Ruff Grouse Lunch Break

I had an incredible lunch break today. Snuck out for just over an hour. Took Milly and Abby. The dogs were finding birds at such a rapid rate I could barely keep up. We got into about 14-15 birds.  All pointed. There were great points, some good backing from Abby and some challenging shooting. 2 out of 8 I think.  I absolutely love Ruff grouse.
I tried leaving earlier but the gamin kept telling me Mill was on point. Good problem to have!

Great day for Grouse

It was a bitter sweet day today. My hunting buddy (Lee) of 19 years now, had a beautiful early morning grouse hunt where we took 6 ruff grouse on the wing and over point. After that we buried his 2 old German shorthair's. It was a really emotional day. The grouse gods were kind to us today.
Milly and Jazz had some amazing points and all the dogs backed well. Jazz had an a nice retrieve across a beaver pond and Milly tracked a wounded out into the pond and retrieved it to hand as well.

Ruffs and Huns

Took the young dogs out for a quick run this evening. Jazz pointed a covey of huns and abbey (Lees Dog) backed. I doubled. Then Jazz had two great points on Ruff grouse. Nice brown phase bird. Not a bad run.

Put and Take mixed with some grouse

Once or twice a year I get the pleasure of being the dog handler on a big put and take pheasant hunt with a some great guys from all over the country. I took a half day today from work and did that today. The dogs were on fire today. 48 pheasant and 2 Ruff grouse. Jazz and Milly were great on the Ruffs and all 3 Britts were awesome on the phez.

Saturday with Shawn

Well, it was a strange day with a gun getting left leaning against a tree. We searched long and hard for it. Jazz had a good morning with 2 really good points. I took 1. Shawn's dog Misty also had a good point.

Blues Labor Day and some crazy weather

Well sometimes you just gotta take what mother nature deals ya. Tough day for dog work. 8 inches of snow and really wet. Got into some good country later. Birds were tough to find and didn't hold. Nevertheless it was a good day.

South Fork Hunt 2016

Nice walk this morning with the dogs. We found a 7 point antler shed and a nice family group and a handful  of smaller groups of grouse. We left a bunch. Seems like the right thing to do this year. Numbers are low. Didn't take many pictured. Bell had a find on a huge family group. Jazz had a couple retrieved. Hatley and Milly had a good find as well with Belle.

Back to my roots

I went out for a short hunt this morning that turned into a 9 mile walk.  We Went to some of my favorite hills that I have been roaming around my whole life. Took 3 birds,1 from 3 different groups. Passed on several, I was picky and waited for the dogs do good work.  Milly was a rockstar today.  Numbers are low and it is really dry.

Grouse opener 2016

So grateful season is here. It was hot, smoky, and tough. 14.5 miles. Saw a lot of birds, they were jumpy and not a lot of young birds. I had one time where all 3 Britts pointed a group of 5 and I only took 1. Probably could have tripled, but only took the 1 from that group.  We even saw a black bear. Lousy picture for as close as it was.
Beautiful view of the Tetons.