Grouse, Grouse, and More Grouse

The mild winter is being kind to the grouse of Northern New Hampshire. This time of year we usually are just running dogs on a dead end road to start getting them in shape. This year there is so little snow that we are running them in the same place we usually use, but were finding birds. Yesterday, in our first brace Trash and Trip ran and Trash had a stop to flush on a grouse and Tony and I walked one up. On the second brace Ker B and LJ went birdless but ran well over the same ground. On the brace, still in the same spot, we ran Jack and Frankie. Jack had a limb find where I saw one bird get up before I got to him. Then I saw him, took a couple more steps, and a second bird got up, then a third. I collared him and called for Tony to come see the cover the birds were in. While I was waiting for him a fourth bird got up. Frankie came in and he locked up and we flushed a fifth bird out of tree. Then as we were walking down the road to get back to the trucks another bird flew out of the woods and landed in the gravel on the edge of the road about 50 yards in front of us, saw Tony, and flew right back into the woods. That made 8 grouse. When Katie got home we took Jack and LJ for a short walk on leashes just before sunset. When we got back to the yard, we turned the dogs lose. LJ ran up to the house and then made a b-line to the edge of the yard where the deer often come out. I was a little concerned so I followed him. When I got around the house we was locked up at the edge of the woods. His father came in and backed. LJ took a couple of steps and stopped when I whoa'd him. As I went to him a grouse thundered up and deeper into the woods for a total of Nine grouse in the afternoon. Earlier in the day I had been driving to town and a grouse flew across the road in front of the truck. That made 10 grouse for the day -- there have been years here when we could hunt all day and not see 10 grouse.