Grouse Hunting Tips
1. If you can afford to cover a lot of land then try to find a large forest as well as dense cover. If you only have about an hour or two then a small woodland and a ruffled grouse group trail will have to do. Grouse hunting isn’t about walking down a gravel road firing at birds gazing at you passing by.
2. Grouse feed on a large variety of fruits, green leaves and some insects through the year but in the late fall as well as winter they eat almost exclusively latent flower buds, with their preferred being catkins or flower buds from ironwoods, cherries, birches, aspens and filberts. Search for areas that hold these plants near the ground or in young stands.
3. The grouse male makes a drumming sound all year long that regularly comes from the exact log or roost area. This piercing sound serves to drive other males from the respective area as well as in the ritual of mating. Trailing this sound and discovering a male grouse on his log can be very thrilling and a fine challenge.
4. Most hunting trips involve going away for a couple of nights camping in the forest and therefore it is a good idea to make a list and take everything you’ll need for your accommodation type. In the forest it would be a good idea to carry an orange vest and cap, GPS unit, a map of the respective area, a small first-aid kit, special glasses for eye protection, a knife, gloves, plastic bag, water and shells in abundance.
5. The use of misdirection like a mean of confusing the birds concerning the direction of incoming danger and trying to disorder their self-protective tendencies can be very effective if done correctly. After you come down the inclined trail two times and have the grouse downhill your going back up the ridge will force the little bird to dash in another direction.
6. A cunning trick you should consider learning to use when there’s a large gathering of predators in the area, regularly coyotes and foxes, is that of avoiding the uncomplicated trails these predators take through the forest. Hunt one piece of the forest where, now and then, coyotes run vigorously along a particular trail. The birds are aware of this habit and deal with escaping sooner than the canines even approach them. Avoid that trail and, instead of wandering through the forest, keep a direct line of attack, not like the sneaky approach of keen predators.
7. Obviously, the choice of gauge and shotgun for grouse hunting alone is of personal and scientific substance. For the early-season grouse, when the trees are filled with leaves, the shots are usually limited within a 20 yards radius. In these situations you don’t need to use chokes. Later on in the season, after the leaves have fallen, a lot of shots will be made from 30 yards. Enhanced cylinder and Skeet II should be your favorite choke options at this time.
