# New to Grouse hunting?



## hoghunter011583

I am new to the whole upland game hunt and don't know where to start. I have been reading books and online about upland birds. 
So after some mapping out and driving around i decided it was time to put the boots on the ground and get started. I went all along skyline drive from Bountiful to Farmington stopping and walking around all over. I drove all the way to Kamas and that is just to far for me. I then went to Monte Cristo and walked around a good bit. Didn't jump a bird. 

I really don't know what I'm even looking for. I'd walk the pines cause that is what I was told, then I'd walk the brushy edges of the pines cause that seamed more like where a ground bird would be. Then walked the sage!!!!!! Then I read that I need a water source, all my walking was not near any water. I'm looking for forest grouse. Everyone I talk to says " oh grouse they are easy, just walk the pines, they are stupid"!! well, these stupid birds have me beat, I haven't seen one in about 5 times out in the fields!!! 

I'm not looking for spots, I just NEED help with what to look for. From what I think i should be looking for is water, with berries, with young aspen trees for cover? Is this right? 
Really feeling desparate, I'm getting skunked on what people told me is the easiest upland birds to hunt!!

Thanks guys!!!!


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## SureShot

Just leave your gun at home and go on a hike. Then you'll find them for sure. 

Seriously, it sounds like you have the right information. Up high in the pines (steep hillsides seem to be preferred) are great for blue grouse. Down lower, brushy areas with berries are generally good for ruffed grouse. You don't have to hunt right on water, but it generally needs to be somewhere within flight distance.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger

Find patches of young aspens. They'll be shorter than you are and will hold birds. Transition areas where pines mix with aspens are great. Find some of those areas with berries for food and some water nearby and you'll be in business. I wouldn't personally hunt without a bird dog by my side because I can't smell the birds... :mrgreen:


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## hoghunter011583

Thanks, that helps tons!! so withen say a half mile of a water source is good? does elevation matter? 
I'm heading out without the gun to go scout out farmington canyon. I'll have my year old pointer (Snergly) with me to try to flush up some that might hold while I pass. 
Does that area hold any birds?

Thanks


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## The Naturalist

hoghunter011583 said:


> Thanks, that helps tons!! so withen say a half mile of a water source is good? does elevation matter?
> I'm heading out without the gun to go scout out farmington canyon. I'll have my year old pointer (Snergly) with me to try to flush up some that might hold while I pass.
> Does that area hold any birds?
> 
> Thanks


Generally Blues higher up, and Ruffed lower, but I've taken both all over. 
Ditto on what has been said. I look for basically four things - Berries, open grassy areas near small stands of Aspen with a scattering of Firs. I push these areas toward a small canyon, then work the edges down to the bottom and just walk all over.

At first light they may be near a water hole, but then they scatter far and wide.

If the area has a permanent stream in it Ruffies tend to stay near the stream in heavy brush. Blues tend to be further from the stream near the hillside, but again, that is generally speaking, cause I have taken both all over.


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## hoghunter011583

Thanks!!!

Made a hike in Farmington canyon and I saw my first Grouse!!! Didn't jump it, someone else most have shot it and cleaned it cause my dog sniffed out the skin! Atleast I know they are in that area. I took note of the area even though I know he might have shot it miles away.

I found some berry thickets near water with lots of cover. They were under oak trees. I walked around jut a little in there and jumped a rabbit. it was really thick in a lot of the areas I walked and it would be really hard to hunt, plus that is a steep canyon! 

Do the berries need to be low where the birds will be able to eat them from the ground? Most of the berries are about 4-6 feet off the ground.

Thanks guys, I think I"m getting a little closer!!


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## jeff788

I just bagged my first grouse yesterday. I have always ran into them while elk hunting and have just recently decided to hunt them. I went out on Friday and jumped three birds and missed them all. When these birds were flushed then were GONE! Without giving away the spot I will say that it was near a high elevation ridge in the big cottonwood/ park city area with small stands of pines and aspen. Yesterday we were out spotting for elk and were driving down a jeep trail and saw a hen run across the road in front of us. We grabbed the shotgun and quickly harvested her. Then, while my buddy was cleaning her I decided to take the shotgun and walk through the stand of trees thinking there may be more. Sure enough, 20 yards away I flushed two birds and shot them out of a pine tree. The area was a small ridge where the aspen and oak brush met some pines. The birds I found were in some deadfall in the pines. They were chuck full of berries. I hope this helps. Have fun and be safe.

