Things you have notice when hunting Ruffed Grouse?

[uncle buck]

Prior to becoming a predator hunter I was a dedicated grouse hunter. Read everything possible I could on the biology of the ruffed grouse and how to hunt them....
Things that I have learned that helped me to bag grouse follows:

I use a short barreled gun.. One that I can twist and turn real fast in the heavy brush to snap shoot or wing shoot... My favorite is the Savage Fox B, 20 gauge with 3 inch tubes, now this is important too....Choke Inproved Cylinder and Modified...Now if you have a short side by side with srew in chokes order a cylinder tube too from Colonial and or Carlston...You can make one of your barrels cylinder and the other modifed.... Outstanding for grouse, rabbits, wood c o c k....Upland game so to speak.



When a Ruffed Grouse takes off...It will take three steps before it goes air borne.. So when it flushes. remember this....1 . 2. 3 and then lift off....... You could possibly nail it right before take off then if you know this and it takes off just to your right and or left side...


Hunt with the wind to your back....Game Birds always fly into the wind...So when the grouse takes off and the wind is at your back.....It's going to fly toward you not away from you... Or it may hold tight until you pass it. Still again that valuable time that you need to shoot a bird coming toward you instead of away from you... By the way Ringneck do this too!!!!!!!!!

You can flush a grouse a 2nd time since their flight is in the shape of the letter L...Watch next time you flush one...It will go straight out and then ver to the left or the right, Hence that is the bottom of the L .....So walk straight ahead and then move to the left and or right and you will flush it again.....


Hen Grouse when they take off will fly away from you a bush high levels.... C O C K Grouse take off like a rocket and go straight up into the air at an angle.  But the yget real high  So if you flush a grouse and it takes off a brush level or just above your eyes it probably a HEN... If it takes off like a rock oot of *^&% it probaby a C O C K.

On windy days don't stay home...head to your grouse hunting places but find the stands of pines.... Now hunt them like a SWAT Team....I like to hunt like this myself for obvious reasons:  Enter the stands of pines...Aim the shotgun up into the tree like a SWAT team entering a building or going through a door...The grouse, when it's windy will not be on the ground...They will be about 10 feet up in the pine trees.  They will flush from the pines at this level...Outstanding time to use the cylinder or Improved Cylinder or Skeet barrel and or choke tube....

When hunting in snow...watch where you see the GOSHAWKS  in the stands of pines... Goshawk  AKA another name for Grouse Hawk... If the Goshawks are there so are the grouse..Get ready!!!!!!!!

Hunt the Southern Exposure in cold weather for all small game animals...That is the warm side of the mountain.. Does not take much to understand why the grouse will be on the warm side of the mountain in December and Jan.....



What can you add to these to help our Ruffed Grouse Hunters. 

[foxpro51]

A grouse hunter. My kind of guy. Remember Pa. Grouse Assn now Ruffed Grouse Society? My grouse gun is a Franchi 20 ga. semi.

[foxpro51]

If there is lead in the air there is hope.

[uncle buck]

I am still a ruffed grouse contributor for flush rates..  By the way they (PGC) are looking for other hunters to report all of their flushes and kills at the end of the season... Each year around this time you will get a news letter from the PGC that gives you all of the flush rates for the entire state...Also what they think the season is going to be like for grouse and wood c o c k...


The biologist name is :  Ian Gregg, his e-mail address is igregg@state.pa.us

[muttbuster]

That was some very helpful info Uncle Buck, I will definitely use that advise in the field, if I ever get into the field. Too much business travel. I wish I could retire but my mortgage payment Say's I can't.

[scott]

Lots of grouse around the house this year, in the summer i saw a couple of different broods.   At the cabin on Sunday we flushed 4 grouse on the ride down to the pond.  maybe 300 yards. 

the one thing i have learned about grouse hunting.   a grouse can put a tree between you and him in an open field.  lol

[archerobx]

been twice. growing up at the beach never learned to hunt grouse.pheasant. woodcock. only seen 2 live wood cock
last weekend had 11 grouse flushes without dogs. only grouse i had a clear shot at. waited for me to slid down a creek bank and has my tail in the creek before flying into the wide open. carried 18 shells so i woukdnt run out. i still have all 18

[uncle buck]

Once the snow comes you can track them in the snow...Always be at ready as you walk and follow the tracks... Most times the grouse tracks are fresh and they take off shortly there after...In deep snow as you follow the tracks watch for all the powder to explode in your face as you flush a grouse that has barrowed below the snow.....

Does not take much to down a grouse... One or two pellets....If wounded watch for the grouse eye to give it away... That is why using 8 or  7 1/2 shot ain't all half bad.....
Get to learn different bush and trees....Witch Hazel....Wow they love that stuff...Also Dogwood Berries,  Hawthorn...AKA Crab Apple, and of course they are always in the wild grape vines too....
I once shot a grouse and when I checked it's crop...It was filled with about 40 crab apples...One has to wonder how the small grouse beak can open and  swallow the larger crab apples about the size of a quarter??
I flushed one in York county on Tuesday when I was going from Point A to Point B while hunting deer with the black powder gun....

[Hern]

one thing I notice is when I'm waking bending over to pass thur thick brush...the Grouse flushes.