Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Grouse Are So Thick You Need A Dump Truck

im not impressed......i swim with a salmon rig down 70 foot tied to mine.....while the lake is whitecapping....

I just show up at the waters edge and the fish jump into the cooler.




Yup,I drink Dos Equis.

but that is unsportsman like, where is the challenge and giving the fish a chance?

Hey, if it makes you feel better to pretend your some sort of superior sportsman because of the gear you choose to use, then bully for you.

I've run into your kind plenty of times, trying hard to cover for some deficiency by overcompensating. With men its usually characterized by demonstrations of how exceptionally manly they are, like how heavy of a bow they pull, pack they carry,distances they hike etc. We've had several here on the fire over the years, so don't feel too special..

Some guys have to use a fly road to catch trout, anything else is just barbaric and only practiced by cretins. Some guys have to use an expensive double and pedigreed dog to hunt the stupidest of game birds, because thats the only "right"way, and makes them feel like a sportsman. Then there's those guys who do it in whatever way strikes their fancy on that particular day, with nothing in mind but enjoying themselves. Generally they've been there and done that so many times that the thought of what someone else might think of it never occurs to them.

I used to grouse hunt but they are almost gone. I love wingshooting better than ice cream sandwiches but I see no reason to judge someone who likes to use a pistol. NOT SPORTY you say,,, I say bull $hit I can't shoot a pistol worth a damn. Keep your smart azz mouth shut if someone didn't directly insult you and you will be more well received. Shrapnel might be a "ground sluicer" but by hell he's our go round sluicer. Good day sir, now go clean that double and masterbait to the shooting sportsman or one of those other uppity magazines made for yuppie elitist f'er.

I let the fish fight it out as to who will get in the cooler.

Lots of assumptions here.

Did I miss the part where 357 shot shells were mentioned?

Most of us shoot grouse with solids. JHP or hard cast from a hand gun. Usually I use a Ballistic Tip from a rifle.

Just for educational purposes, a hundgun loaded with shot shells is pretty effective on a snake's head at six feet, but will typically bounce off of a bird's feathers at fifteen yds.

Don't you have some more gun control agenda to advocate somewhere?

i've been known to paddle a bait out on a surf board and have a shark pick it up as soon as i dropped it.

God I love this "campfire". We can easily, in the course of only 4 pages or so, get from "grouse in a dumptruck, to "swimtrolling" for fish!

As long as we are at it and apparently some of us are having fun:

EVERYONE knows that fishing like an otter is too "animalistic" and therefor not sporting in the least. To be sporting, otters would have to dull their teeth with a file. And tie their tails up between their legs so they have no rudder, the poor fish are at such a disadvantage already.

I have a BS (watch it guys, that means Bachelor of Science, not what you'd like it to mean ) degree in Fisheries, I work in the fisheries field, have fished with numerous methods for close to 50 years now, have caught fish on both sides of the country, In fresh, salt, and brackish water, have trophies from a bass fishing club I used to fish with, and I've been likened to a dysfunctional squirrel.

That makes me the "x-purt" right, so what I say goes!

We all should be fishing with hand braided lines from the rainbow tails of virgin unicorns!

With a rod made from a willow branch harvested (in a sporting manner of course) along the banks of a magical stream in the "enchanted forest". Harvested by Snow White, naturally.

Our hook should only be made forged by elves, the same ones who fashioned the swords for Gimli or one of those other Hobbitses. It should only be made of the finest exotic metal taken from the belly of a downed ALIEN ship found in the bowels of Mt Shasta or similar landing zone. The Orks could provide it to the elves. My world and I say they're at peace now, the unicorns demanded it.

We will have our brightly colored lures constructed by the McSwirly company using only 'Murican made "Loopy" rings to attach the above elfin hooks. (never never would we consider lures made by B&C, or Hogue, or eeeek.. RamLine!)

The most sporting aspect of this method of fishing is that the fish will never be caught or even hooked. The McSwirly lure and rainbow line will be invisble to the fish due to the refraction of the light in water. Should, by some amazing circumstance, the fish notice the lure in a shadow or something, it will use it's lateral line and bio-electrical current detector and it will be repelled by the ALIEN metal of the hook. It will notify other fish in the area of the danger by means of its "Schreckstoffzellen" (real word, real functioning part of certain fish, Look it up if you don't believe me. x-purt, remember ).

Therefor we will all be sportsmen (and sportswomen, and sports gender neutral, etc etc) if only you all will follow MY instruction.

