My luck sure changed. Traded the dogs for my wife and LIMIT! Rare for me and I’m grateful. Finally got up to the golden Triangle. You wouldn’t believe how many times I have got into birds over the years with my wife walking behind me.
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Great work Suzuki! Those are some pretty birds. I’ve always thought the red phase birds are much prettier than gray phase, and much more rare. I seem to get around 4-5 grays for every red I get.
I got out again this morning and had similar success as you. Kind of an asterisk though since one of them is a spruce grouse. The sprucies don’t taste as good in my opinion. Regardless, great morning to be out in the Northwoods enjoying Mother Nature. This year will be tough to beat as far as numbers go. I’m extremely grateful for being able to harvest these birds consistently.
I’m very impressed with the young pup’s progress this year. She made a retrieve this morning that I’ll never forget. I came up on two birds in the trail. One flushed to the right and I shot at it while swinging to my 3 o clock. I didn’t think I hit it clean because it kept flying and my young dog took off after it into the brush and out of site. I then moved to my left as my old dog put another bird in the air at my 9 o clock which I dropped. When the dust settled, I called the young pup back and she came back with the live bird in her mouth. My first ever double flush, double retrieve. I’ll never forget this sequence of events – pretty special when they both came back to me at the same time both holding a bird in their mouth.
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Wow what a great day for both of you guys.
I see your sporting that Franchi there Gitchi!
What a perfect gun for Grousin’.
I’m envious. Hoping to get out next weekend for the 1st time this season
My God, I just did it again today. Coming home with a full possession limit. A feat I’m sure will never be duplicated. My gun malfunctioned today costing me a bird which ended up not mattering but I need to get my old 1100 fixed and get that backup 20ga I have been thinking about for years.
Bullcans, you have a heck of an eye for shotguns. Yes that’s my franchi instinct 20 ga and I absolutely love that gun. If there’s a better grouse gun out there, I’ve yet to hold it. At a hair over 5 lbs, it shoulders really nice and you can carry it all day long with minimal fatigue compared to heavier guns out there.
I bought a citori a couple years ago and I hardly ever use it because I like the franchi so much. I’ve been thinking about selling the citori and buying my same franchi I have now except with a 28” barrel.
another awesome weekend in the Northwoods last weekend with the golden girls. was able to knock down some more birds which included the biggest and prettiest grouse I’ve ever shot. A big mature red phase female with a very long tail fan. I was seriously considering mounting it for a while but decided against it because grouse is too tasty to let it go to waste. On to South Dakota this week!
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Well done Gitchi!
I have mounted two giant ones over the years. You wouldn’t regret it. They mount well and look very lifelike. Back to Goldens. My young one is shining in the Grouse woods too. She learns a lot from my old pointer. Half the time she looks like she isnt serious but she’s the one putting up all the birds. She has a serious nose and as she matures she follows it more. She pushed two right at me Sun morning. One was on my ass so fast it was a blur over my head and 3 missed shots. May as well have been using a rifle. The other one didnt fly right over me and was a pretty easy shot.
Im off to Iowa. By the time I get back to the Grouse woods they will be
leafless, cold and bleak.
Edit. Pic of flying mount. I like my standing better. Its at the cabin.
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great to hear suzuki. its awesome to watch the dogs learn and figure it out in front of you over the course of a season.
where did you get your grouse mounts done? what position did you get them mounted in? part of the reason I decided against the mount is I wasn’t sure how to preserve it for mounting. I know what to do with a fish you’re going to get mounted but was completely unsure how to care for the grouse until I got it to the taxidermist. any suggestion there?
good luck in iowa. make sure you give us a good write up when you get back.
sadly I might have done my last grouse hunt ever with my older golden Finley this last weekend. She’s slowing down and taking long to recover and I always told myself I wasn’t going to squeeze every last drop of hunting out of her. Its not fair to her and she deserves some time in retirement without being sore for 3 months straight in the fall. Maybe I’ll get her a road hunting grouse or two in the future but I think she’s done serious hunting for grouse.
This last weekend is usually my last weekend of serious grouse hunting of the year. I go to SD this week, then 3 weeks of deer hunting, then thanksgiving, then back to SD for another week. By the time that stretch is done, I’m usually ready for ice fishing.
Was a bitter sweet drive home from the northwoods this weekend thinking my old girl might have done her last grouse trip ever. Shes got two SD trips left yet tho so there are a couple more chapters left in her book.
My neighbor has a grouse mounted in a coffee table. Looks very dang nice. Funny he also has a pheasant in there with a 12 gauge 3″ shotgun shell that he shot it with and his gun only accepted 2-3/4″ shells. His buddy tossed him a shell and he just threw it in.
My mounts are so old I cannot remember where they were done. I checked the back and there are no markings. Sorry. Im taking my old girl on Iowa opener one more time. I cant stand the thought of her not going with me even though she probably shouldn’t. She seemed to do fine on a 3-miler last Sun but as you know the pheasant fields are much more difficult. Ill be feeding her Rimadyl like treats! 
