elkrchr
Well-known member
My seven-year old son had an in-service day at school yesterday and I have the week off, so we loaded up the truck and headed for the mountains outside of Portland, OR in search of grouse and huckleberries. The first few hours of the morning will filled with dust, dust and more dust as the forest conditions were extremely dry. Saw a few blacktails, but no grouse or huckleberries early on.
On the way home, we headed up to a huckleberry honey-hole and hit pay dirt with multiple bushes loaded with red huckleberries. Constant logging traffic meant more dust and after we collected our fair share of huckleberries, we were off to search one last road for grouse before heading home. As I came around a corner, I caught sight of a blue grouse slinking off into the thick ferns covering the down slope. I immediately parked, unloaded the dog, loaded the gun and headed into the ferns. My dog jumped the grouse about 15 yards down the slope and as it sailed through the towering Douglas fir forest a few pellets from a load of 7 1/2's caught up to it and it came crashing down with a thud. The dog made quick work of the steep retrieve and both my son and I were stoked.
Needless to say, this morning we cooked up a big batch of huckleberry pancakes and tonight I will glaze the grouse and roast it for dinner. Tomorrow I'm off to Idaho to scout for moose (my wife will hopefully have a tag next year) and locate a few new areas to hang stands for the November whitetail season.
On the way home, we headed up to a huckleberry honey-hole and hit pay dirt with multiple bushes loaded with red huckleberries. Constant logging traffic meant more dust and after we collected our fair share of huckleberries, we were off to search one last road for grouse before heading home. As I came around a corner, I caught sight of a blue grouse slinking off into the thick ferns covering the down slope. I immediately parked, unloaded the dog, loaded the gun and headed into the ferns. My dog jumped the grouse about 15 yards down the slope and as it sailed through the towering Douglas fir forest a few pellets from a load of 7 1/2's caught up to it and it came crashing down with a thud. The dog made quick work of the steep retrieve and both my son and I were stoked.
Needless to say, this morning we cooked up a big batch of huckleberry pancakes and tonight I will glaze the grouse and roast it for dinner. Tomorrow I'm off to Idaho to scout for moose (my wife will hopefully have a tag next year) and locate a few new areas to hang stands for the November whitetail season.
