Ruffed Grouse alone - No dog

[farm hunter]

I' ve huntied grouse for 20+ years - occasionally with a flushing lab - but mostly alone. My favorite type of hunting for them is late season - when they Snow Roost - (follow the tracks to a hole in a snowbank - and kick it a few times)

I have a few tricks I' ve developed hunting alone for these birds - I wonder if others have as well - and would like to share your tactics.
At best its very difficult hunting - and harder shooting.

Thanks

[Split-Hoof]

Bird (grouse) season starts tomorrow up here in Maine! I' m getting pretty anxious to get out there and try my luck.

Up where I hunt in northern Maine, grouse hunting is a different game than it is in most places. A dog is not at all necessary, and in most cases if you want the bird to fly you' d better carry a pocket full of rocks with you. I have noticed though, that in years when the popualtion is relatively low, they tend to be a bit more flighty than normal.

I like to drive old logging roads in the mornings and evenings. The best bird roads are ones lined with alders and grass, and have some clover growing in the middle/along the edges. During mid-day I like to walk more inaccessible roads or trails. The best spots have a stream or other water source nearby, and have abundant alder growth as well as clover.

Mornings are a good time to spot them anywhere where the sun hits, especially after a heavy frost. They are often found sitting in a sunny spot on a road or on the banks alongside the road. Evenings they also come to the roads to fill their crops before roosting.

My ears have become good at distinguishing the sound of a bird running through the leaves. Many times I will be walking or driving along, and hear one run. I stop, go to the spot where I heard the sound, and most often there will be a bird there. It takes a lot of time in the woods for your ears to become able to tell between a running bird or a squirrel or other critter. After learning this technique, I have shot many birds that otherwise would have escaped my attention.

[SwampBuck]

found sitting in a sunny spot on a road or on the banks alongside the road. Evenings they also come to the roads to fill their crops before roosting.

My ears have become good at distinguishing the sound of a bird running through the leaves. Many times I will be walking or driving along, and hear one run. I stop, go to the spot where I heard the sound, and most often

I ride logging roads too. One trick I would like to share is dont waste your time in unproductive areas. If riding logging roads, dont creep around all day, once you hit a place that you dont score in, speed up and get out of there. Good bird areas are worth parking and walking. People who go 5mph all day everywhere only hurt themselves.

BTW, Split Hoof covered it pretty good.

[HidinFromFeds]

I usually walk along hedgerows, and in old apple orchards. There is a spruce stand they like to roost in when it gets nasty out. Sometimes I get them sitting up in Hemlocks too.

SCARY when they fly up out of the snow! I' ve never hunted them with dogs, I prefer to just walk along slowly and hope I see them before they see me.

[Tom A]

You New England guys are killing me!!
I was introduced to Grouse hunting almost 10 years ago by an old girlfriend' s father and have become addicted. Unfortunately, I an in the wrong state and have been hankering to move the family up to Maine. Better quality of life, better birds. The two seem to make sense as prime reasons to me - trouble is to convince the wife.
I even have a DeLorne atlas of Maine and love just looking through the maps. . . .man, am I a glutton for punishment or what?

The MD population is very low I think. I used to be able to flush several birds in a morning in the Western part of the state, but for the past two years I have not flushe ONE bird! I am pretty worried about the population here.

Best of luck up there in NH, NY, PA, and yes, Maine.

T[:' (]