Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors OT upland birds

The accumulated cost of a 10 year-old Springer Spaniel bitch: $6600
A classic bird hunting library: $1200 [Gene Hill, Spiller, Harden-Foster, Knight, Woolner etc.]
A custom stocked Beretta 20 gauge Sporting with 29 �� barrels: $2500
One 20 gauge shotgun shell: $.75

The exhilaration of shooting a ruffed grouse on the wing: priceless!

The thrill of it all coming together again in a nano-second after seven and a half hours of hunting this season with only one viable flush, in spite of the handicaps of age: bursitis at the shoulder, tendonitis at the elbow and carpel-tunnel at the wrists. The miracle of tumbling a hard flushing grouse after hours of pushing bush felt like the past twenty years had been lost in an instant. When I cracked that biddy with the first barrel and feathers drifted back to earth - time stood still.

I�m batting 1000 on grouse for the moment. Yeah!

The past winter was hard on our upland bird population; there are very few turkey, grouse and seemingly no woodcock in our woods this year. This may be the only bird I shoot if I don�t encounter a higher flush rate.

That's some expensive meat, right there.

Haven't had grouse in a long time, haven't hunted with a bird dog in far longer (25 years?). Miss them both, glad you got out and had some luck!

Took up my Savage 720 on Saturday in case I decided to do a bit of grouse hunting or saw some turkeys strutting their stuff. Never did get around to it, it was just too peaceful sitting in the deer blind with the crossbow hoping that a big old buck would come by.

A bad day hunting is far better than a good day working, right?

That winter was hard on our game over here in Maine too
though the grouse seam to have done well. our turkeys and deer did not.
I know the feeling of taking a partridge on the wing,its special
I've spent lots of time in the duck blind, but it pales in comparison.

good luck next time
plab

We've done better than expected in my part of northern Michigan. Grouse numbers seem like they're up a bit. Flight woodcock haven't seemed to start yet, but there's been enough local birds to make it interesting. I've been breaking in a year and a half old Brit pup named Aldo, and so far he's looking like a contender. He runs too fast to keep up with his nose, like a lot of young dogs, but when he gets it right he holds a steady point and he's already accounted for a couple of birds I might not have found without him. Most days I've been hunting with a 20 gauge Ruger Red Label, but next time I'll be taking my Savage / Fox Sterlingworth 16, and I'll try to post some photos to get this thread back into Savage stuff.

And by the way olgrouser, I'm batting WAY less than 1000% on birds this year!

I'm not near as eloquent as most here, but my Maggie and I seem to get the job done. She's not a year and a half old yet but every time she goes out she does better and better even if there isn't a point. So far we've hunted 5 outings and got 3 birds.

Give me the opportunity Rod and I'm sure that percentage will fall like lightning from heaven!

Thanks for the memories guys!! Of all the things I miss about northern Minnesota grouse hunting is at the top of the list! My mother could turn them into a meal fit for a king.

Don't see too many here in SoCal but we are helping a hatch of quail survive in the canyon behind us.

Nice to see some pheasants Steve. When I was a kid the October 20 pheasant opener was a bigger day than the deer opener. Now our pheasant population is down to almost nothing. I'm glad you've got some left.

Yay!! You guys must please, please, keep it up and keep reporting- for I am truly hunting vicariously through you all this year. Sitting here unable to jump into the bird hunting of Indian Summer is a cruelty unimagined by even the Marquis DeSade.

I'm actually a little teary-eyed with happiness seeing y'all posing with birds/dogs/and fine shotguns.

This was the time of year my old Pop's and I would set aside our differences and sally forth with shotguns in hand to shoot birds and mend fences. One of many reasons this weather fills me with sentimental longings.

Just promise me y'all won't take that sweet path toward Tinkhamtown anytime soon!

Shoot straight!!!

I wouldn't call a Remington 870 12 ga 3 1/2" super mag a "fine" shotgun. It does one helluva job on a woodcock when I connect.........

I know, I know. The bottom picture is an Ithaca SKB 20 ga. I put it away cause I got called a gentleman and if theys wun thing I ain't it's a gentleman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are plenty more ways to define a gentleman than by the shotgun he carries. You, my fine feathered friend, have it in spades whether you will admit it or not!

You'd better wake up and smell the coffee instead of that stuff the nurses have had you sniffin'!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grouse numbers down around here. I am busy with work so may not get much time this fall for them. And this dog is worthless. Flushes everything 100 yards out!

And that, Bert, is the reason that I make the 4,000 mile or so round trip to go bird hunting with my high school buds in Wisconsin every year. Traveling money was a bit short this year but that's a trip I'll never miss. Good friends, good food, good whisky and this year quite a few birds.

NO dog is worthless. ESPECIALLY one that will put up with the likes of you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey why don't you send me some of those meds that make you such a well adjusted cuss and we'll both be happy!

Naw............Then there'd be two of us and the world just isn't ready for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Besides. Look around you. You're surrounded by the perfect medication.

George, I was charmed by the writing of Burton Spiller. The Thunderbird is king! Pursuing ruffed grouse in our Carolinian forests in autumn colours thrills me like no other hunting.

A bottle of that famous Scotch whisky was cracked to toast the occasion and will serve as medicinal libation to lubricate these bones after the hunt. No other pharmaceuticals are needed.

Would you, perhaps, be speaking of "Famous Grouse?" Not a bad blended whisky. Good to see you out in the bird woods despite your infirmities. Are you aware that just after the kill you can stand on their spread wings and pull on their feed and they're gutted? If you pull on the feet hard enough all the guts and head pull through. Pretty much all you have to do after that is cut the wings off and you've got a cleaned grouse breast.

Did I hear Michigan game birds and Ruger Red Label 20's....those Skeet/Skeet guns work great on close flush's