Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Ruffed Grouse

Yes, that is a Parker and one of the nicest VH (E perhaps) you will come across.

I saw in one of your previous posts you may be getting a Parker Reproduction. A great SxS for the money, but there is something missing compared to the originals. Also, know that the color case hardening on the Repo is not the real deal and will wear off quickly with a little use, perhaps their biggest shortcoming. Again a better than good SxS made to the exact specs of the original.

don't mind the traveling used to hunt UP and Wis. U P is really down bear hunters keep me posted never flew many grouse in Wisconsin but woodcock were great, but ticks were terrible had two dogs get lymes disease. Saw a guy who is a bear hunter that offered up so info in maine went there once not impressed.

Go to the UP and normally move 15-20 Grouse per day. Last couple times we also hit the Woodcock flight and the Dogs got into just over 200 birds in 5-7 days. I'm not complaining.

As far as ticks and Lymes, we now have two choices. Take precautions and hunt or stay home. Dogs wear the collar, get a spritz of spray and a daily prophylactic dose of doxycycline.

Ticks during grouse season?
Never seen one. The dogs have collars but I can't say myself or anyone I know has found one in September through December in northern Mn.

Lucky you, but once you see the first one it will all be downhill from there

I never see them after July. I was out last weekend checking out a new grouse spot and checking my stands for bow season and didnt find one on me or the dog. In May or June they are thick. In late May I had my dog out with me and it was like they were raining from the trees. I had a white t shirt on and was covered with them. When I got back to the truck I brushed a pile of them off the dog. After the first frost they are completely gone.

Again lucky you. Doesn’t work that way here.

How late do they stick around there?

All year, they never go away. Sit down in the wood in December and you may pick them up. Look at the Dog during a January hunt and you can usually find some crawling around. Cold here slows them down, but they don’t quit.

Addition: Here sit down in the wood during September and October and you will be covered. I’ve stopped and picked 40 plus off the Dog in October. Run him a half hour and you can do it again.

Ticks such as deer and wood ticks found up here have a couple of cycles they go through in a year durning which they can be very active or dormant.

Very early they are in the larval stage and unable to access larger animals very well so they tend to use rodents, birds, reptiles and other creatures that spend time close to the ground. They then go dormant for a while and then emerge as nymphs in late spring or early summer and is what we often encounter then. Many confuse wood ticks in these two stages for deer ticks as they are so small. There are also adults which did not find a host last year and are looking for one now.

After feeding in this period, the nymphs go dormant and the adults breed and die so a lull is found. They come back in the fall as adults to feed, lay eggs, and generally die unless they do not find a host where they will hibernate until spring and try again. I have found them on me, the dogs, and hunting partners from September well into October as far north as Babbitt, MN. I watched one wood tick crawl across the rail of a stand while deer hunting outside Cloquet in 2002 or thereabouts. Unless temps stayed under 70 degrees and skies were cloudy, pretty much everyone would find some ticks on themselves during the RGS hunt in Grand Rapids, MN. I will say it has been rare to pick up a tick at the family grounds near Buyck in September but I have seen ticks on deer and moose into December and the DNR reports finding ticks much later in the year on moose in the same area so the buggers are active somewhere.

It will be interesting to see the research on how much West Nile Virus affects ruffed grouse. WNV seems to be transmitted by mosquitos rather than ticks but I am not up to date on that disease these days. I remember this concern back when WNV became a problem and wondered if research had been started as the person who first brought it to my attention left RGS for a different organization and I felt the ball was dropped. Our population peaks have not been as great as expected since then, especially in the marginal habitats, but there could be other factors more to blame.

Three weeks until grouse season opens here though I probably won't chase ruffs until woodcock also opens. Sharpies are a better tune up though I will have to drive a bit to hunt them as the closer zone opens in October now.

Yes, it is. It’s a 1906 VH, 0 Frame, 16ga.




Thank’s Battue. I feel lucky to have it.

What shells you shooting in that Parker?

Generally, 2.5” RST. It’s got 2.5” chambers, but will shoot 2.75” shells. I never thought to try until I read a bit by Barsness.

Ahh. Should have guessed 2.5 chambers.

Looking for lighter loads in 16. Don't want to beat on an older SxS. I picked up a few boxes of Federal UL that run 1oz at 1165. Wouldn't mind finding some similar loads in #5.

I picked up a couple cases of 16ga. Herter's Select field on sale last fall. The #6 load is 1oz.; the #5 load is 1-1/8.

What can I say ?

Like Shrap, we like to eat 'em too !