Grouse Hunting Sept 2016

  • Sharon
    Moderator
    SE Metro
    Posts: 5457
    #1641768

    Billy and I spent the weekend in the woods in northern St. Louis Co hoping to get some grouse. Unfortunalty the grouse had other ideas. We only jumped three and didn’t have a shot at them. We didn’t even see the last two; we just heard them flush in the distance. The thick brush didn’t help but we enjoyed the hikes in the woods nonetheless. It was cool at night and warmed up just enough during the day that we could hunt comfortably. I found a garder snake, a chubby toad, and a friendly Gray Jay fluttered by our campsite. I love Gray Jays. Some people call them Whiskey Jacks. They look like big Chicadees.

    Our two German Shorthaired Pointers, Fritz and Remi, had a blast. They ran so much that they slept all the way home! And that’s saying something for Fritz. He gets a bit restless in the truck. They both went to bed right after their baths and didn’t wake up ’til this morning.

    Although we didn’t get any grouse, it was a gorgeous weekend to spend in the MN wilderness!

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    Ralph Wiggum
    Maple Grove, MN
    Posts: 11764
    #1641812

    Great pics, Sharon! Looks like a nice couples retreat to me. waytogo

    tegg
    Hudson, Wi/Aitkin Co
    Posts: 1450
    #1641835

    Good to see a report and nice to hear you had a great time. I’m optimistic this season. Wasn’t hunting but flushed a covey of 6 moving a trail camera on opening weekend. Not sure I would have had a shot either. Usually much easier when a few leaves fall. We also saw a couple in the farm yard at the family property. A little cheating though as we have a 6-8 thorn apple trees so they commonly get visited.

    belletaine
    Nevis, MN
    Posts: 5116
    #1641847

    Great photos Sharon! I really liked the one of the trail, looked pretty inviting.

    marendt
    Lake City, MN
    Posts: 315
    #1641882

    Great pictures! Love German Shorthairs.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18631
    #1643725

    I took my dog out last Sunday and just noticed the dozen ticks on her head the last two days. They were so tiny I never felt them until they started to fill.

    Ralph Wiggum
    Maple Grove, MN
    Posts: 11764
    #1643771

    I took my dog out last Sunday and just noticed the dozen ticks on her head the last two days. They were so tiny I never felt them until they started to fill.

    Ish. Noted!

    Francis K
    Champlin, MN
    Posts: 828
    #1643774

    Same thing here. At first I thought she had a skin tag hanging from her face/muzzle. Nope, just a juicy tick.

    Sharon
    Moderator
    SE Metro
    Posts: 5457
    #1643957

    I’m an avid bug enthusiast, but man I HATE ticks! Found over a dozen on both my boys this weekend and one on Billy. Little tiny ones that are nearly impossible to feel. Yuck. I’m glad I have shorthairs!

    Bass_attack
    Posts: 292
    #1643963

    I was just out grouse hunting and have already pulled about 40 tiny ticks off of my dog.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18631
    #1644039

    Same thing yesterday. I looked for them this time and have pulled off about 15 or so. Very tiny. Finally got my first bird this weekend. Missed a few other chances. Dog pointed one for the first time. Then she chased when I flushed it and I couldnt take the easy shot. I forgot my gun this weekend so I had to use a single shot I keep up north. Boy was that humbling…

    Ralph Wiggum
    Maple Grove, MN
    Posts: 11764
    #1644041

    Are you guys treating your dogs with tick preventative? I was going to hold off on Ripley till spring since he is so young and won’t be hunting this fall, but all this tick talk is making me thinking about it. I’ve been looking him over as well as I can, but a 9-week old pup with sharp puppy teeth is tough to thoroughly inspect. )

    Sharon
    Moderator
    SE Metro
    Posts: 5457
    #1644044

    Yep, we use FrontLine Plus for both our boys and I’ve been happy with it. Do you have to wait until a puppy is a certain age before using tick preventative? Luckily Ripley is has light colored hair, though a bit shaggy it might be. )

    Francis K
    Champlin, MN
    Posts: 828
    #1644048

    I use front line as well. Defiantly not a silver bullet but does seem to keep ticks to a minimum.

    Ralph Wiggum
    Maple Grove, MN
    Posts: 11764
    #1644050

    I’ve used K9 Advantix in the past, and it’s been bulletproof, but the caveat is that it is highly toxic to cats, so if you have a cat in the household, it’s a no-no.
    I checked it out the other day, and the packaging says 7 weeks and up. Ticks should stand out more on his coat, but better safe than sorry.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18631
    #1644056

    I may have to try that Advantix next year. I just doused her with Frontline last Wed so she should be good but at what point does it actually work? I found several ticks already embedded yesterday.
    My poor girl has so many bumps on her head I call her lumpy.

    haleysgold
    SE MN
    Posts: 1467
    #1644096

    Has anyone tried a new product called BRAVECTO for ticks/fleas?

    You only need 1 pill every 3 months.

    It seems to work really well for my yellow lab. Not 1 tick all summer or yet this fall.

    roosterrouster
    Inactive
    The "IGH"...
    Posts: 2092
    #1644099

    Has anyone tried a new product called BRAVECTO for ticks/fleas?

