Michigan Grouse Better Look Out Today, October 15, 2011

Birdie and Sid are anxious to be hooked to the stake-out chain in the morning and run to it knowing that good things will soon follow. First, they get to look for squirrels and second they know they are going in the truck to go grouse hunting.

Yesterday was a miserable day with rain and wind making for rough conditions. Late in the morning we decided to get the dogs out for some exercise so they would be better citizens when they came inside the cabin. We went to the Hut  cover and that is where I made two mistakes. First I didn’t take my shotgun because I didn’t want to get it all wet and of course there was a woodcock encounter right away. Then I made my second mistake, which was the  same as the first. Birdie found a grouse in some thick, thick cover; too thick in fact to walk in. We waited for the grouse to get tired of having the dog stare at it and when it flushed it was wide open for me – no gun.

We loaded the dogs back into the truck and headed for Mrs. Walker’s cover which was close, easy walking and not muddy. This time I took a gun. The dogs found two grouse in a thicket and honored each other and when the birds flushed they didn’t give me a chance.  Later, Sid swept in from the right toward the old logging road we were on and chiseled into a point  thirty feet ahead. Unlike the photo of her in an earlier post where she was head-up and relaxed, this time she was streached out, paw up, and tight. I took a few steps, the bird went out, and Sid made a retrieve. It was great.

Now this morning the rain has stopped, and while the wind is still blowing hard the dogs are on the chain and waiting for me to load them up. And with that, I think I will.