53 this morning in nw wis. Felt like Sept! Took both dogs out for a spin and they found two coveys. May have been the same group. Birds looked big for this time of year. I’ve seen smaller in Sept. Loved how some jumped up into trees to watch my dogs but oblivious to me. Had to dodge a lot of bear hunters. They were out scouting in force.
I hope your numbers are high this year. Partridge hunting is one of my favorites. Unfortunately we do not have them down here. In fact we dont have enough pheasants or quail to hunt any more. Good luck this year.
Wife and I spent the last week exploring Michigan and Wisconsin. We hiked quite a bit and ran into enough grouse to keep it entertaining.
Last night, I was putting my 2022 hunting grouse hunts on our calendar. Mapping new areas, regards to tree type and growth ages. Getting excited for the long walks and watching my pointer work the edges.
I love it when the grouse flush, land in a tree and intensely watches the dog do his thing.
I give no quarter…..I ground swat if the situation comes by!
Warm, humid and wet. Its that kind of opener this year.
I dont plan on getting wet but I have no problem sweating a little. Warm openers are not uncommon. Ill start out hitting the honey hole tomorrow morning with my old pointer at first light then see what the weather dictates. Hopefully its not a complete washout. I would like to chase some perch this weekend as well. 2nd weekend is looking a lot better. Good luck!
2nd weekend is looking a lot better.
Looks like a sizable weather change on Wednesday. Going from almost 90 degrees down to the 60’s.
Yeah it looks a little wet, if it’s not I will probably hunt Sunday for a while.
It’s going to be a mud pit but I’m planning on trying tomorrow if the weather report is accurate about it not raining.
you only get so many days to hunt. the weather is what it is. I’ll be out there all weekend. Plan for the worst, hope for the best! Good luck out there fellas and stay safe.
I’m on the PUP list for the season so will miss it all. My crew decided to stay home this weekend, head up next week. It’s still the jungle out there and the water in St. Louis County is ridiculous even without additional rain.
Good luck to all, hope the birds are abunndant.
Only went for about an hour so far from 8-9 and heard 6 flushes. Actually saw two of them but I’m too slow. It’s very wet, 92% humidity, and mosquitos everywhere. We’ll see if I make it back out today 
Walked 4 miles on my favorite trail at first light. 0.0 flushes. I was shocked. Only sign of life was the 8 bear hunters having a pow wow on my trail. Humidity is off the charts. I need to start hunting rails. Those things won’t shut up in front of my cabin. I flushed a couple with my kayak. They look easy to shoot but recovery would be a nightmare. Watched some duck hunters dump a goose about a hundred yards from my dock. Must be youth opener?
I walked 5.5 miles and only found one covey of birds. After missing those I saw one woodcock. So I went home soaked and with nothing to show for it. 
Watched some duck hunters dump a goose about a hundred yards from my dock. Must be youth opener?
I assume you were in Wisconsin. The early goose season is still open here in MN until tomorrow. The general waterfowl opener is in a week.
I never made it back out. The weather was a turn off. I went the 4-wheeling, beer drinking, campfire and dock fishing route instead. 
I never hunt opener because of all the reasons listed above. I am going for waterfowl this weekend and will probably be up in the grouse woods in 2 weeks, will report back then. Good luck out there.
Got in the groove this weekend. Two sat morning and 3 this morning.
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Got in the groove this weekend. Two sat morning and 3 this morning.
Awesome.
Signed, Quite Envious in Illinois.
Got in the groove this weekend. Two sat morning and 3 this morning.
Is that your dog? For some reason I thought you had a young golden. That dog looks like a wet mop lol
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
Got in the groove this weekend. Two sat morning and 3 this morning.Is that your dog? For some reason I thought you had a young golden. That dog looks like a wet mop lol
That’s my 11 year old Pudelpointer. They aren’t known for their beauty. 
Her best days are behind her but she never stopped this weekend. In the second pic you can just see my young golden. If miles ran counted, she won. She went this morning but it’s normally just me and the old girl.
It’s been a pretty successful season for me so far this year. I had my limit by 10:45 this morning. Berries ftw
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Nice. I only got one this weekend but it was a helluva shot! 
PS-rubber gloves…..? 
I used to hate on my buddy that always used gloves… until I used them one time out in the field and now I’ll never go back to not wearing them if they’re available. Makes the entire cleaning process much cleaner, especially when you’re cleaning a whole pile of birds out in the woods without any water.
That makes sense. I forgot about field cleaning. I never have a chance to do that anymore since I only hunt near the cabin. I should do it there too. Left guts from last weekend in the shed by mistake and the shrews had a field day with them over the week. Yuck.
You mean you guys dont just step on the wings and pull the feet?
I do do the step on wings deal, or at least usually. Some birds have more “cleanup” after doing that than others. Main factors being what it was shot with, how close it was shot, and how long its been dead. A bird that’s only an hour or two old cleans up a lot easier than one that’s sat 12+ hours.
As for pheasants, the step on wing deal doesn’t really work well for me, so gloves are even more appreciated for cleaning them, especially if you have a pile of them to clean.
With pheasants we stick our middle finger into their cavity above there breast with the other hand pulling the neck. It separates them nicely so you can deal with the breast separate from the legs/thighs but its a bitch.
Not sure how many more years Ill have the hand strength to do it. Its amazing how much tougher pheasants are put together compared to Grouse. Grouse is to rabbits what pheasant are to squirrels.
Yeah, like you guys have said pheasants its harder to do, but I have been successful most times. Sure makes light work of it for sure.
Didn’t hunt them this last weekend but put a couple hundred miles on in the Blandin/Chippewa area and easily saw a dozen grouse. Very few hunters as well. Almost hit one on the Soo Line…
Only did a short outing on Sun. One grouse flush. Deer ticks were definitely out.
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