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Am I the only one?....


setterguy

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Addicted to grouse hunting? Am I the only one that already has my chaps and vest out of the closet and ready to go? Am I the only one that has been scouting for over a month now? Am I the only one that lives in the best grouse state in the union but still drives 600 miles every year for just a little better action? Am I the only one that thought about naming his first born Aspen?

My buddies think I'm nuts for hunting by myself for days at a time, trying to outsmart and locate a bird that more often than not I will surely miss anyhow. I guess thats what I do enjoy about it, the fact that its not a rich mans sport (yet). Anyone with a 870 and a pair of boots can get out there and bust the brush just as well as the guy with the 40,000 dollar suburban and Citori over/under. Tell me I'm not alone, tell me there is at least one more like me, or tell me I'm crazy...just like everyone else.

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Don't know what to tell you. I'm addicted, but I'm just more addicted to bowhunting, there's a lot more deer than there are grouse around my parts, so I just hunt them instead. It sure is fun to hunt grouse though, especially from Thanksgiving on. Christmas Day is one of my favorite times to hunt grouse when I can get away with it.

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You are crazy smile.gif I also feel the need to be out in the woods and having the sh!t scared out of my when they flush out from under your feet. Shells organized, boots oiled, chaps waxed, vest cleaned, and gun oiled. So I am just as crazy as you except for the scouting just can't give up the fishing time yet!!
If you ever need a person to go with just leave a note here.
Ron

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Setterguy...how is grouse hunting in late November. I plan on being back on my feet and out in the field by then? Is all grouse hunting hard or can a guy walk some easy stuff...taking it easy...I won't be in good enough shape to do a lot of brush busting...if you know what I mean?

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Willie,

Grouse hunting in late November through December is some of the best you'll find (at least in my experience). At that time of the year grouse like to huddle together in groups of up to 5 to 10. So if you miss that first shot, keep your gun at the ready because more often than not there'll be a couple more to come. Plus you can't beat being out in that crisp, early winter Minnesota air. Don't get me wrong, early season grouse hunting is a blast, but I prefer the latter part myself.

Happy Hunting,
Schaap

[This message has been edited by schaapj (edited 08-18-2004).]

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I am just as addicted to grouse hunting as the lot of ya! Even only at the age of 15! It started out with the purchase of that 325$ 870 express super magnum combo. Then when we sanded the wood to stain it i knew i had something that i would love to do for the rest of my life... Now i am just adding fuel to my internal fire of grouse hunting by getting a lifetime liscense. The real enjoyment though is when (in 6 days)ill be able to drive down that road all by myself with the windows down and 20 degrees outside waiting for the sight of that first bird to get out and chase the covey! It will be like you guys an addiction for the rest of my life. Not in a way just for the meat, but more for the hunt than anything. I feel like i belong out in the woods and thats where i hope i stay...

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Willie - If you are back on your feet we could make it out for sure sometime. Great thing about pointing dogs, walk the trail until you hear the bell stop then you just go in and flush. I usually don't walk trails, I just follow my dog wherever he/she may take me. But you and I had talked last year about setting something up for this fall so I could make an exception smile.gif. This is an open invitation to anyone here on this board, if you ever want to get out and enjoy a day in the woods just leave a post here. I don't work in the winter time so I am out chasing ruffies whenever I can.

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Setterguy – hope to see you Oct 2nd at Rick's farm in Princeton for the 2nd annual FM pheasant hunt. We can discuss and make plans for a late October/early November grouse trip then. Maybe I can walk the easy stuff while you bust through the rough stuff.

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What a good deal for you! LOL! Absolutely, hope everything goes well under the knife, see you on the second.

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hey kingkidfisher nice to know there is some other youngins on this site. im 15 also but sadly i dont get my liecens till march after hunting is done. we should hook up sometime and do some pheasant and grouse hunting i live in southern minnesota so maybe next year we could meet up some place.

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drop me an email riverrat and we could maybe set something up! you could take us pheasent hunting down there and well take you grousing up here or something of the sort! drop me an emial! [email protected]
The Kid

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Worked the dog again last night and now I have the fever. I have seen a couple of trees turning and the geese go over every morning. Nothing like the flutter of wings in the morning while in the woods.

Need to hunt soon.

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This cold weather has been getting me going. It REALLY felt like a crisp October day walking the woods looking and listening for Grouse. I have a group of 6-8 GOOD friends whom make an annual hunting trip up by Northhome for 3 or 4 days every October. I cant wait! I love deer hunting, but there is something about being out on a nice cool sunny day lookin for birds!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Fun, fun, fun!!! I'm addicted to pheasant hunting but I've thoroughly enjoyed grouse hunting the few times I've done it. Especially the last time I went. I learned a lot my last trip for ruffies a few years ago and am looking forward to learning more in the next few years with my new charge. It's more about the dog work for me. I'll hunt anything that will at least occasionally sit for a pointer (except skunks). My motto is "if it flies it dies". I'll probably go this year just to get the pup and myself some team work experience before pheasant season starts.