EDIT: By the way I just had my first bite of grouse. Delicious!


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## Ryfly

You have the right idea in that it's not the exact spot you need to know but the TYPE of area you should be looking in. There are birds all over in every mountain range with the right habitat but the birds like certain areas more than others. Like birddogger said a good hunting dog will make all the difference. You can hunt them without one but it's not much fun. :wink:


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## lunkerhunter2

I will pm you a spot to go. There are tons of grouse but you need a dog to be effective. If i don't pm you by tonight, pm me and i will tell you where to go. 8)


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## huntinkid

just go deer hunting up farmington because every stalk i have made with out fail there is grouse that will jump and scare the deer off


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## shotgunwill

I will ditto what the Naturalist said, but add three things.

If you see one, you've missed 10.

As dumb of a bird as they are, my hard lesson learned *this* year has been this: Even if I slaughtered them last year in a certain spot, doesn't mean that they will be there for the taking the next year.

If don't have a dog walk *REAL* slow and listen, you'll more than likely hear them moving or clucking before you see them.


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## hoghunter011583

Thanks again!

I was going to ask if you listen for them. I have always killed more animals walking slow and listening for them than I have just walking them up. Other than rabbits.
I didn't know if they clucked or made calls so I didn't know.

I have 2 dogs but they are young and I haven't had time to work with them. They point all day at my house at birds in the trees and stuff. I am going to bring them anyway cause they will help me jump them.


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## jason.little

I feel your pain. I am in the same boat, I just moved to lehi (near cabealas .. YEAH!!). I started with my dog late last season and worked my butt off. I even went up farmington canyon and was skunked. Like you, I wanted to try and go up north, but its to far. Finally on my final hunt last year I bagged one ruffy in the uinta forest (hopefully that is general enough). But haven't been successful this year. I live in utah county and have been trying some other canyons down here but they have been so busy in the summer months (with people) its not even worth the hike. Everyone says grouse are easy but they have been kick'en my butt. I don't think its my dog, he always did great on pheasant, chukar, and pigeon. He just recieve his jr hunter title. One thing I know is the snow this week will help with the water issue and they will spread out. I don't know if it will force the birds to a lower altitude though!? Again I am a noob at this hopefully i can get 2 grouse this year and double my score. LOL.


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## Sprig Kennels

hoghunter011583 said:


> I am new to the whole upland game hunt and don't know where to start. I have been reading books and online about upland birds.
> So after some mapping out and driving around i decided it was time to put the boots on the ground and get started. I went all along skyline drive from Bountiful to Farmington stopping and walking around all over. I drove all the way to Kamas and that is just to far for me. I then went to Monte Cristo and walked around a good bit. Didn't jump a bird.
> 
> I really don't know what I'm even looking for. I'd walk the pines cause that is what I was told, then I'd walk the brushy edges of the pines cause that seamed more like where a ground bird would be. Then walked the sage!!!!!! Then I read that I need a water source, all my walking was not near any water. I'm looking for forest grouse. Everyone I talk to says " oh grouse they are easy, just walk the pines, they are stupid"!! well, these stupid birds have me beat, I haven't seen one in about 5 times out in the fields!!!
> 
> I'm not looking for spots, I just NEED help with what to look for. From what I think i should be looking for is water, with berries, with young aspen trees for cover? Is this right?
> Really feeling desparate, I'm getting skunked on what people told me is the easiest upland birds to hunt!!
> 
> Thanks guys!!!!


it helps if you have a dog. sometimes grouse are like finding a needle in a haystack. the areas you have walked are good ones, you should find birds there. you dont need to be by water actually but it does help for ruffies. so far, this year i have seen more grouse than the past 2-3 years but i do give alot of credit to my dogs floyd and satch as they find all the birds. i woldnt say grouse are the easiest to find as many tiems you have to walk alot to find them because of the vast amount of terrain and diffferent habitats they can live in. they arent the smartest birds but they live in many types of forest habitats so that can make it hard sometimes. to find grouse you need 2 things, a good dog and a good pair of booots. :mrgreen:


