Grouse in the snow and cold.

[bowhunter9841]

Hey guys, I'm looking to get out and do some late season grouse hunting. What I'm curious of, is where should I be looking for the birds now that the snow has fallen. I usually hunt them in the early season from September on through until the end of deer season in November. The place I normally hunt was littered with them this year.

I know where and how to find them before the snow falls. Just not accustomed to hunting them in the winter months. Hoping someone might have some insight as to where I will best be suited to look. Thanks in advance. Merry Christmas to everyone.

[catnthehat]

Spruces and near sand piles or gravel roads, berry bushes, basically the me as before snow, the thing is, if yo find tracks follow them, the aren't normally too fat away!
Cat

[Bobdep]

I tend to find them early morning in a sunny spot next to a gravel road in mixed forest , they were flushing early for me , and just because you see a pair flush , don't think that's it, I missed them , sometimes there's another pair right there!


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[bowhunter9841]

Thanks guys, the way they were this year, I rarely saw singles. Most of the time there was doubles or triples. Even came across one group of 6 during bow season. Considering how many I saw this year, it's quite pitiful that I only harvested two. I missed a whole bunch during bow season. And others were passed on because I didn't want to waste more arrows. Or I only had my rifle.

I have now purchased some flu flu arrows with judo points, and just recently acquired an over under. Hoping to test it out on some unsuspecting birds. The property I hunt doesn't have much gravel on it, other than the road that goes by on the one side of it. There are many areas with blown down trees, and good hiding spots for ruffles. Some open meadows and pipelines running through it that had lots of activity this year as well.

I managed to make it out only once last year during the Christmas holidays, and I saw one bird. Took a long shot at it through some bush. It started doing the telltale flap on the ground like it had been hit. But as I approached, it took off flying, and I never tracked it down. Hoping to have better luck this year. Thanks again guys.

[Pioneer2]

[.257Weatherby]

Usuallly found them near willows when the ground had some snow on it.
They could get down under the willows and scratch out some veggies or hardy bugs .
If danger approached they had some cover to work with..at least that's what we experienced out on the Coast last season.
Mike, I do not see any waste. I see a bird that has been harvested legally and prepped ready for cooking, once the photo op has been dealt with.
Good job Pioneer2.
Rob

[Speckle55]

bowhunter9841 ... if you know your area then do a grid pattern by walking the property/area and find the tracks and track them down as others have said they will not be far

if you have trail/old roads etc then look along the edges as they like to feed where the sun and wind clear patches of ground making there foraging easier

i find that the south facing road/trails are better too find feeding birds and areas that are out of wind on the day i hunt .. if i can i will be looking under spruce/pine tree's at the bases as they will be hunkered in out of the weather

if you have lots of willows then they will sometimes be roosted on them in the morning before they fly to ground and will be eating buds

i have tracked down lots of grouse over the years and in very cold weather ... just be aware that they will sometimes be hunkered in snow hole/caves and will scare the **** out of you when they flush at 3 feet away

as all ways this is

Food for Thought

David

Originally Posted by bowhunter9841

Hey guys, I'm looking to get out and do some late season grouse hunting. What I'm curious of, is where should I be looking for the birds now that the snow has fallen. I usually hunt them in the early season from September on through until the end of deer season in November. The place I normally hunt was littered with them this year.

I know where and how to find them before the snow falls. Just not accustomed to hunting them in the winter months. Hoping someone might have some insight as to where I will best be suited to look. Thanks in advance. Merry Christmas to everyone.

[Bearbreath]

Just got back from some grousing totally frustrated lol! Same place in november....grouse everywhere. Saw one all day Oh well thats hunting.

[bowhunter9841]

Headed out for a little grouse hunt today. I'm happy to say that we saw quite a few birds. My brother in law ended up going home empty handed, but I managed to take home 3 birds. The new gun shoots where I pointed it! I missed one bird on the wing, the first one I got was on the ground about 15 yards into some thick brush. And the other two were just before last light. Both feeding on the buds up in the poplar trees. The place where I was hunting is crown land but it's smack in the middle of private farms.

Not too long after I got home, I received a call from an unknown caller id. I was in the shower at the time, so I couldn't answer. About 30 minutes ago the number called again, and this time I answered. I guess somebody called in my truck to fish and wildlife stating that they heard shots fired and they thought maybe we were hunting deer out there. He kindly asked me if I had been out in that area today, and if I was hunting, also what I was hunting for. I told him we were there, and that we were hunting grouse, and that I got 3 of them. He said that everything sounded good and let me go. It's the first time I've ever been called by fish and wildlife. And I've hunted that property for years now. It's good to see that they are on top of things.

