Some friends from Helena & Missoula met up in Southwestern Montana this last weekend to chase grouse. While we had ruffed, blues & sagies on the menu, the sage grouse took over the weekend. We made one or two walks for duskies, but ended up having far too much fun down lower in the valley looking for those big old bombers. Six of us showed up with 5 dogs. Setters, pointers and Labs. All of them, except for a very elderly setter, were under 3 years old and had at most 1 season on them. We weren't expecting much beyond a bunch of puppies trying to figure it all out and some nice, long walks. Luckily, we did find a covey on the way back to the cabin. In typical sage grouse fashion, the covey flushed right as we opened the last gate to get back to the homestead and a nice bottle of Blanton's.
12 miles of walking, only to have the damned birds get up right in front of the truck. We parked and hurriedly got our gear on. As the other guys were diddling around, I grabbed Greta and ran ahead a bit. Was it selfish? A bit. Greta hadn't have a bird yet, and I was determined to let her get a good feel for how it should work. Luckily, she flushed three, and we connected on 2 young-of-the-year grouse on a nice double. She still has a long way to go, and we're going to work on her searching and getting farther out than 10 yards over the next couple of weeks, but she's got the feel for how it's supposed to come together, and once she sleeps off long miles & lots of play with other young dogs, she'll be ready to rock-n-roll.
I love hunting sage grouse. The country the reside in is some of the west's most important habitat for elk, deer, pronghorn and a host of other species. I love that you have to walk for miles and miles and miles to find the birds, and I love that it's largely on public land that you can find these big, beautiful birds.
Up on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, looking down on the Big Hole Valley:
Greta at the end of the first day's walk, ready for more.
Artsy-fartsy shot:
Some sticks are for sharing:
Groot's first birds:
Dreaming of feathers:
12 miles of walking, only to have the damned birds get up right in front of the truck. We parked and hurriedly got our gear on. As the other guys were diddling around, I grabbed Greta and ran ahead a bit. Was it selfish? A bit. Greta hadn't have a bird yet, and I was determined to let her get a good feel for how it should work. Luckily, she flushed three, and we connected on 2 young-of-the-year grouse on a nice double. She still has a long way to go, and we're going to work on her searching and getting farther out than 10 yards over the next couple of weeks, but she's got the feel for how it's supposed to come together, and once she sleeps off long miles & lots of play with other young dogs, she'll be ready to rock-n-roll.
I love hunting sage grouse. The country the reside in is some of the west's most important habitat for elk, deer, pronghorn and a host of other species. I love that you have to walk for miles and miles and miles to find the birds, and I love that it's largely on public land that you can find these big, beautiful birds.
Up on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, looking down on the Big Hole Valley:
Greta at the end of the first day's walk, ready for more.
Artsy-fartsy shot:
Some sticks are for sharing:
Groot's first birds:
Dreaming of feathers:
