Finding sage grouse

[PAGOAT]

I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on finding sage grouse without a dog ? We'll be west of Casper the last week of Sept in antelope 73. I've hunted antelope there before but never saw any birds. Should I be hunting the small drainages that cut through the sage flats and around the stock ponds for water? Or is there any where else I should look that hold them more than other spots. We'll have 5 to 7 days to hunt around. My buck tag shouldn't take that long to fill, then we're hunting cottontails and hopefully a grouse.

 

[Foxtrot1]

Honestly, their range is so big it's like hunting a needle in a haystack without a dog. Drainages you ve seen them in are good. I usually leave camp with a shotgun and rifle in the truck. If I run into birds while looking for an antelope, I stop and bird hunt awhile.

Good luck

 

[brockel]

Sage flats next to ponds with alfalfa fields nearby.

 

[wytex]

Found many without a dog, usually close to a water source or going to or from one. Have jumped them out in sage flats as well.
Biologist up there may have some spots for you. I know some down where we antelope hunt, south of where you'll be.