I will never again fish with a baitcaster, a spinning rig, or even my fly rod.

Unless of course some nice person here on the 'fire donates (permanently) me a really nice handmade bamboo one. A 5 wt or so might be nice.

FB2 and Paddler, please take my humor as it is meant, in fun. I, too, enjoy a walk in the woods with a shotgun to try to kick up a bird or two. I however, am an opportunistic one and if presented would attempt to harvest a grouse for camp food with my pistol or my bow while hunting larger tasty critters.

Shrapnel, assuming you've managed to read thru my drivel, my apologies for getting off topic. Please keep taking the kids to the "woods", however they get there is better than them not going.

Respectfully to all,

Geno

PS, what was it Rodney King said? Something about getting along?

PPS. I sure wish I could be out walking around in the woods, or at least in my garden. It is a bright clear warm fall day here on the dry side of WA. But, I require money to feed my outdoor pursuits and such, and therefor must slave away the day.

Doesn't that make a wee bit nervous,Stx?

Loaded up early this morning and even took the wife along. She did a fine job of moving the Subaru every so often so I didn't have to walk back every time.

Walked a few miles through the soggy jungle of CRP and flushed literally 50-60 sharptails but they were all at 50-100 yards. And then of course they got up in the wind and flew until they were out of sight.

Started to get mildly disappointed and the mangina was getting damp and chilly but luckily finally stumbled onto a couple of close flushers.

Eastern Montana snobbery at its finest....




People keep telling me there's bird pocket in the vest but I haven't found them yet.

In my hood grouse hunters use dogs and scatterguns and a good day is "maybe" 1 bird to show for lots of walking. We have VERY few, Im jealous of you guys who have enough you can just walk out and shoot them with a handgun!

My preference is to shoot them on the wing even when I could ground swat em.

To each his own.

Sounds like there are enough birds to raise a dam fine grouse dog.

Where are the knickers and tweed sport coat?

I was thinking the same thing,

And aren't those barrels on wrong? how did that gun shoot? they're 'posed to be on sidewards, no? Or is it just my old eyes not seein' right?

Sam, you're a brave man, admitting you ride in a Subaru! (are there bumper stickers on that thing?)

Thanks for the pic and story,

Geno

A yup, I noo'd it. Thet's y yu was 'lected Chief of the cabal. Squirrels likes it tew. speshelly dizfunckshunal wons.

Used to love the stuff when I was a younger man.

Geno

I'm betting that little twirp that works at your local firearms emporium sewed it shut for spite.


Back on topic,,,, I like to hunt Grouse with a dog too but I will shoot one (or two) out of a tree on the way back to the truck.



What others do whether I agree with it or not is none of my business as long as it's legal.
As far as "sporting" goes....Piddler's an idiot....I guarantee the odds are in a Grouse's favor if I'm shooting at it with a 2" barreled handgun from just about any distance.

Around here Ruffed Grouse are far from the dumbest of game birds. Birds are down here from historic numbers and you are hunting survivors. They don't usually hang around all that much, although some do.

One thing I can tell Paddler is I have had the opportunity to hunt with some excellent Eastern Grouse hunters and a couple of them have what many would call a great Dog. And more than the proverbial one. They pretty much live the game. When it comes to a Bird giving them a fair opportunity, it odds are only slightly better than your in the tree pic. A couple of them are deadly, especially when they get into enough Birds and find their groove. Makes little difference to the Grouse.

If these guys would have have to hunt Grouse that were wilder they still would. Why? Simple really, they are hunters. Perhaps some would enjoy it more with the increased challenge. They obviously have more than a few Birds and there are covers they again obviously never
touch and they only take a very small percentage of available Birds.

They do it differently, but they do it legally. Anything else is personal preference.

If it makes you feel a little better. However, I kinda took an unfair advantage that day. They were not all that interested in flying, but when forced to had no choice. Nor is a Model 59 a double. In fact it is more efficient than most of them.

This thread is so full of smug superiority that it's dripping. Whatever happened to "Hm, that's interesting. You seem to enjoy that. I do things this way, and I enjoy this."

A lot better than the pathetic oneupsmanship going on. Walk a mile in someone else's shoes, folks. Until then, STFU.

Nice hunt, Shrap! I've done a bit of handgun grousing, and it is quite satisfying in every regard. Including the grandkids is the cake AND the icing.

Yup that right there.