Late Season Ruffs

It's been a while since I went out specifically for Ruffed Grouse. Years ago, it was twice a week Sep thru Nov. We had a nice morning walk up a local canyon. The small trail worked out great for my little boy. Steve was down from Colorado for the weekend, we took Belle and Nifty for a 4 hour hunt. To say the least, we were spoiled. We had 9 points throughout the day. Belle's age is catching up to her, but you wouldn't have known that day. Ruffed Grouse are her cup o' tea. (She was on the receiving end of the twice a week schedule for her first 4+ years.) Nifty made some casts up high in the canyon resulting in heavy cover points. As usual most of the grouse escaped through the brush and timber, but we each managed to connect on one a piece. Steve's bird was a nice brown phase, and mine pictured below. This hunt was during the 2008 November heat wave. The following week we returned to an adjacent canyon. It wasn't so kind, however Nifty did manage to point one bird that I was able to put in the bag.



My first Ruffed grouse with the 28. I'm really liking this gun!