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## HJB

If you go looking for "Good Areas", you will spend all day thinking that you will be getting into the birds and you might be disappointed. I have found the best way to find grouse is to just get out and hike you butt off. I have seen blues and ruffs in the wierdest places, and I have also been in prime territory and not seen anything (Many times). It's not as simple as finding water and a stand of small aspens as stated before. You just need to put some miles on the boots and figure some things out for yourself. 
Good Luck


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## hoghunter011583

HJB said:


> If you go looking for "Good Areas", you will spend all day thinking that you will be getting into the birds and you might be disappointed. I have found the best way to find grouse is to just get out and hike you butt off. I have seen blues and ruffs in the wierdest places, and I have also been in prime territory and not seen anything (Many times). It's not as simple as finding water and a stand of small aspens as stated before. You just need to put some miles on the boots and figure some things out for yourself.
> Good Luck


I think you are right. I was in what should have been perfect habitat this morning and I didn't see a thing. It is neat hunting those mountains though! The view is worth the hunt!
I am going to take my dog next time so maybe she can find some for me.

I'm just going to keep hiking this area till I cover the whole lower canyon. If I don't see anything I'll try something different next year. I've found that once you learn an area you do good in that spot even if the game is not very thick. 
I do have one thing to complain about and that is the beer cans and whiskey bottles all over the canyon!!! geez campers can be slobs!!


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger

> I have found the best way to find grouse is to just get out and hike you butt off.
> 
> It's not as simple as finding water and a stand of small aspens as stated before.


I once saw 3 bucks run right through my dad's backyard while I was out on his basketball court but I don't hunt near the hoop. :wink: Finding the right habitat is a helpful key to finding any game you pursue. Of course you have to work at it. That's why it's called 'hunting' and not 'killing'.


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## castnblast

Let me just second what a difference having a dog that knows what it's doing makes. 
Last year was both mine and my dog's first year hunting grouse. We pretty much spent the fall wandering the hills like idiots (I think we killed 3 grouse).
Over the summer I worked with live birds every chance I got and even bought grouse wings and grouse scent to use with fetching dummies. He knows exactly what he's looking for now and we've killed grouse every time but one this year.


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## Artoxx

That goes along with what I was thinking. I have a VERY well trained pointer, but she spent 3 years learning how to find and point Quail, and NOTHING else. The first time she ever encountered grouse she ran over them like they were rocks, and then acted like she had no idea what was happening when they flushed.

We only found two grouse last year and they both flushed when she was way off in another direction, so she gets no credit for those either. I did make sure that she got to retrieve and mouth them a bit so she could get the idea from fresh birds.
Finally managed to get her on a pheasant last year and got a nice solid point, so I know she can learn new bird types, just need to get her more exposure to them.
I have trained her a bit using both grouse and pheasant scent, so hopefully that will clue her in that they are birds that she should be hunting as well. Now it is just a matter of getting her into spots where there are actually birds to be found. 

My most successful method for finding grouse is to go up a main canyon, pretty much any one, and hike up the draws and ravines that branch off the sides but don't have roads. Have found blues and ruffed in places that they should not have logically been in the first place, and found them mixed so evenly that I ended up with both kinds of birds out of the same flush.
Weird but not impossible.
I have shot hundreds of grouse in my lifetime, and to this point I have never shot one that was found for me by a dog. Can't imagine how many I might have had with a properly trained dog.

Good luck finding more birds.


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## hoghunter011583

castnblast said:


> Let me just second what a difference having a dog that knows what it's doing makes.
> Last year was both mine and my dog's first year hunting grouse. We pretty much spent the fall wandering the hills like idiots (I think we killed 3 grouse).
> Over the summer I worked with live birds every chance I got and even bought grouse wings and grouse scent to use with fetching dummies. He knows exactly what he's looking for now and we've killed grouse every time but one this year.


Yeah I think I'm going to wait about a month before I go make another hunt for them. Instead of hunting on the days I have off I'm going to work with my dog. I got some grouse wings and have a big backyard and a tree I just cut down so I am going to try working with them everyday. 
does anyone sell pen raised grouse that I'd be able to go to the field with? I'm thinking that if I work with him alot over the next month then I'll atleast have a small chance of him finding a grouse. 
what is the easiest bird to hunt in my area, Layton? I'm not stuck on grouse i just want a bird I can hunt!!
Thanks


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## SureShot

I think the best way to work your dog is to be hunting. I'd use your time that way.


