Can't believe I've never asked about this before.

Does anyone hunt the Ruffed Grouse in the north woods of MN.,WI.,.MI.,PA.,NY.,ME.,etc.with your pointing lab?


And how do you do......?

Posted By micahd on 26 Oct 2009 08:43 PM
I hunt Ruffed, Blue, Sage and Sharptail in Idaho and Utah both. Blues will hold good or just run like they think they are a pheasant in the forest or something. Ruffed will hold better and not fly as far when flushed. They tend to flush naturally from a short distance. Not the best birds to work a young PL on IMO because the birds dont hold as well as other upland birds. The amount of time they hold is way better the further away your dog will point them. But as far as running and tracking very good practice once your dog is getting confident and pointing regularly. I usually get a limit or close to it when we hunt 2 or 3 people.

Posted By Paco on 01 Oct 2009 07:54 PM

Can't believe I've never asked about this before.

Does anyone hunt the Ruffed Grouse in the north woods of MN.,WI.,.MI.,PA.,NY.,ME.,etc.with your pointing lab?


And how do you do......?

been hunting for 46 yrs on grouse in big woods,northcentral pa.
i am about ONLY  one that uses a LAB  for grouse.i know of no pointing labs that i have ever seen here.
toby my lab is flusher that points when he thinks any animal will FLUSH ,other than that he flushes.
hunting grouse if toby flushes grouse out at 30 yds,you are not going to get shot.
a lab that would point from distance would be much better .
i like lab even tho lab is not best for grouse in pa.they tire out quick do to heat in fall in oct.2 hrs and your done.
now conditioning more could help but heavy coats take their toll.
lewellen setters/gsp/brittanys are best from what i see but your question was POINTING LAB.
unless the pointing lab can use his nose like setter,not sniff ground but air,YOU WONT GET AS MANY GROUSE.
WE TESTED LAB VRS SETTER at local breeder who raises hunting labs and setters.
setter got 9 birds and lab 4.lab went by many birds ,the setter did not,not 1.
i seen this with toby too,he goes by birds that sit tight.

where toby shines is if grouse runs .thats where the lab nose works,on ground.being flusher he will get grouse in air quick at gun range.

i seen setters hold point and grouse flush 30 yds away,it ran on setter.
i still get a lot of flushes with toby but most are 20 yds or more out and you have to be ready all time.
holding point would be nice as you could get closer MAYBE.
but thats hard if lab cant pick up air currents like setter .

if pointing lab can do that, you have something but most i know have 2 dogs, lab for water duck thing and setter for birds.
tiring out is biggest problem i see with any labs.i have not seen 1 over those years that can hunt like other
 bird dogs.

this did not answer your question.warriors mark locally i have not seen pointing lab and they are big breeder of
hunting dogs.they always told me if lab is not small one, it will wear out in the upland field.

www.warriorsmark.com  

Hunting Grouse with a Pointing Labrador              by Dwight Erickson (Doc E)

Grouse !  Grouse season is the first of the many hunting seasons that we have here in the Pacific Northwest.  In Washington state, our Grouse season opens on September 1 and continues until the end of the year. In our area, we have three species of Grouse, which include Ruffed, Franklin (or Spruce) and the big ones, the Blue Grouse. 

Most Grouse hunters prefer to use  traditional Grouse dogs ( Setters), for this "gentleman's sport". The reason that Grouse hunting is called a Gentleman's Sport is because you don't have to get up and start hunting before sunrise. Grouse are most active between two hours after sunrise until sunset.  Numerous people do not think that a Pointing Labrador can do an adequate job as a Grouse Dog, but from my experience of hunting Grouse for over 20 years, over many different breeds of dogs, I can tell you that the PL is a top-notch Grouse dog that rivals any of the traditional Grouse Breeds.

Here in the Pacific Northwest,  Grouse are primarily found in the mountain forests, which are thickly covered  with many different kinds of Pine Trees, with  frequent patches of Aspen and Birch, with Willows that grow in the wetter areas. In the winter, Grouse burrow under the snow and come out in the daytime for a meal of "buds" from the trees. During the late summer and early fall, the Ruffed and Blue Grouse feed on the many different kinds of berries that we have here in addition to rose hips, and are often found along jeep trails or logging roads in order to get their grit. The Spruce Grouse are more like Pheasants, in that their late summer diet is composed mostly of seeds and pine nuts.