All in all, it turned out to be a good day. Got some hard earned meat for my family to enjoy, and spent a great day out hunting with my brother in law. Three kills to chalk up on my new (to me) shotgun. It was beautiful weather, and the snow wasn't all that deep. For my last hunt of the year, it was very successful! I hope that the grouse numbers are high again next year. So fun to hunt, and extremely delicious!

Here are a few pics from today.

[Speckle55]

Grats

my Bro and I went 2 for 2 the other day too

one Ruffed Grouse were hunkered down under tree

one was just off ground foraging buds on a low bush

lots of snow out here in spots

tracks every where especially Snowshoe Rabbit

Grouse in the snow and cold is fun fun fun

Till Jan 15 2017 in some WMU's

Thanks for sharing

David

[bowhunter9841]

Yes it was a lot of fun, the weather helped out huge that day. 28th of December was beautiful. We had family over on the 30th for a turkey dinner and I made the three grouse I shot on the 28th into bacon wrapped skewers and bbq'd them for appy's. This is something that I tried earlier this year, and it is delicious. I'm not sure I'll ever cook grouse any other way again. So good!

[waterman73]

Sorry to disagree as I love hunting but will never hunt grouse past November again. Went out late last December (2015) and only saw 1 all day but with the huge amount of grouse around this fall I thought I'd give it a shot with my son 1 more time. Went out last Friday and put on a total of 485km and saw a grand total of 0 grouse. Exact same roads towards Cynthia 2 months ago would have turned up 40-50 grouse in a day. Wasn't a complete bust though as my son got to shoot his new Savage 243 for the first time. Did excellent!

[1stLand]

I've never seen them on the roads. I have been out probably 15 times.
Gotta Hoof it. Atleast thats been my experience in my area.

[bowhunter9841]

Originally Posted by waterman73

Sorry to disagree as I love hunting but will never hunt grouse past November again. Went out late last December (2015) and only saw 1 all day but with the huge amount of grouse around this fall I thought I'd give it a shot with my son 1 more time. Went out last Friday and put on a total of 485km and saw a grand total of 0 grouse. Exact same roads towards Cynthia 2 months ago would have turned up 40-50 grouse in a day. Wasn't a complete bust though as my son got to shoot his new Savage 243 for the first time. Did excellent!

I was on property that is foot access only. I very rarely hunt From my truck. I feel like I'm cheating when I do. Just a personal preference. Often when I hunt out west on the lease roads. I will find an area that looks like it might hold grouse, and I'll just park and go for a walk down the road, or a cut line. I walk very slow, and listen intently.

More often than not, the bird is going to screw up and give away it's presence. I've shot more birds in this manner, than I have even seen on the roads. Had good luck with a buddy of mine, west of Rocky Mountain house in 2015 driving the roads. But generally I like to hoof it. Besides, for me it's just a good excuse to get out and enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise. If I go skunked, well that's just the way it goes sometimes.

[M.C. Gusto]

I am wondering how much snow is there around Whitecourt right now?

[TBark]

6-8" of snow in Whitecourt - Fox Cr in the bush. Ditches, with the plows etc, 12".
Bird # 's are not the same in Dec-Jan as in Sept - Oct, from what I've seen anyways.
Would get 2-3 in early season out on a walk, 10-12 in a few days, none now.

TBark

[M.C. Gusto]

Tbark, thanks for the report. Hoping the dog can find them.

[Red Bullets]

Grouse in winter aren't coming to the lease roads the same as the fall time. Part of the attraction to lease roads besides getting gravel is grouse love the clover. The clover is covered and now the birds are on willow browse and winter berries. Look closer to areas with lots of high bush cranberries and rosehips. Both of these 'fruits' stay on the bush all winter. I love a handful of high bush cranberries on a winter walk.



Like Speckle55 mentioned... grouse nest in the snow. If it is cold and there is good snow grouse don't always roost in trees. They will build nests in the snow that you could walk right by. One time we drove down a road that wasn't plowed and unknowingly drove over two grouse in their snow nests. They didn't even flush. When we drove back we realized we had driven right over one of them and the second grouse flushed when we stopped to pick up the one killed in our tire track.