# Ruffled grouse



## SuzanChaffin (Nov 26, 2013)

Woke up to this pair of ruffled grouse near our camp saturday. Male was strutting around, showing off his tail feathers for his girlfriend in the tree. 

I have never hunted grouse.... Is this pretty common that they don't mind people around them? We stood within 10' of them.


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## Skally (Apr 20, 2012)

ya grouse are usually kinda dumb birds... they still outsmart me most the time tho


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## #1DEER 1-I (Sep 10, 2007)

Yes grouse usually let you get pretty close, especially ruffies. Grouse are cool birds, but they aren't quite as smart and don't act like other upland species.


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## mr.seven (Sep 18, 2007)

*ruffed grouse*

hey tex this is how i want them to look


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## Trooper (Oct 18, 2007)

Actually, they are super smart. They can recognize the difference between a rifle and a shotgun; and if they know you are completely disarmed they may well attack you. 

Also, it's "ruffed" not "ruffled" despite their ruffled appearance when showing off.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Trooper said:


> Actually, they are super smart. They can recognize the difference between a rifle and a shotgun .


I actually have proved that wrong while hunting in Colorado where it is legal to use a high power rifle on them. Not to mention a sling shot and a .22.

Perhaps there is a different species in Colorado that Utah doesn't have that allows themselves to be shot with a rifle.


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## Mr.CheddarNut (Jan 16, 2013)

Trooper said:


> and if they know you are completely disarmed they may well attack you.
> .


I learned this over the summer.


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## SuzanChaffin (Nov 26, 2013)

G


Trooper said:


> Actually, they are super smart. They can recognize the difference between a rifle and a shotgun; and if they know you are completely disarmed they may well attack you.
> 
> Also, it's "ruffed" not "ruffled" despite their ruffled appearance when showing off.


Thank you for the correction. "Ruffed".


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Trooper said:


> Also, it's "ruffed" not "ruffled" despite their ruffled appearance when showing off.


And after being hit with a load of #6's :mrgreen:

-DallanC


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Cool pic, I'm surprised to see that one strutting this time of year. I don't see many that have the brown tail feathers either. Most that I see are gray.


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## redleg (Dec 5, 2007)

Grouse think they are safe when they are in a tree. That works better in evergreens than in quakies. Shooting them in the trees is like shooting chuckers running on the ground shooting ducks floating on a lake or shooting turkeys in their roosts.


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

They still taste delicious when you shoot them out of a tree.


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## redleg (Dec 5, 2007)

You are right. and the bird doesn't care how you shoot it.:EAT::EAT:


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## hawglips (Aug 23, 2013)

In the east, grouse do not act this way. They are much more wary and skittish than Rocky Mountain birds.


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## Lonetree (Dec 4, 2010)

Very nice pic. Even though it was strutting, that is a female ruffed grouse.You can tell by the two central tail feathers that are not banded. Young birds probably, that's why they were behaving the way they were. Older ruffed grouse can be quite the challenge, they are quick flyers in the tight stuff.


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## Lonetree (Dec 4, 2010)

svmoose said:


> Cool pic, I'm surprised to see that one strutting this time of year. I don't see many that have the brown tail feathers either. Most that I see are gray.


The brown tail is called red phase, we have red and grey phase birds here in Utah, mostly grey. There is an altitude/North-South thing that goes on with the color phases, I forget all the details.


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