Conditioning of a good grouse dog begins in the Springtime, because the dog is going to run and hunt for many miles each time you go out. I "road" my PL, Casey, for a minimum of 12 miles two or three times a week from March through August.  I drive behind him on logging roads as he runs and quarters along the road. By the time grouse season opens, he will run and hunt at a speed of 8 to 12 miles an hour for 4 to 5 miles at a time before he needs a 10 minute break, and he can hunt like this for 4 or 5 hours a day, three or four days a week. It is often quite warm in the daytime here during September, so in order to keep Casey cooled down, I take a "Garden Sprayer" along which is filled with water. Anytime that Casey needs to take a break or cool off, I spray his whole body down with cool water from the sprayer. It is also important to bring along plenty of drinking water for both your dog as well as yourself.

Because it's likely that other hunters will be out and about, I also like to have Casey wear a "hunter orange" vest to reduce the likelyhood of him being accidentally shot. Another item that I especially like to have Casey wear is a bell on his collar. There are many times that he will be out quartering through the woods, and the bell helps me identify where he is and the area that he is hunting. When the bell stops ringing, I know that he is on point and that I should find him and get ready to shoot.

So, what does grouse hunting mean to me?  It means being able to go hunting after many months of counting down the days. It means hunting with my canine and human companions. It means the beautiful sights, the wonderful smells, the sounds of leaves crunching under my feet, the dog bell that suddenly stops ringing as Casey goes on point. It means the adrenaline rush that the flush of a bird who's acceleration and twisting, turning abilities would leave a Formula One race car driver in awe. And it means some of the finest gourmet eating in the world.

Posted By Doc_E on 16 Jun 2010 06:22 AM
Good Grouse dogs need to be able to both air scent and ground scent / trail.
As our dogs are running / searching, they will normally air scent, but will frequently
drop their noses too. Personally, I love to watch a dog follow a ground scent trail.
You can actually learn a lot about Grouse habits by watching a ground scent being trailed.

I get a kick out of Nami's pup (Tucker). He has only had one season of actualy Grouse hunting,
but we road the dogs daily in Grouse country, so he is learning the ropes. Anyway, what I get a kick out of
is when he catches an air scent, he will often give a "Springer Bounce" to get his nose up higher.

We kept our dogs out of the woods, and on logging roads only for the last month + (nesting time),
but the Grouse chix have hatched now so we're letting them back out into the woods. Yesterday,
they hit an area where a family must have been foraging -- they went nuts trailing more than a
half-dozen scent trails in one small area. The birds were gone, but the scents were still hot.
Old Casey boy got five years younger with the excitement.

One of my most memorable Grouse hunts was when Casey & I got our "Grand Slam".
One Ruff, one Franklin and one Blue in 45 minutes.

76 days until Grouse Season opens up here ------------ 76 days and counting.

been awhile talking to you. e-mailed you 5 months ago, i had to have tobys toe removed for tumor.looking for advice before i had it done.

you are right, i trained toby on grouse by riding dirt roads in my truck,i would see like 4 grouse, back truck up and walk slowly on road and he would flush them or sneak real slow step at time.
then shoot a 22 pistol in air.

boy now he hears a firecracker go off and his tail gets hard,ha.
good to talk to you again.
all my friends were banned from huntingnet forum, i was too because i said a few words about person that said he would shoot toby on sight if he saw him in woods.
100s of members protested on me being banned and i was brought back.

NOW ALMOST ALL OF THEM ARE BANNED BUT I GOT THEM REINSTATED BUT THEY WILL NOT COME BACK.
northeast topic is dieing .but we are still keeping dog topic going..

take care sproul


.

Posted By Trout Bum on 17 Jun 2010 02:48 PM
You're right on the mark Sproul.  

Dog's that run with their head in the air will find a bunch more birds than the dog running with his nose to the ground. Look for those PL's that point with a high head and a high tail....they'll run the same way. That's the way they're built and it's awkward for them to run any other way. Pi's high on both ends and a bird finding foul.

Gator's throwing pups with those same characteristics. He looks pretty darn nice on point, eh?
























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yes.if grouse or pheasant sits still on damp morning i have seen toby walk by.sometimes he stops and catches it smell.
then i saw birddogs come behind me with head up and get that bird.
i saw it to many times not to notice it.
it showed that toby puts his nose to ground and does not catch that scent of bird THAT HAS NOT MOVED ..
if bird ran and went into bush, toby will have it quick but if bird was in there over night or flew there, TOBY COULD GO RIGHT BY THE BIRD.
this is what carl said when he tested LAB VRS LEWELLIN SETTER.
so if pointing lab would somehow be able to hunt with their nose up ,possible they would catch the scent.
dont know but i seen birddogs find birds that toby walked by..........

 

so if pointing lab would somehow be able to hunt with their nose up ,possible they would catch the scent. dont know but i seen birddogs find birds that toby walked by..........