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Any of you guys grouse hunters. That's about all we have to hunt here in MI along with woodcock. Some pheasants but they are far and few between. Birds were a little thin this season. Only got a few, but the pup learned alot with this being her 2nd real season.

I love grouse hunting. Best tasting bird in my book. Our grouse woods are starting to get a little thick tho so it's getting tougher to pop them.

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Would like to hunt some ruffdd one of these days. Have had sone great days chasing sharptail and prairie chickens though.

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jarbo03 wrote:Would like to hunt some ruffdd one of these days. Have had sone great days chasing sharptail and prairie chickens though.

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Thats all we have here is ruffed. They are in trees a lot though, so Taz might get a little bored.

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I have shot a lot of grouse on Cabalas Bird Hunter.

Goldfish wrote:I love grouse hunting. Best tasting bird in my book. Our grouse woods are starting to get a little thick tho so it's getting tougher to pop them.

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we have some really great habitat up at my deer camp for grouse but we have a big predator problem (coyote and raccoon) that keep the population down.


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Eric Haynes wrote:

jarbo03 wrote:Would like to hunt some ruffdd one of these days. Have had sone great days chasing sharptail and prairie chickens though.

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Thats all we have here is ruffed. They are in trees a lot though, so Taz might get a little bored.

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Ha. He could still retrieve. Hopefully when you make it down here, pheasant and chicken numbers are back up. You need to experience wild birds on the high plains.

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Eh, dogs are good for grouse, but I feel a whole lot better about popping them things on the ground when they aren't there. Those birds are usually so dumb that they try to walk away first, which is also why they get hit hard by predators.

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Goldfish wrote:Eh, dogs are good for grouse, but I feel a whole lot better about popping them things on the ground when they aren't there. Those birds are usually so dumb that they try to walk away first, which is also why they get hit hard by predators.

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Ha, they do the same thing here. You can walk right over them half the time before they take off. I have no problem popping them on the ground or out of a tree.

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Eric Haynes wrote:

Goldfish wrote:Eh, dogs are good for grouse, but I feel a whole lot better about popping them things on the ground when they aren't there. Those birds are usually so dumb that they try to walk away first, which is also why they get hit hard by predators.

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Ha, they do the same thing here. You can walk right over them half the time before they take off. I have no problem popping them on the ground or out of a tree.

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opposite here. If you don't have a dog they won't hold inside about 40 yards. But if the dog get there first they freeze when the dog points until you flush em.


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NuffDaddy wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:

Goldfish wrote:Eh, dogs are good for grouse, but I feel a whole lot better about popping them things on the ground when they aren't there. Those birds are usually so dumb that they try to walk away first, which is also why they get hit hard by predators.

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Ha, they do the same thing here. You can walk right over them half the time before they take off. I have no problem popping them on the ground or out of a tree.

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opposite here. If you don't have a dog they won't hold inside about 40 yards. But if the dog get there first they freeze when the dog points until you flush em.


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Ruffed? They are usually in dense forest where I hunt them.

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Eric Haynes wrote:

NuffDaddy wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:

Goldfish wrote:Eh, dogs are good for grouse, but I feel a whole lot better about popping them things on the ground when they aren't there. Those birds are usually so dumb that they try to walk away first, which is also why they get hit hard by predators.

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Ha, they do the same thing here. You can walk right over them half the time before they take off. I have no problem popping them on the ground or out of a tree.

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opposite here. If you don't have a dog they won't hold inside about 40 yards. But if the dog get there first they freeze when the dog points until you flush em.


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Ruffed? They are usually in dense forest where I hunt them.

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A lot of guys use pointers and spaniels for them here. I'm sure they hold for a dog the same as a person, you just won't catch me shooting downward when there is a dog in the woods with me and you get about .2 second to take the shot when they jump before they're behind trees

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Goldfish wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:

NuffDaddy wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:

Goldfish wrote:Eh, dogs are good for grouse, but I feel a whole lot better about popping them things on the ground when they aren't there. Those birds are usually so dumb that they try to walk away first, which is also why they get hit hard by predators.

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Ha, they do the same thing here. You can walk right over them half the time before they take off. I have no problem popping them on the ground or out of a tree.

