doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com From the Great White North...

what an interesting looking bird what are they?
the only thing that has those colours here in Australia would be birds of prey they look very much like our hawks and kestrels

They are Ruffed Grouse. Indigenous to North America, and, nowhere else. It is impossible to raise them in captivity, and they are perhaps the best tablefair of all the Grouse. The hunting is a bit intense, they live in dense woods and tend to hold tightly until you are on top of them, when they flush in a noisy and startling bass profundo.
I would be content to hunt them exclusively the rest of my days.
You are not the first to compare them to a small hawk or kestrel. They are strictly prey, not predatory.

Best,
Ted

We drove through snow in central ND, then picked it up again north of Winnipeg. 4" on ground in the Interlake when we got to our cabin. We hunted 6 days and saw the sun for about two hours one day. Roads sloppy. Birds were way down from last two years; Two-hunter total went from 44 to 24 to six this year, so the crash has arrived. Saw a single woodcock. Buddy had a bad encounter with wolves that I will write up later. In the meantime Jamestown had nearly a foot of wet snow with wind that knocked over many trees.Farmers are sitting with nearly all beans and corn unharvested.

Adventure in the Interlake.

On Sunday the 7th, the first afternoon trail for Barry was the Sawmill, an area burned in 1989 and then salvage-logged for jackpine. The forest is now nearly impenetrable, with doghair jackpine about 15 feet tall above a criscrossed mass of charred logs, branches, and timber slash. Visibility is at most 12 ft on either side of the 10-ft-wide trail. After about a half hour, he saw Bernie, his German Wirehair pup about 35 yds ahead looking back at him. Barry thought nothing was unusual when the dog ran toward him to check in. In an instant two wolves appeared on the trail, a black one about ten feet behind Bernie, chasing him, and a silver prancing on the left. Barry had to wait to get a shot at the black one without hitting Bernie. By this time they were 20 yds away. The huge black wolf saw Barry raise his gun and darted away to the right. The silver jumped left and Barry peppered its flank with a load of 8-shot just as it disappeared. This was the only wolf encounter we have had in 51 years of hunting the same general area. Our nearest neighbor lost both his farm dogs to wolves last year and his brother shot at a black one on his driveway the year before.

Halk, my very first hunting experiences were in the Interlake. And I have property at Delta. Where is your cabin?

No wolves here today, just dark, dank and cold. But, persistence still pays it would seem...

Woodcock are coming down as well.

I just arrived in the UP. Snow here. Going to hunt areas with some conifers tomorrow. It�s very, very wet here, and cold. I�m glad I brought winter boots and that I left the DT guns at home this trip. Going to hunt my old standby ....20 ga Browning superposed with its� single trigger. Clearly need my winter gloves.

For all the double-trigger-or-nothing purists here, pay heed...
JR

I shoot double triggers in any weather. The two coldest hunting trips I have been on were to Montana and North Dakota, both after late season roosters. We hunted in sub-zero conditions on both trips. Different strokes for different folks. Best of luck Buzz!