South Central ontario Grouse

[seabast]

Not sure if it'd help but a few I shot last week were full of that. (Just smaller)
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[phaedrus_dh]

Up north, I walk clear trails/"roads" quickly, but somewhat quietly, it will put you in front of a lot of birds and give you lots of chances for shots. Down here I walk super slow and as quietly as possible and try to walk from one likely spot to another. As my confidence has increased from getting some birds this way down south, I do it sometimes up north and it is successful but because you do cover less ground a trail walker can still get about the same number of birds. Same way a guy on an atv can get a limit bunch of birds. Personal preference.

Up north I will sometimes follow a flush/miss depending on a number of factors but down here I will almost always follow a flush no matter what since I might only get a couple in a day.

i hunt in the Frontenac Twps. (SE Ont.) i think the above is pretty good advice, but i would add that if you walk too slowly you can end up wasting a lot of time without seeing birds.

i walk trails quickly (but quietly), pausing often. birds will flush after a few seconds sometimes, because they get nervous, whereas if you were walking fast, you would walk right by.

if i'm off-trail, the slow approach is better, but i try not to waste time in areas where i don't expect to see birds. in the areas i hunt, i rarely see birds in hardwoods. they are mostly in mixed forest, or around the perimeter of cedar/hemlock stands.

what i love most about grouse is having to think like a bird to anticipate where they might be feeding, which is usually not too far from their roost. i've gotten a lot better at picking out small poplar and birch stands where they eat catkins, or areas of clover.

similarly, i always try to think about where they're headed with every flush so that i can follow them. it's usually 40-60 yards away and under the cover of conifers or branches.

[anglodrkns]

Finding this thread years late. But these southern grouse really are distant flushers. I have only ever flushed maybe a couple dozen but have almost never actually seen them in flight. If you ever ended up finding a trick OP let me know.

[finsfurfeathers]

Finding this thread years late. But these southern grouse really are distant flushers. I have only ever flushed maybe a couple dozen but have almost never actually seen them in flight. If you ever ended up finding a trick OP let me know.

Find your self a couple of good setters, no guarantee but it helps

[anglodrkns]

I am currently waiting for a litter to be conceived but have a Picardy Spaniel in my future. Hoping that will help

[Badenoch]

I see grouse in my southern Ontario bush lot frequently and they flush hard and fast. In heavy cover they are impossible to see but later in the reason you can spot them in flight.

The difference in behavior is due to predation. The threat in the south comes from the ground so the birds learn to flush more. In the north the greater threat is from hawks and the birds tend to stay on the ground more.

[finsfurfeathers]

I am currently waiting for a litter to be conceived but have a Picardy Spaniel in my future. Hoping that will help

In the mean time I rent out my dogs they work for kibble and heck I'll throw in the handler for free

[anglodrkns]

Im booked up for hunting time this year but might have to take you up on that next year