Should have had my limit but I missed a very makable shot
Wow, nice! I ended up seeing 15 but only shot at two and missed. I should have shot more, I always think they are going to get clearer if I wait and they never do.
Golden with Grouse! Sweet!!!!
Wow it got warm fast this morning. Made it 3 miles before shutting it down. Dog was getting hot and she was sore from yesterday. Saw 5. Unfortunately/fortunately all at once. Got 1 so now my wife and I have 2 for a meal! Looking forward to a cool down.
Coupla nice brownies suzuki.
Way too hot to hunt today.
One thing I noticed, at least in my area, is the drought has accelerated the leaves dropping. I can’t remember an opener where there was this much foliage already down.
I was up North this past weekend and did some scouting on public land and was amaze by how many Grouse I saw. I don’t hunt them but it was cool to see.
Should have had my limit but I missed a very makable shot
Hey duluth1an- What brand/model dog vest is that? Thanks!
Great pic of your pup and his(?) birds!
Hey duluth1an- What brand/model dog vest is that? Thanks!
Great pic of your pup and his(?) birds!
It is made by browning (link below). You can find a few different websites that sell them online. My dog is about 55-60 lbs and I got a large and it fits her well. I love having the blaze orange visibility for when she is deep in the brush and a bird flushes, I feel a lot more confident in shooting knowing exactly where she is. Another plus (besides the obvious underside protection from sticks, cuts, and burrs) is she comes home a lot cleaner after a day of hunting than without one.
How’s everyone’s season going? I’ve been out 5 times so far and have put 21 miles on my boots and flushed 26. My flushes per mile walked are down a little this year but I have been connecting on a higher percentage of birds than most years. I managed to knock one down last night with my new citori on my first time into the woods with it which was pretty awesome.
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Im struggling to find birds in the areas I hunt and I have no plans to hit northern Minnesota this year. Ill just keep plugging away in Wisconsin.
Well we got out and hunted Thursday Friday and Saturday last weekend. Only one grouse to show for it but it was my first – and first upland bird of any kind actually.
We saw about 10 birds in 3 hours the first day – but spent quite a bit of time chasing the pointer who was new and overly excited to be in the woods. This would end up being true for most of our hunting. Second day we had rain and only hunted for a couple of hours and then Saturday we left the pup at home and that is the day I actually got the bird. We did have an old 3 legged Vishla with us that day but he was more on a walk in the woods than hunting.
I will say the 1 year old pointer did really well when he would stay close enough to hunt with but when he took off we kind of quit due to worry that he would just run off through the state forest. Overall it was a fun hunt and a new experience for me!
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Overall it was a fun hunt and a new experience for me!
welcome to the addiction! nice looking bird!
How’s everyone’s season going? I’ve been out 5 times so far and have put 21 miles on my boots and flushed 26.
I’m really impressed with how many I’m seeing. I’ve only got two so far but we’ve flushed a lot. I think I’ve only done one walk where I didn’t see at least one. This week is kind of hot, and I have the whole week, so I’ve just been going for about an hour a day to keep the dogs tired.
Have also seen 4 so far this week taunting me, here’s a picture of one. So far I’ve stuck to my property being a preserve but if they keep pushing it… 
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Flushed 10 birds today after killing our morning ducks.
Out of 10 we only dropped 1. Got incredibly lost and off track in New woods, chasing a bird that never re showed its self. Ended up knocking 1 down of course by the truck once we re found our way out. Went through the thick stuff and seen quite a few. Hunted 2 hours before I almost sweat to death. Muggy after the rain
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
A good frost will kill those ticks (and other bugs) off. I don’t see that in the near future though.A frost will not kill the ticks. They can be bad after a frost sometimes, you have to watch.
X 2 on the frost NOT killing them off.
I asked one of my local vets years ago what the life cycle is for them damn things, and here’s the down and dirty:
Fall is the nymphal stage after hatching from the eggs laid in late spring. These eggs need a frost in the fall to hatch also. After that they need to find a host to get blood before a winter hibernation.
Spring is the adult that needs the 2nd infusion of blood before egg-laying.
In the fall two things keep them from being out… 3 – 4 inches of snow or the same depth of frost in the ground.
In the spring after laying eggs, they die. After that most if not all ticks seen are wood ticks, which now still carry illnesses we don’t want to be associated with.
Mark
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Brad Dimond wrote:</div>
I’m on the other end of the dog age spectrum. My Springer was 10 in April, probably this year and next year as a hunter. Time to figure out the next dog.My 10 year old pointer will be my sole companion on Grouse and Pheasant opener this year. Not letting my best player sit out the first games of the season!!!!! She’s earned first chair. By the time she cant hunt the other one should be up to speed. And on and on it goes….Though this may be my last round of overlapping 2 dogs. It inhibits my wife and I a bit too much not to mention doubling the dog expenses.
suzuki:
We reached this stage last year after my 4th lab met our maker. Can’t wait to see all four at the Rainbow Bridge!!!
No dog for us now as all female black lab pups are minimum for rescue dogs of $300-500 and any litter puppy is commanding a minimum of $800 up to 1300 for a reasonable price. We won’t even discuss the best lab prices.
So I live vicariously through all of you, even I have them drumming in my back yard in the late afternoon every day now. Leaves are on their way down too!!!
