time. I don't know if the rain made the birds hold tight and without a dog we could not get them to flush.
We had a good time thought and even drove down the road and had a drink "Creme Soda" to the spot I killed my deer last year.
Here is a picture of us when we got back to wheeler after our hike. We hunt down in the pines and quakes you see below.
[inline "Grouse Hunt 05.jpg"]
So lets here it from everyone and see how it went.
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My son and I went up around Bountiful peak. We hiked around for a few hours and saw one, but didn't get a shot off. We still had a good time.
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I took my father in law up Daniels Canyon. We saw a lot of other hunters up there, some with dogs (we didn't have one), but only one other group said that had seen just 1 and taken him. We hiked way up into the higher pines and my Father in law shot his first grouse ever, a little ruffed grouse.
We continued on up to the summit and saw 1 doe but that was it. On the way back down through some pines, we saw two HUGE blue grouse, of course one gave me a heart attack when it flushed in thick cover and I couldn't get a shot off. Then I saw another one a ways up the game trail I was following, which was about to bolt into the thick underbrush. I took a shot, he hit the dirt and I started walking up to get him when he jumped up and took off into the brush. I didn't shoot again since I thought he was hit hard, but when I went up there we searched for like half an hour and couldn't find him. Didn't see a feather or and blood either, so I'm not sure if I just nicked him and he survived or if I missed and he just hit the dirt, and then took off. I hope I missed because I hate to see one wounded and left behind.
We finally gave up the search and went looking for the one that flew off. Suddenly, it jumped out of a pine tree above my F.I.L.'s head, scaring him to death. He couldn't get a shot off through the thick pine boughs, so we let him get away for another day. That's all we saw, a lot fewer birds than last year. I think the wet spring had a big impact on the nesting, combined with a good water year there is plenty of food and water so the birds are really spread out this year I think.
It was tons of fun though, and I got my father in law back into hunting after almost 35 years!!
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Hiked my rear end off on Sunday and did not even see one bird. Being this my first time ever grouse hunting I had no idea what I was doing. We were in the Monti Cristo area and we covered about 7 miles worth of hiking around all over the place, aspen, pines, thick, thin, steep or flat; it did not matter. Today I got out for the morning and ended up with one blue, oddly enough right off the road. The rest of the day was a whole lot of hiking with no birds.
Both days I hunted very different regions with pretty much the same results. Did this cold front do something to the birds? With all of the hiking we did not even spooke a deer or anything, we only spooked sparrows and squirrels.
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I think the wet had something to do with it. Plus I agree with Catman on the wet Spring. I think that they had some bad hatches at 1st so less bird are around. The birds are still out there so we just need to find them.
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Hey OEJ, don't worry too much about your success. You could hunt the very same spot a month from now and shoot a 4 bird limit. The grouse this year especially I think are very scattered. There is so much good habitat with lots of green plants and berries for food. They can spread out all over the place and get access to food. If you can find a place with lots of food like that, and lots of water, you've found a good spot, and if they're not there now, they might be later in the year when other food and water is exhausted. I also think the numbers are down this year due to a wet spring which had an affect on the hatch and nesting.
The place I went last year we shot 7 or 8 birds that trip, but I went to the exact same place this year and we saw 3 birds and came home with 1 of them.
Grouse hunting = Lots of hiking. I just try to enjoy the beautiful area and the hike, and the birds are just a bonus. I have also noticed that probably 75% of the birds I've gotten over the years have been sitting on or very close to either a main trail or a game trail. I don't find them in heavy thick stuff very often, unless it's on a game trail in the middle of heavy thick stuff. I'm glad you got one.
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I don't think the cold front had anything to do with the hunting though. They roost all night whether it's good weather or bad, and if it's good weather the next morning (like it was on Sat.), then they head out just like any other day.
Also, just an FYI on what they like to eat: The one my father in law shot had a craw full of chokecherries and green leaves. Other times I've seen them full of Oregon grape berries, wild rose seed buds, dandelion or other greens, buds from shrubs or bushes (usually later in the season when there is less fresh stuff available), elderberries, clover, and pretty much any other berry you can find out there.
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There is so many factors that could effect where you hunt. You could have some elk or other animals that moved through the area that push them out. We heard a number of bulls bugling in this area so that could of been the case for us.
The area we hunted was full of berries, Chokecherries, Snow Berries, Oregan grape berries ect. Lots of feed and lots of cover.
I have also shoot most of my birds from the trail or close to the trail.
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Glad to know about the trail thing, I was bushwhacking through the thick crap both days. I am good to go for hiking, I enjoyed it but my feet were not too happy with their new found confinement. One thing I did notice is the sheep herders were running sheep near both areas we tried so that could be the reason. There was PLENTY of berries, seed and cover for them as well as water.
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Also, we were plenty high up there, it snowed on us lightly Sunday and today as we were leaving it was dumping, as in covered the ground white, with snow.
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Hunted several hours on Saturday at the top of Indian Springs SE of Strawberry. Saw one ruffie and got him. That was it! Also saw a huge 6X6 bull elk at about 40 yards that just looked at me for about 10 seconds. What a thrill!!! Mr. J.
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Man that is harsh about that trailer. It looks like it could have been worse though.
I didn't have much luck chasin' chickens either. I jumped one, but it was in thick brush and I couldn't get a shot. That was all. My day was limited to a few hours of hunting due to other obligations.
I personally believe the weather had a lot to do with the lack of birds. A few years ago while archery hunting, there were stinking grouse everywhere. I could have easily killed my limit of birds each day, with my bow, for the week I was up hunting. Then, the night before the opener it snowed, and we only saw 3 birds in several miles of hiking! I thought man this sucks...then a buddy went up a few days later and got his limit within' a few hundred yards of his truck. He went up a couple more times and limited each trip. I didn't make it back up that year. This year a buddy had been doing some scouting in the area I hunt, and he was seeing a lot of birds. He only saw two grouse all weekend! So IMHO, the weather plays a BIG part of how the animals behave. I hope to get out again soon, and see if that theory plays out.
Good luck to all of you who are going out again. Can't wait to go chase some devils chickens (chukars) though!
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I think you are right about the weather affecting the number of birds people saw this weekend. From what I've seen in the past, the wet weather will make the birds hold up in trees and low cover more than normal. A friend went out yesterday, after the morning storms and got into a group of older birds(7), none of the birds were yearlings. In the past when we have had wet springs, it is bad for the young birds, with a lot of them dying. It all depends on the area though, there could be pockets where the birds did better, lets hope so anyway. WH2
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I have been bowhunting and have been seein a ton of grouse in two areas. All the other areas I have seen hardly any birds. I don't want to go hunt the birds where they are at because I don't want to scare the bucks I have been watching. Normally you can shoot grouse right on the road but not this year, they seem to be a long ways away from the road.
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