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## Ryfly

hoghunter011583 said:


> castnblast said:
> 
> 
> 
> Let me just second what a difference having a dog that knows what it's doing makes.
> Last year was both mine and my dog's first year hunting grouse. We pretty much spent the fall wandering the hills like idiots (I think we killed 3 grouse).
> Over the summer I worked with live birds every chance I got and even bought grouse wings and grouse scent to use with fetching dummies. He knows exactly what he's looking for now and we've killed grouse every time but one this year.
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah I think I'm going to wait about a month before I go make another hunt for them. Instead of hunting on the days I have off I'm going to work with my dog. I got some grouse wings and have a big backyard and a tree I just cut down so I am going to try working with them everyday.
> does anyone sell pen raised grouse that I'd be able to go to the field with? I'm thinking that if I work with him alot over the next month then I'll atleast have a small chance of him finding a grouse.
> what is the easiest bird to hunt in my area, Layton? I'm not stuck on grouse i just want a bird I can hunt!!
> Thanks
Click to expand...

Easiest birds? The answer is still grouse. Unless your Pointers hunt ducks? The best way to "work" a bird dog is for that dog to find birds. The only way to find birds is to hunt. Taking them out in the hills and letting them figure out how to do it is the best thing you can do. Training with pen raised birds is for the off season in my opinion.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger

Define "easiest". Easy and convenient for you? Pheasants/quail over grouse in my mind. Easy birds for the dog? Forest Grouse. 
If the dog isn't having a ton of success and hasn't hunted much I'd for sure take him to a game farm and shoot some chukars over him. It'll help him get the switches turned on!


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## coydogg

I have been grouse hunting for around 7 years with out a dog. I manage to get about 4 birds a year going out 2 or 3 times. After hunting pheasants with out a dog, I would say grouse are waaaay harder to kick up. If everything goes as planned I will be hunting with a dog next year though. I have only been out once this year. Me and a friend went up to a spot where we ran into about 12-15 ruffies on the archery elk hunt 2 weeks prior. We decided to get up to the top of the mountain and camp out. We hiked all over and didnt see anything, except elk, deer, sheep, and a cougar. We got up there friday night and then hunted most the day on saturday. Sunday morning we packed up and kicked up a single bird about 50 yards away from camp. I had a 60 lb pack on could not get my gun up as good as I can normally and missed the bird by a mile I'm sure.


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## hoghunter011583

well, I guess I could work them while I am hunting. I think I'm going to just wait about a month till the brush thins out a bit, duck season is here and I am going to slaughter some birds finally, I hope!!

In the mean time I'll work with the dogs a little bit and then try my luck again once it thins out a bit.
Does is get a little easier to find grouse once the colder weather gets here and maybe even some snow?


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## scott_rn

hoghunter011583 said:


> Does is get a little easier to find grouse once the colder weather gets here and maybe even some snow?


It can be nice to see silhouette against the snow. I've seen a few from ski lifts while skiing.


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## hoghunter011583

Well I had a few hours this morning to try to get onto some grouse and I figured why not. So, I drove up to a higher elevation and found some more open areas, maple clumps with grass patches between them. Well, after hiking along a trail I was coming up on a clump of trees and I spoted movement right off the trail, I look closer and see the little chicken looking bird sneaking off and hear him clucking. I squat down and try for an open shot. I'm sorry I know the sporting thing is to let them flush, but for my first bird and after many miles on the boots in search of these guys I was totally ready to ground swat this guy!! Well, he didn't walk in between the trees I was aiming at, he just turned and went straight away and I didn't see where he went. 

I walked over the whole clump of maples and didn't flush him, I went into the next clump and still didn't fluch him. I started thinking he walked far enough away and flushed without me hearing him. So, I remembered a tip from one of you on here saying stop and look around and that might make them jump. I started walking 10 yards and then looking all around and after about the 3rd time swoosh from behind me in a small little patch of maple!! He flew behind the trees and I shot at him and BAM blew a small maple nearly in half!! I watched as the little sucker flew over the hillside and after much effort to try to find him again I had no luck and headed back.
I didn't even care that I missed, I found the kinda stuff they like to get into. So thanks a million guys for all the tips I think after each trip and then reading new comments you guys made I kept changing the areas a little bit, I started in big pines with no underbrush, then went to super thick scrub oaks that I could barely walk in, then rock canyons with maples. Then into more grassy rolling terrain with maples and oaks. 

Thanks again !!!


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