Great posts guys. Solid results and wonderful dogs! Congratulations.
I’ve only hunted about 6hrs this season, just me… no four-legged helpers, managed to encounter this bird on a sneak through a balsam patch.
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Finally got out on Sunday for the first time this season.
Flushed 1 Grouse and threw 2 shots at it with no luck but found this guy that wanted to play.
Great day, dog and me were tuckered out at the end of the day.
Can’t wait to get back out there!
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nice work guys! this is such a great time of year to be out in the grouse woods.
I wish late Oct/early Nov was 6 months long
I was out over mea weekend for a day around two harbors and flushed 18 bagged 2. They really humble you. There was basically 0 wind so they were flushing a little earlier than normal.
I so miss the Grouse woods this time of year. Right when the experience peaks I am gone hunting pheasant for a month straight. I know, woe is me but I sure miss some of the best. Im glad you guys are getting out. The next time I hunt Grouse it will be Winter and the magic is mostly gone.
I’m right there with you suzuki. Usually my last grouse outing is on MEA weekend. I head to SD the week after that, then 3 weeks of deer hunting, then thanksgiving and then SD for another week. I hit it really hard from opener to MEA weekend, but always get a little sad when I know I’m pretty much done for the season. The funny thing is I grouse hunt more than just about anyone I know and I don’t even hunt grouse during the best time of year.
As much as I love grouse hunting, pheasant hunting is far superior in my book.
The really big perk of hunting SD nowadays is that their season goes all the way through January. That’s literally an extra month of bird hunting that we do not have access to here in MN.
Course, the weather is always a wild card that time of year. Last year it was almost impossible to hunt out there with all the snow.
I’m right there with you suzuki. Usually my last grouse outing is on MEA weekend. I head to SD the week after that, then 3 weeks of deer hunting, then thanksgiving and then SD for another week. I hit it really hard from opener to MEA weekend, but always get a little sad when I know I’m pretty much done for the season. The funny thing is I grouse hunt more than just about anyone I know and I don’t even hunt grouse during the best time of year.
As much as I love grouse hunting, pheasant hunting is far superior in my book.
Im the opposite due to my upbringing. My Dad was taking me Grouse hunting or “Pat” as it was called as soon as I could follow him in the woods. Pheasants were all but extinct by then in Michigan so all I knew about hunting them was my Dad’s stories when they were thick. We saw them a lot near the city and even in our back yard but not in any hunting situations. Im thankful every day I am not hooked on waterfowl!
GG that picture of your 2 Goldens, a limit of Grouse, and your shotgun should be blown up and framed. That is a beautiful picture. Congrats!!
I couldn’t hit the broad side of barn today. Missed 3 and left the woods dejected. Yea, it was nice getting out…. 
So you went for a nice walk suzuki? Could of been worse???? Eating some of that canned fish! 
nice work suzuki. seeing late season birds is no easy task. I have a lot harder time finding them once the snow flies
Was up in Hibbing working this week, got done early so went out in the side lake area today with a buddy who lives up there. Got three, kicked up quite few. Numbers seem to be great right now and buddy has been doing well. Nice day to be in the woods although it seems more like spring time with how slimy it is on the trails!
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Last day of season. I have never hunted the last day let alone get one.
Should have had 2 but I’m not complaining. Hopefully this wasn’t my old girls last time, but it might be.
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You guys damn near killed me this season with the reports. It was very painful to see all these reports and not have a dog to hunt over!! But thats all changing – put money down and will be picking up a grouse pup this February – english setter. Excited for the future!
I need to locate some good spots.
Reading your guys’ reports got me all fired up but I need some direction of better locations.
I have a ton of years and experience in the SW part of MN and Northern IA for pheasant areas…
Would be willing to share some of that in trade for some Grouse spots.
PM me if interested.
Thx
Last day of season. I have never hunted the last day let alone get one.
It’s amazing how quickly this thread dies out once the calendar turns to November and December. Tons of posts in October and then its crickets for 2 months. It’s like people don’t even try to hunt grouse once deer season opens.
I need to locate some good spots.
Reading your guys’ reports got me all fired up but I need some direction of better locations.
I have a ton of years and experience in the SW part of MN and Northern IA for pheasant areas…
Would be willing to share some of that in trade for some Grouse spots.
PM me if interested.
I sent you a PM
It’s amazing how quickly this thread dies out once the calendar turns to November and December. Tons of posts in October and then its crickets for 2 months. It’s like people don’t even try to hunt grouse once deer season opens
I don’t hunt during deer season for a couple reasons… the biggest being safety. I hunt golden retrievers and even though I have them in orange vests, I don’t trust Sergeant Jim Bob of the orange army to not shoot my dogs. A lot of guys are idiots and shoot at anything brown that moves. I only hunt public ground so I don’t even take the chance of putting my dogs at risk. The other reason is I love deer hunting and devote at least 2 weekends a year to it.
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