Vic- Sounds like it was perhaps one of those 'best ever' hunts! Outstanding.

That sounds great Vic!

That's awesome Vic, way to get after it!

Vic, I do applaud you for leaving a few out of each covey! It is hard to do but as alot of us realize it is not about how many and how fast we can get them, but the fun and enjoyment of being out there with a great dog and good friend.

And here's a pic of 3 grouse, me, Raven and Hunter.

Here's a pic from yesterday's hunt.


This one was a lot tougher, tracked mileage walking on GPS.
7.45 miles.

1st jaunt was 4.5 with 1200 feet vertical (down then up).
Didn't see a one.

2nd jaunt was the remainder plus 1000 foot vertical (up then down).
But bagged these three birds.
Buddy and I double tapped one of these, but I put it in pic.



Vic

I'm "Blue" with envy Vic

It's great to see you and the dogs are reaping the rewards of hard work. Great pics thanks for sharing, that's a nice looking SXS you've got there!

Vic

Western Colorado? --------- Or where?


.

Doc, I shot these near Kremmling area (see map of CO).

I wouldn't say western CO, but it is west of the divide.
Blue grouse are everywhere in CO, trick is to find them.

Blue grouse need water, bugs/berries, and shade.

There's a lot of that in the CO mountains, so they are everywhere.

Gully's that offer that up do a good job because it concentrates grouse families in those areas (hence they can be found easier). They don't venture far into the semi-arid Sage territory. Still not easy though.

Last pic is a good example of terrain needed.

The areas North of I70 and West of the divide offer up that opportunity.
Look at a Gazette of CO and identify green areas surrounded by brown, hunt the edges.

Or, come into town and give me a call!

I wouldn't ever post exactly where I found these birds (every year they come back if you don't shoot them out) but I gladly take newbies to Blue grouse hunting with me if they promise not to give up my secret spots!

We are also coming up to the prettiest time of year up here. The aspen are changing within the next few weeks. Nothing like walking on a a carpet of yellow/orange leaves watching good dog work, smelling the fresh air, scanning the Aspen and snow covered peaks, and basically enjoying life.

Vic

Vic
That's very cool.
Here in NE WA, we have Ruffs, Blues and a few Franklins. (We've done well so far -- only Ruffs so far, but the Blues will come later)
Good luck on your future hunts.

Gosh Darn now I wish I stayed that extra day in Co Vic!

Well I did invite you along Steve.
Maybe next year.

Vic

I sent in the first post to a a local Colorado Newspaper (Denver Post).  Charlie Meyers published some of the excerpts.
Made his blog. Got some promotion for RMPLC.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/category/charlie-meyers/




Vic

Doc, got any pics of your hunts this year?  Love to see em. 

And I hear you on Chukar.  Did that once.  Tracked em down only to see a couple hop over the edge of a cliff (after hours of walking up hill, almost rock climbing) before I can get a shot off.  Always worried about my dog running off a cliff.  Had to heel him a lot.  I mean we are talking about walking on edges that are 100 to 20 feet wide.  Next level 3 stories down. 

I hear the Utah natives know where they feed/water in morning in lower elevations and don't have to cliff walk.  Love to find a spot like that.  Hear that is near sunflower patches.

Vic

I hope these work. (I really dislike having to resize pics - just for this site) and many times, the post with pics ends up not going through anyway. I don't have any tailgate shots from this year, but these next two are fun ones from this year (SEP 1 & 2). We got some nice Ruffs, but I wanted to introduce the new puppy (Tucker) to Grouse, so I shot a couple 2/3 or 3/4 grown juveniles just for him (I didn't think he could handle a full grown adult yet (Tucker was 8 weeks old in these pics). Pics follow (I hope) .

On SEP 1, I shot a juvenile Ruff for Tucker. I had Casey retrieve it. Then we did a couple hand thrown marks for Tucker. He went absolutely C R A Z Y. So, on SEP 2, I shot another one, had Casey make the retrieve and a hand thrown mark (into the brush) for Tucker. Then (with Tucker out of sight), I drug the bird down the middle of the road and then off to the side of the road. Nami took him to the origin of the scent trail and turned him loose -- he followed the scent trail (at 90 mph) and swooped right over to the bird. He picked it up -- went the wrong way and then turned around and delivered it right to Nami.

Lots more stories and pics on the user friendly "other site".


.

Cool. Is that you in the pic?

Doc, tried to send you a private email, but it came back as a failure.
So I am editing this response. 

Please look into that right away.  Who is your sysadmin?



Vic