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opposite here. If you don't have a dog they won't hold inside about 40 yards. But if the dog get there first they freeze when the dog points until you flush em.


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Ruffed? They are usually in dense forest where I hunt them.

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A lot of guys use pointers and spaniels for them here. I'm sure they hold for a dog the same as a person, you just won't catch me shooting downward when there is a dog in the woods with me and you get about .2 second to take the shot when they jump before they're behind trees

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Never hunted them with dogs. Can't see the benefit where i am, but like I said, I am not above shooting them out of the trees or off the ground.

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Eric Haynes wrote:

NuffDaddy wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:

Goldfish wrote:Eh, dogs are good for grouse, but I feel a whole lot better about popping them things on the ground when they aren't there. Those birds are usually so dumb that they try to walk away first, which is also why they get hit hard by predators.

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Ha, they do the same thing here. You can walk right over them half the time before they take off. I have no problem popping them on the ground or out of a tree.

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opposite here. If you don't have a dog they won't hold inside about 40 yards. But if the dog get there first they freeze when the dog points until you flush em.


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Ruffed? They are usually in dense forest where I hunt them.

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I hunt em in pines, aspen saplings, mid growth aspen, and on oak ridges...Depends on weather, time of day, and time of the season. Without the dog they allways seem to see or hear me first and bust outside of shooting range. But whan the dog gets to em and goes on point before they flush they seem to sit with their attention on the dog to see what they are going to do next. Thats when i come in from the backside and flush.
Have you ever hunted upland in the woods with a dog?

NuffDaddy wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:

NuffDaddy wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:

Goldfish wrote:Eh, dogs are good for grouse, but I feel a whole lot better about popping them things on the ground when they aren't there. Those birds are usually so dumb that they try to walk away first, which is also why they get hit hard by predators.

sent from a phancy fone

Ha, they do the same thing here. You can walk right over them half the time before they take off. I have no problem popping them on the ground or out of a tree.

Sent from my H866C using Tapatalk 2

opposite here. If you don't have a dog they won't hold inside about 40 yards. But if the dog get there first they freeze when the dog points until you flush em.


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Ruffed? They are usually in dense forest where I hunt them.

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I hunt em in pines, aspen saplings, mid growth aspen, and on oak ridges...Depends on weather, time of day, and time of the season. Without the dog they allways seem to see or hear me first and bust outside of shooting range. But whan the dog gets to em and goes on point before they flush they seem to sit with their attention on the dog to see what they are going to do next. Thats when i come in from the backside and flush.
Have you ever hunted upland in the woods with a dog?

Nope, its so easy here without one. Never thought about using one. Typical hunt is me walking down a wheeler trail, see one in a tree...shoot it out. Walk a little longer, see one pecking gravel 10 yards away...shoot it. Doesnt vary much mote than that.

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Your lucky when it comes to numbers. The best places i hunt around here with 1 dog and 2 hunters we will flush 1 bird for ever 1.5 hours of hunting. And if every other flush is at a shootable bird its alot. If you shoot 75% which is a skilled shooter IMO your lucky to bring home a bird in a 4 hour walk. But i do it for being out in nature and i usually double my trips by checking out beaver ponds for duck hunting or new spots for whitetail. And there is nothing I love more than watching my setter work the woods. IF i feel like killing birds i call up the pheasant farm and have em plant me a half dozen birds or so to shoot.

NuffDaddy wrote:Your lucky when it comes to numbers. The best places i hunt around here with 1 dog and 2 hunters we will flush 1 bird for ever 1.5 hours of hunting. And if every other flush is at a shootable bird its alot. If you shoot 75% which is a skilled shooter IMO your lucky to bring home a bird in a 4 hour walk. But i do it for being out in nature and i usually double my trips by checking out beaver ponds for duck hunting or new spots for whitetail. And there is nothing I love more than watching my setter work the woods. IF i feel like killing birds i call up the pheasant farm and have em plant me a half dozen birds or so to shoot.

Wild pheasants aren't abundant here. One a day would be average. However, a lot of birds from the pheasant farm don't get shot, so they will fly over to where i hunt...but you can tell the difference between them.

