I’ve been out the last two mornings blue grouse hunting.
I hunt blues by being on the ridge at dawn and hunting the sage brush ridge tops. After a couple hours, the temp gets too hot to run dogs and the birds go back into the trees to slumber.
The birds are usually feeding on currants and grasshoppers. Getting into patches of currants with berries usually results in a few birds or a lot if you find a family group.
Blue grouse hunting is a good way to scout for elk and deer too. I bumped a 170” mule deer yesterday and found the summer home of bull elk today. I’ll be back to hunt both.
I’ve hunted these ridges enough years that it’s an old memory lane remembering points at different spots from long dead dogs. I realized my pup Dot is my 7th bird dog to hunt these ridges.
This year is an average bird number year. Work hard for a few opportunities. Good years I’ll kill a limit on each ridge.
Dot’s six months old and full of herself. I’m happy to see she’s a natural bird dog. She’s out searching, naturally recalls to the whistle and checks in with me. I shotgun broke her the last two days. She bumped two birds today which I thought was great. She’ll figure it out.
This is my first bird of the 2025-2026 season. I’m excited about the opportunities this year. I expect Dot to be a bird hunting machine by the time we end in February 2026.
I hunt blues by being on the ridge at dawn and hunting the sage brush ridge tops. After a couple hours, the temp gets too hot to run dogs and the birds go back into the trees to slumber.
The birds are usually feeding on currants and grasshoppers. Getting into patches of currants with berries usually results in a few birds or a lot if you find a family group.
Blue grouse hunting is a good way to scout for elk and deer too. I bumped a 170” mule deer yesterday and found the summer home of bull elk today. I’ll be back to hunt both.
I’ve hunted these ridges enough years that it’s an old memory lane remembering points at different spots from long dead dogs. I realized my pup Dot is my 7th bird dog to hunt these ridges.
This year is an average bird number year. Work hard for a few opportunities. Good years I’ll kill a limit on each ridge.
Dot’s six months old and full of herself. I’m happy to see she’s a natural bird dog. She’s out searching, naturally recalls to the whistle and checks in with me. I shotgun broke her the last two days. She bumped two birds today which I thought was great. She’ll figure it out.
This is my first bird of the 2025-2026 season. I’m excited about the opportunities this year. I expect Dot to be a bird hunting machine by the time we end in February 2026.
