Appalachian Grouse Hunting Areas/Tips?
03-07-2017, 04:54 PM
#13
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Maine
Posts: 12,564
I am sorry I was not here posting when you posted this younggun.. But keep your eyes and ears tuned to the alders and young aspen growths... Also where there is small thick cover near by as well as small streams.. I know that can cover a lot of area but if you want grouse you will need to be where they are.. If you have any beach trees in the fall you can locate some grouse in there as well. Later on during the season we see them up in the birch trees here budding.. Good Luck to you..
03-26-2017, 06:38 AM
#15
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 19
Some great advice from Oltimr and Doc there. As he indicates, killing grouse is the easier part...finding grouse is the harder part. I hunt for Blues (also called Dusky) out west and an experienced grouse hunter friend once told me that boots kill grouse, not guns.
You will find them where they are, and that takes time and miles. The good news is that the habitat they like does not move and ages out very slowly so they will probably be there next year too.
Ruffed grouse explode off the ground like a land mine and they fly through the trees erratically and fast. Great hunting. In my early years I made fun of a friend who wore a little counter device around his neck and he tallied each grouse that flew...I joked with him that it was so we knew exactly how many grouse we did not kill.
You will enjoy it. A dog would help but the tactics you spelled out will work (pause more than you think you need to). You will learn lot about the woods as you become a better hunter.
If you have learned to shoot skeet, I might suggest that you also find a nice dove shoot nearby in early September. You will get a lot of shooting, will probably take home some birds, and it will improve your shooting. Very different from grouse hunting which can become discouraging because of empty game bags at first. Best of luck!
You will find them where they are, and that takes time and miles. The good news is that the habitat they like does not move and ages out very slowly so they will probably be there next year too.
Ruffed grouse explode off the ground like a land mine and they fly through the trees erratically and fast. Great hunting. In my early years I made fun of a friend who wore a little counter device around his neck and he tallied each grouse that flew...I joked with him that it was so we knew exactly how many grouse we did not kill.
You will enjoy it. A dog would help but the tactics you spelled out will work (pause more than you think you need to). You will learn lot about the woods as you become a better hunter.
If you have learned to shoot skeet, I might suggest that you also find a nice dove shoot nearby in early September. You will get a lot of shooting, will probably take home some birds, and it will improve your shooting. Very different from grouse hunting which can become discouraging because of empty game bags at first. Best of luck!
Last edited by paveglass; 03-26-2017 at 06:41 AM.
04-26-2017, 04:36 PM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 4,264
Sorry about not replying; I took a hiatus from this forum for awhile. The semester started pretty busy, and I've only come back here in the past few days.
So my dad and I went to Havens WMA near Roanoke VA the day before the deer rifle opener (which is the primary reason we were in the area), hiked about 4-5 miles in the process. There was a great amount of brush on the forest floor (mainly mountain laurel/rhododendron) and, with the exception of the fact water sources were scarce and concentrated, habitat looked pretty good.
Much of the area was marked on the map as being an area that was burned awhile back by a forest fire, so I was initially really excited about the location. But it looked like that must have been 20-30 years ago, as it was full or relatively tall, albeit thin, trees---so that was a bit disappointing.
The biggest factor that worked against us, besides there not being abundant sources of water, was that the high was 75F that day. There was hardly any game movement, even when he took 15 minute breaks being stationary.
HOWEVER, it was a wonderful day in the woods, and one of the coolest experiences I've had happened. While my dad and I walked through the thick laurels and blueberries, we followed an astonishingly clear deer trail---not only was there a clear path, but the deer had literally chewed their way through the little twigs to make it clear. At one point we found a sizeable monolith and decided we wanted to take a break to eat some granola and drink some water. Suddenly, we heard a sound 70 yards in front of us and saw a button buck making its way toward us via the trail. He had no idea we were there, and got as close as 8 yards away from us. I could hear him chewing acorns, and it sounded loud---the only sound in the still, sunny forest. Because my dad and I remained almost motionless, the buck never spooked. He noticed something was unusual, and kept moving his head to and fro, staring at us, but after doing this for no less than 5 minutes, finally proceeded to calmly go past us. We waited until we could no longer hear the sound of his hooves rustling leaves before we moved.
The crazy thing was, at that point, my dad and I were sweating very heavily, but the slight breeze being in our favor was more than enough to keep him from scenting us.
As for January, I ended up not going in Tennessee as planned, due to a family vacation---I definitely want to, next season.
So my dad and I went to Havens WMA near Roanoke VA the day before the deer rifle opener (which is the primary reason we were in the area), hiked about 4-5 miles in the process. There was a great amount of brush on the forest floor (mainly mountain laurel/rhododendron) and, with the exception of the fact water sources were scarce and concentrated, habitat looked pretty good.
Much of the area was marked on the map as being an area that was burned awhile back by a forest fire, so I was initially really excited about the location. But it looked like that must have been 20-30 years ago, as it was full or relatively tall, albeit thin, trees---so that was a bit disappointing.
The biggest factor that worked against us, besides there not being abundant sources of water, was that the high was 75F that day. There was hardly any game movement, even when he took 15 minute breaks being stationary.
HOWEVER, it was a wonderful day in the woods, and one of the coolest experiences I've had happened. While my dad and I walked through the thick laurels and blueberries, we followed an astonishingly clear deer trail---not only was there a clear path, but the deer had literally chewed their way through the little twigs to make it clear. At one point we found a sizeable monolith and decided we wanted to take a break to eat some granola and drink some water. Suddenly, we heard a sound 70 yards in front of us and saw a button buck making its way toward us via the trail. He had no idea we were there, and got as close as 8 yards away from us. I could hear him chewing acorns, and it sounded loud---the only sound in the still, sunny forest. Because my dad and I remained almost motionless, the buck never spooked. He noticed something was unusual, and kept moving his head to and fro, staring at us, but after doing this for no less than 5 minutes, finally proceeded to calmly go past us. We waited until we could no longer hear the sound of his hooves rustling leaves before we moved.
The crazy thing was, at that point, my dad and I were sweating very heavily, but the slight breeze being in our favor was more than enough to keep him from scenting us.
As for January, I ended up not going in Tennessee as planned, due to a family vacation---I definitely want to, next season.