Suzuki, you are talking about grouse breasts, right??? ;^)

[This message has been edited by gspman (edited 09-13-2004).]

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[This message has been edited by Suzuki (edited 09-13-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Suzuki (edited 09-14-2004).]

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • monstermoose78
      As long as the birds don’t fly I am good. I can catch fish through the ice fairly well. 
    • MarkB
      My cousin and I just returned from beautiful Lake Vermilion after 4.5 days of the most spectacular walleye fishing you could ever hope for. Usually our mutual friend joins us but his father passed away and he had to opt out. We arrived late Saturday afternoon and packed things up after our morning outing Wednesday. We stopped at Cabelas on the way up and found them to be sold out of pike suckers. While they had them, they were charging 99 cents each! We then stopped at Harris bait shop and found a help yourself situation that was also out of pike suckers. They sold them while available for 6 for $6! We eventually found them locally for the same price as last year. During our stay, we used pike suckers, rainbow mix, and crawlers. The walleyes hit them all but, I believe, the rainbow mix caught the most, the crawlers were almost as productive, and the pike suckers produced the biggest fish.  We caught them in depths ranging from 13' to 27'. They were in the rocks and in the mud depending on the time of day. We caught walleyes all day every day with 5 o'clock PM to ~7 o'clock PM being optimum for quantity. The weather was absolutely HORRIBLE with high winds and non-stop rain early in the trip. Boat control was very difficult and I struggled to keep our speed around that .4mph to .6mph. Hits were fast and furious but the hit to catch ratio was at best 5 or more hits to one catch . We stuck with the 1oz bottom bouncers, 3 red beads, and a size 2 hook for the big suckers. I found a shorter 3' leader to be most effective. We caught 153 walleyes on our trip and I would bet we had at least 5 times that many hits!. Now, with all that said, we don't feed line to walleyes to help avoid gut hooks and that certainly gives rise to a poor hook-up ratio. We ate fish twice and brought home our limits. Everything else went back. The walleyes ranged in size from ~13" to 26". We caught lots of slot fish and fair numbers of 15"-19" fish. In addition, we caught 10 smallmouth and only one jumbo. Our really big fish were never landed. My cousin had a true giant walleye laying on top of the water right beside the boat and grabbed her by the base of the tail in an attempt to scoop her into the boat. She was having none of that and with a major flop, snapped the leader. We didn't use a net because I forgot it at the dock. Getting old is a bitch. I had two different walleyes(I'm sure) hooked on Tuesday that came off directly below the boat. Both fish I thought were snags when they hit. Anyone who thinks walleyes don't fight have never caught a truly big one. Both fish ran off several yards of line while fighting to get free. Eventually they both succeeded. I would hesitate to say how big I think my cousins fish was that he had beside the boat, but, my wife and I have caught some really big walleyes in Lake Vermilion and I know what a big walleye looks like. That walleye was absolutely enormous.  We've decided to bring my cousin's two sons back up for a short trip a little later on. Hopefully, the walleyes will still be in a feeding frenzy. Lastly, I usually like to include pictures with my posts. I have a big problem this time, I got a new phone and I know nothing about transferring the pictures. That will be remedied when we come back up. In the meantime....... Good Fishing, MarkB🙂
    • leech~~
      I don't think Moose needs my help, he seems to do pretty well with the ice fishing and grouse hunting by the pictures! 👌
    • smurfy
      looks to me like your gonna need to be on the ice ALOT to get them all checked out!!!!!!!👍🙄 mayhaps Leech could help ya out!!!!   at least he wouldnt be "accidently" locking any more threads!!!!!!🤗🤣🥴
    • monstermoose78
      I got some cool jigs this year this a picture from Slab Bait Shop. The 2nd to last photo is one of my jig boxes with them in it. The last photo has some Macula jigs and if your eyes are getting old these are awesome to tie!! I won the auction for the last photo so I got all of the plastics and jigs.
    • leech~~
      I was shocked to see I was the one that locked it out.  I think I was just made a mod around then, so yeah just clicking buttons!   
    • Rivergroup
    • slipperybob
      Blame it on the big fat left finger for clicking on lock. 😄 Or maybe just wanting a new 23-24 season thread?  
    • Wakemupwalleye
      Haven’t fished crappie this time of year. I’m on the west end this weekend and would love some tips. Thanks!
    • smurfy
      quit hanging out at a certain public access by Remer!!!!!!!🤗🤣   i'll be headed up in about 12 days!!!!!!!!
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