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Well we got out and hunted Thursday Friday and Saturday last weekend. Only one grouse to show for it but it was my first – and first upland bird of any kind actually.
We saw about 10 birds in 3 hours the first day – but spent quite a bit of time chasing the pointer who was new and overly excited to be in the woods. This would end up being true for most of our hunting. Second day we had rain and only hunted for a couple of hours and then Saturday we left the pup at home and that is the day I actually got the bird. We did have an old 3 legged Vishla with us that day but he was more on a walk in the woods than hunting.
I will say the 1 year old pointer did really well when he would stay close enough to hunt with but when he took off we kind of quit due to worry that he would just run off through the state forest. Overall it was a fun hunt and a new experience for me!
tight_lines:
I try not to be an ass when I say things like this, but feel this warning is warranted for those who are running pointers in the grouse woods where wolves are prevalent. Please accept this as an effort to keep mostly your dog safe.
Keep your dog close while starting it in the woods. May you never have any problems if it decides to range too far and get him/her back to you as fast as possible.
Living here in Minocqua, I know of hound hunters, including houndsmen with beagles for rabbits who’ve lost their dogs when they weren’t really that far away… and it happens fast.
Again, have a bell on it, talk frequently, do things to let the wolves know you’re close to your dog will hopefully help the situation. I only say this as I know how many wolves we have in our area and I also know there are plenty in N. MN.
After that, good luck, have a great time in the woods, I hope you get a solid 10 – 15 years with your dog chasing upland game birds.
Mark
Good info Mark. We have them in NW Wis and its always on my mind when hunting my dogs. Especially when I come across fresh tracks.
This is why I am having a hard time staying motivated to chase Grouse. The fishing has never been better on my lake. This fall bite is epic for my body of water. I’m catching huge fish in multiple species.
Up to 9″ gills and 12″ perch. Those in pic from yesterday. Huge large and small mouth. The funny part is I never uncovered my pontoon. All from my dock and neighbors dock! It will end soon enough then back to the woods.
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I always carry 2 slugs in my upland vest, just incase I run into problems with a wolf and my dog. I hope I don’t ever have to use one, and if a wolf ever attacked my dog I wouldn’t shoot if there was any chance I might inadvertently hit my dog. But I’d rather have a couple slugs and not need them than not have them and wish I did. Especially if a wolf was rabid, I don’t know if bird shot would be enough to diffuse the situation.
Duluth1an- thanks for the info on the vest. I have gone through so many that either don’t fit well or are just plain garbage. This cabelas one(I have two of them) has held up the best and worked the best for my dog. She is a ~50 lb lab. Here is the one I have used for grouse hunting the last couple years. Think it’s time to throw it away? Lol
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We went out this last weekend, at our place near st croix state forest. It was the first time I have gone this early, and will probably be the last. Between the ticks, the warm temps, and the still pretty low visibility it just wasn’t worth it. Did see some nice colors and a bunch of birds though, so that was nice.
I picked 100-150 deer ticks(from nymphs to adults) off of my dog Saturday evening. Maybe 6-10 on myself. Just unreal and quite disturbing. It was also so muggy after the rain like bearcat mentioned. I was sweating my ass off in a t-shirt and my dog was getting gassed after only a few hours.
Overall we put up maybe 12 grouse and 25 woodcock, of which I was able to hit 3. 2 grouse(one from a tree) and one woodcock. Felt bad for letting my dog down! Oh well. She did great work and retrieved well.
Decided to just pack it in when I woke up Sunday instead of hunting like I normally do. Here are some pics.
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Nice job labdaddy. This warm weather continues. Doubt I will bird hunt this weekend. I did get my pup out to the game farm this morning. It was really fun watching the switches flipping on. She found 5 of 6 chukar in a big field and retrieved them all. I was super happy with her performance. Ok full disclosure. She caught two birds. I guess she knows about the ammo shortage and is doing her part!? 
Nice job labdaddy. This warm weather continues. Doubt I will bird hunt this weekend. I did get my pup out to the game farm this morning. It was really fun watching the switches flipping on. She found 5 of 6 chukar in a big field and retrieved them all. I was super happy with her performance. Ok full disclosure. She caught two birds. I guess she knows about the ammo shortage and is doing her part!?
Ha. I like that idea. Smart helpful dog you’ve got!
I actually kind of want to see my dog catch a wild bird before it gets airborne. As long as it’s not a hen pheasant… 
Mine caught one of them airborne after chasing it 50+ yards. I was never able to shoot. Not my proudest moment but the meat is undamaged!
Labdaddy that’s where we were to. The deer ticks were terrible. I was right in the same area as you. I gave up after I was soaked with sweat.
Labdaddy that’s where we were to. The deer ticks were terrible. I was right in the same area as you. I gave up after I was soaked with sweat.
Yeah man it’s crazy. Plus I just learned that supposedly the CDC has declared the st croix river valley to be an epidemic of Lyme disease… not to mention all the other horrible tick-borne illnesses.
We passed on grouse this weekend. Mid-60s during the day, thunderstorms overnight in St. Louis County 
– WTH?
Next weekend looks better, Friday forecast is 53 for a high but windy. Will give it a try. Hopefully the ticks are tailing off. Bravecto works well for our dogs but it’s still a pain to tick check yourself repeatedly.
Try treating your clothes with permethrin. It makes a huge difference.
Try treating your clothes with permethrin. It makes a huge difference.
x2 it works
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