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Eric Haynes wrote:

NuffDaddy wrote:Your lucky when it comes to numbers. The best places i hunt around here with 1 dog and 2 hunters we will flush 1 bird for ever 1.5 hours of hunting. And if every other flush is at a shootable bird its alot. If you shoot 75% which is a skilled shooter IMO your lucky to bring home a bird in a 4 hour walk. But i do it for being out in nature and i usually double my trips by checking out beaver ponds for duck hunting or new spots for whitetail. And there is nothing I love more than watching my setter work the woods. IF i feel like killing birds i call up the pheasant farm and have em plant me a half dozen birds or so to shoot.

Wild pheasants aren't abundant here. One a day would be average. However, a lot of birds from the pheasant farm don't get shot, so they will fly over to where i hunt...but you can tell the difference between them.

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Michigan had gread pheasant hunting until about 50 years ago. Due to major loss of habitiat there were no wild pheasants left. Now Pheasants Forever is doing a lot of habitiat restoration and we almost have a huntable population again in some areas. How i would have loved to be around back in the good old days when you could go on a short walk and kill a limit of pheasants.

We are legal to take them with rimfire, so we don't ever "target" them, just shoot em for camp meat. Anybody else allowed to shoot them with a 22 ?

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3legged_lab wrote:We are legal to take them with rimfire, so we don't ever "target" them, just shoot em for camp meat. Anybody else allowed to shoot them with a 22 ?

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shotguns only here I believe but I've never really looked into it.


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Whatever you can hit them with here. If I get back to the woods with a bow, I'm going to bring a couple target arrows with me. I'm determined to stick a bird.

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3legged_lab wrote:We are legal to take them with rimfire, so we don't ever "target" them, just shoot em for camp meat. Anybody else allowed to shoot them with a 22 ?

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Not sure here either, but I have taken a few with a 22

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Mountain grouse, Franklin ,spruce, blue ( dusky) we can shoot them with anything even slingshots. Some rust grouse in the mountain creek bottoms. Sharp tail all over, no Prairie chicken here, BUT we have a good population of Sage grouse. Boy if you want to shoot a goose sized grouse there the ones, we call them "B-52's". In fact I'm planning a trip as we speak in the first of September. PS =we have Chinese ditch chicken running all over but unless I run them over with the Buick I never , kill them.

I'd kill to have some ring necks around here.

One day I'm going to upland hunt. I've always wanted to, and never have. The closest I've been us shooting a few quail and snipe while squirrel hunting.

DC727 wrote:One day I'm going to upland hunt. I've always wanted to, and never have. The closest I've been us shooting a few quail and snipe while squirrel hunting.

You might have a chance at the NCH. I'd take you, but my dog wouldn't make it worth the trip up here. I normally make one trip to a pay & take just over the WI border. That might be an option if the NCH doesn't pan out...

I want to hunt grouse. That looks like a good time!

Feelin' Fowl wrote:

DC727 wrote:One day I'm going to upland hunt. I've always wanted to, and never have. The closest I've been us shooting a few quail and snipe while squirrel hunting.

You might have a chance at the NCH. I'd take you, but my dog wouldn't make it worth the trip up here. I normally make one trip to a pay & take just over the WI border. That might be an option if the NCH doesn't pan out...

I want to hunt grouse. That looks like a good time!

Come on up.

NuffDaddy wrote:

Feelin' Fowl wrote:

DC727 wrote:One day I'm going to upland hunt. I've always wanted to, and never have. The closest I've been us shooting a few quail and snipe while squirrel hunting.

You might have a chance at the NCH. I'd take you, but my dog wouldn't make it worth the trip up here. I normally make one trip to a pay & take just over the WI border. That might be an option if the NCH doesn't pan out...

I want to hunt grouse. That looks like a good time!

Come on up.

I just might. I actually just bought a book about grouse hunting. I'll have to see what it's called when I get home...

Will wait til season opens to see if upland will be worth a shit at NCH.

Have shot many prairie chickens here in KS, they make the sharpies in MT look dumb. The first time you hunt them is for sport, the next time is for vengeance.

I don't know about in mi but the ruffed grouse are about in their low spot of their 10 year swing in MN.

Also, you will usually hear a bunch of grouse when hunting, but only see 5, and only get a shot off at 2, killing a sapling with one shot, and the other shot will scare the grouse to death so you look all over for a hole from a BB that will never be there.

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