    You only need 1 pill every 3 months.

    It seems to work really well for my yellow lab. Not 1 tick all summer or yet this fall.

    About $45/pill but I did try it and have yet to pull a single tick off my lab that was attached. I guess I am assuming they die as soon as the blood gets into their system. So far been very well worth it…RR

    haleysgold
    SE MN
    Posts: 1467
    #1644129

    But if I remember right, FrontLine and the others were all about $15/month so $45 for 3 months works out to the same amount.

    I normally find dead ticks in the dog bed but this year, using Bravecto, I have not even found one there.
    The vet said it has some repellant properties too !
    My wife got Lymes disease this year(it sucks and you don’t want it) so I’m thinking of asking the vet for a “larger size dose”. grin
    Well, maybe not…..

    TheFamousGrouse
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 11664
    #1644177

    My father was running around our property checking trail cams and he decided to check on our 2 known crabapple trees just to see how the crab apples were ripening.

    Well, they must be ripening just find because he set off the atom bomb of grouse flushes. He thought there had to be a dozen grouse in/around one tree. Probably the biggest single grouse flush he could ever recall seeing. Then he walked to the other tree and there were 3 more grouse sitting in it looking at him.

    So there are some grouse anyway. Now they’re all on the neighbor’s place, of course…

    Grouse

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18631
    #1644344

    Shoot them up. They will disappear anyways so you may as well enjoy some meals. I fried up the young one I shot Sunday last night for an appetizer. It was incredibly enjoyable for me my wife and dogs.

    tegg
    Hudson, Wi/Aitkin Co
    Posts: 1450
    #1644367

    Shoot them up. They will disappear anyways so you may as well enjoy some meals. I fried up the young one I shot Sunday last night for an appetizer. It was incredibly enjoyable for me my wife and dogs.

    My father was running around our property checking trail cams and he decided to check on our 2 known crabapple trees just to see how the crab apples were ripening.

    Well, they must be ripening just find because he set off the atom bomb of grouse flushes. He thought there had to be a dozen grouse in/around one tree. Probably the biggest single grouse flush he could ever recall seeing. Then he walked to the other tree and there were 3 more grouse sitting in it looking at him.

    So there are some grouse anyway. Now they’re all on the neighbor’s place, of course…

    Grouse

    They’ll keep visit apples. Turkeys too. Out of curiosity, was this an afternoon event? We have a group of crab apple trees at the family prop and it’s fairly common to see the grouse using them late afternoon/eve.

    Ralph Wiggum
    Maple Grove, MN
    Posts: 11764
    #1644393

    A quick Google search might scary u as well.

    That’s where all the best medical information comes from! roll

    If your dog had a bad reaction to it, that’s another matter completely than suggesting that every dog will have a similar reaction. Plenty of bad reactions to Bravecto can be found online, as well.

    tegg
    Hudson, Wi/Aitkin Co
    Posts: 1450
    #1644419

    a friendly Gray Jay fluttered by our campsite. I love Gray Jays. Some people call them Whiskey Jacks. They look like big Chicadees.

    I remember a late Sept BWCA trips years ago. We were camped on a large island on the west end of Brule lake. There were several critters about the camp site including Gray Jays. We thought we’d break off a small piece of a Wasa cracker to see how close the Jays would fly in. Instead of going for the piece we broke off, a jay flew in and grabbed the entire Wasa cracker (basically the equivalent of about 10-12 Saltine crackers). The Jay got about half way off the island before dropping the Wasa into the drink.

    Sharon
    Moderator
    SE Metro
    Posts: 5457
    #1644563

    Well, they must be ripening just find because he set off the atom bomb of grouse flushes. He thought there had to be a dozen grouse in/around one tree. Probably the biggest single grouse flush he could ever recall seeing. Then he walked to the other tree and there were 3 more grouse sitting in it looking at him.

    That would be AWESOME to jump that many at once! We did a little more grouse hunting last weekend and didn’t get anything. My GSPs range a little far for grouse hunting, but since we pheasant hunt so much more than we grouse hunt, we let them stay at a good range for pheasants.

    …a jay flew in and grabbed the entire Wasa cracker (basically the equivalent of about 10-12 Saltine crackers). The Jay got about half way off the island before dropping the Wasa into the drink.

    I know what those crackers are, must’ve been a hungry bird! Too bad he dropped it LOL! I’d love to get more pictures of them, but I haven’t gotten a good one in a while.

    Nice Fella
    Posts: 457
    #1646677

    I just learned this weekend that many dogs do not like woodcock, apparently they smell bad to them. Case in point, my young lab twice walked OVER a downed bird, and then SAT on it. I guess that was her way of telling me that I shouldn’t bother shooting any more of them because she won’t retrieve them. My hunting com padre and I had a pretty good chuckle over that one. She eventually nudged it with her muzzle, but would not put it in her mouth. Anybody else ever experience this?
    She had no problem whatsoever with grouse, retrieving them with great enthusiasm.
    And yes, ticks, lots of ’em.

    mwal
    Rosemount,MN
    Posts: 1050
    #1646682

    yes some dogs hate timber doodle. I force broke my dogs and they always retrieved them with gusto. My last Brittany and Drahthar seemed to love them

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