We were up to the deer shack north of Nashwauk this past weekend. Every year all of the hunters and spouses’ (no kids) get together to clear trails, sure up stands, split fire wood and have a good time. Peggy and I went up ahead of everyone Thursday night so I could chase birds Friday while checking out some new areas.
I spent Friday doing more exploring than hunting. In the morning I hunted for about 2 hours and bagged 3 birds and missed another five or six. In all, I had at least 10 flushes in 2 hours. The rest of the day I bounced around checking different areas and putting one more bird in the bag. It was not a bad day with the exception of the heat. My truck was showing 78-80F and the dog was rolling in every mud puddle she could find.
A pattern did emerge on Friday with the birds seeming to be holding more towards the bottoms but not in the wet stuff. The young Aspen stands were all but void of birds. Once you found these areas the birds were thick as sparrows in Grouse terms.
Saturday and Sunday were spent working to prep for deer hunting, but I was able to slip away each morning and Saturday evening for a few hours. Again birds were thick. Saturday morning I was able to shoot 4 in two hours and flushed many more.
In all it was one of my best Grouse outings ever flushing birds every 20 minutes or so. I have never seen this many birds in the woods ever. I came home with my 10 birds and the dog had a great work out. Now I am torn between going back for more or pheasant hunting. What to do???
We pulled prob 75-100 and ended up bringing him to the vet since a few broke off and was hard to hold him down to get the rest… Porky’s don’t sit well with me!