I'm heading out for a grouse hunt this weekend in a place in CO inhabited (according to CWP) by sharptail, sage, and blue grouse. I'm not an experienced grouse hunter. How real is the risk of mistaking a sage grouse for a blue or sharpie in flight?
Distinguishing Between Grouse Species
- Thread starter jtm307
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JWP58
Banned
I bumped some columbian sharpies in WY while hunting blues, they are very easy to tell the difference upon flushing (which is good because you can't hunt them here). Sage grouse are so big you could only mistake them for a turkey or something; however they look nothing like turks coloration wise.
I would look at a few pictures of all three (including in flight) and you should be good. Also if I recall correctly the mountain sharptail make the same noise while flushing their prairie cousins do.
I would look at a few pictures of all three (including in flight) and you should be good. Also if I recall correctly the mountain sharptail make the same noise while flushing their prairie cousins do.
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Schaaf
Well-known member
If you think to yourself, "that's the biggest grouse I've ever seen and looks about the size of a young turkey" it's probably a sage grouse.
Arcola
Well-known member
As mentioned above, sage grouse are huge. At least pheasant sized. Blues and Sharps are similarly sized but Blues are pretty dark in color. Sharp-tails are light in color with speckled breast feathers and white feathers down their legs and feet. (Think female pheasant with leggings on)
Hunting Wife
Well-known member
Sage grouse always look really big, really dark, and really slow to me when they flush. That big, spiky tail always stands out to me too. B-52 taking off was a perfect description. They love big, wide open spaces.
Sharpies will look small and light colored - they show a lot of white, especially on their belly. A lot of times they make a "chuckle" when they flush. We find them in sage grouse country, though they use a much wider variety of habitats than sage grouse - shrubby patches, trees, ag fields, etc.
Blues will look dark, but I think of them as being in shrubs/timber rather than in places you'd find sage grouse.
Sharpies will look small and light colored - they show a lot of white, especially on their belly. A lot of times they make a "chuckle" when they flush. We find them in sage grouse country, though they use a much wider variety of habitats than sage grouse - shrubby patches, trees, ag fields, etc.
Blues will look dark, but I think of them as being in shrubs/timber rather than in places you'd find sage grouse.
That was literally the thought I had when I drove up to a group of them at a watering hole while antelope hunting 10 days ago. I guess I'm more concerned about mistaking a young sage hen for a mature blue grouse, having not laid eyes on a blue grouse in over a decade. Where I'm going, their range intersects.
https://autodo.info/pages/s/sharp-tailed-grouse-flying/
Great pics of the sharpies here. Just google greater sage grouse to see them. Pretty easy to tell. Blues will be in the forested areas.
Young sage grouse taste great if marinated. They are huge birds and fly slow as stated above.
Are all the seasons open, if so identify each bird after it is harvested.
You should know how to identify your game before going afield. When in doubt don't pull the trigger.
Great pics of the sharpies here. Just google greater sage grouse to see them. Pretty easy to tell. Blues will be in the forested areas.
Young sage grouse taste great if marinated. They are huge birds and fly slow as stated above.
Are all the seasons open, if so identify each bird after it is harvested.
You should know how to identify your game before going afield. When in doubt don't pull the trigger.
No. In CO, sage season starts September 9.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcgdKspza1w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIPUs47Ng7s
you can probably find better vids, but this might help a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIPUs47Ng7s
you can probably find better vids, but this might help a bit.
Coyotes-R-Us
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You'll have a harder time telling a hen, very young Pheasant from a sharp-tail.
Sharps have a whit "V" on there tale when they fly and no long tail.
Location is the bigger give a way .:hump:
Sharps have a whit "V" on there tale when they fly and no long tail.
Location is the bigger give a way .:hump:
FAIR CHASE
Well-known member
Those blues and duskies always get me.
They really only get confused in your mind. In the flesh, they're pretty easy to discern.
And Miller - sage grouse is delicious.
Wow. That last bit is something we agree on. Floured and pan fried for me please.
So many dishes, and even just fried w/ a red wine reduction sauce is pretty good.
Buddy once made a wasabi-ginger cream sauce for a young hen and it was de-lish-us. Need to get that recipe. Maybe we need a HT Sage-Grouse cook book?
Before the cookbook, a HT Sage-Grouse hunt would have to happen!
406LIFE
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In SW MT the sage grouse will flush early. The mountain grouse will just sit there and strut waiting for me to sight my bow on them. Got a few last weekend. Gonna get more this weekend.
