Fortunately we missed Sandy here in the North Country. We got some wind and have a few trees down around the Home Cover but nothing serious. I hope the rest of you are safe and weathered the storm. We took Monday and Tuesday off and Wednesdays I teach so today was the first time I’ve been out since Sunday. Tommy took Tony and I to some new spots and we had a very good day. We ran five dogs and everyone had at least two good pieces of grouse work. On many of the finds we had multiple birds. We ended up with a total of 27 grouse and one woodcock moved. The woodcock was a big hen and we got into one spot where there was a lot of splash where a small group of flight birds had probably spent last night. I would imagine there are still birds to our North but this time of the season they don’t hang around for very long. Our major flight activity is past.
We had one really dumb grouse today. Most of the birds flushed well out of gun range and more than one circled up behind the dog before flushing. The dumb one was pointed by Trash in open hardwoods. When we went in front of her and nothing got up Tony tapped her on the head and she moved up about four steps and locked up again. Tony and I were both thinking woodcock when a grouse that had been hunkered down at the base of a tree exploded out and went right to left. I was behind it but still managed to knock a few feathers off. Before I caught up with the second barrel Tommy folded it. Trash is one of those birds who likes to mark the dead birds and was on it in a flash. However, she doesn’t quite have the retrieve part of things down yet and tried to sneak away with the bird.
More grouse hunting tomorrow and then Big Thudd will be back up for the weekend.