Here Come the Thudds

It was 30 degrees when we broke away Frankie in the No Name Cover yesterday morning.  He looks better every time I see him.  He's still not back to his pre-accident conditioning but he's gaining every day.  The birds were scarce this morning but he did have a beautiful find on a grouse.  He really is a chip off the block of his sire Stokely's Al B that was without a doubt one of the best grouse dogs I've ever seen in a trial or had the pleasure of hunting over.  If I was still running shags Frankie would be my kind of dog.

Bee was up next and had a couple of nice grouse finds in the Secret Cover followed by Steve Groy's Gracie dog who is a nice young setter.  Gracie ran in the 100 Bird Cover but many of the woodcock that were there earlier moved out Monday night.  She still managed to did out a half dozen or more and Steve got to do some "training."  Tony managed to get a shot a at one and knocked it down for her.

By the time we got LJ out up at the Orchard the high sun in a clear sky had warmed the day into the high 50s, but it felt much warmer.  We had a couple of grouse we walked up along the road and one non-productive in a likely looking place for a grouse.   Then as we were getting close to the trucks LJ went up the hill into the alders and apples and stopped.  Stevie went to the right and Lloyd to the left.  I went to the dog and found him standing high and tight with the look that said there was a bird in front of him.  A grouse went Lloyd's way and about all he could manage in the heavy cover is a salute.

After that I called it a day and went it did the shopping for the weekend as Big Thudd is due tonight with steaks and some friends from Michigan.  Rumor has it that his trainer has finally agreed to let him have Little Thuddy back for the rest of the hunting.  He should have some fun as the Little Thuddster is turning into one heck of a bird dog.  Today Tommy and I are hunting and should be heading out shortly Although it probably won't be a full day as the afternoon temperatures are predicted to be close to 70.  Next week looks more like grouse weather with some ran and overcast days.  I'm also sure there are more woodcock to come through before the season closes November 14th.

A First Grouse

Craig "Smith," one of Tommy's clients who came in from Illinois to for a mixed hunt that includes moose, bear and birds with his first ever ruffed grouse that was pointed by Veronica.

Yesterday I played the role of assistant guide as Tommy had some folks in from Illinois who had a moose permit.  They shot a nice 40" bull on Monday and wanted to try bird hunting on Tuesday.  Tommy just has Veronica and a pack of Plott hounds so I offered to supply a little extra dog power.  We started the day with Veronica and she put a few grouse a couple of grouse in front of the guns and Craig (last name withheld) managed to knock down his first grouse.  He then got a few chances on woodcock over LJ and got one of those as well again his first.  Jack put on a heck of a show at the third cover with two woodcock finds four grouse finds the grouse shots were all pretty tough but we managed to get another woodcock.  Trip also pointed both birds but we failed to get one for her.  By about 2:00 and four dogs run the "Smiths" after three days of moose hunting decided to head out for their sea duck hunt in Maine this morning.  Tomorrow they are going back out with Tommy in hopes of getting a bear over his dogs.

Today is a school day and usually don't hunt but Tommy wanted to go out for one hunt and we moved around a dozen grouse and one woodcock with Veronica in the Secret Cover.  Tommy and I each got a  grouse and Tommy got the woodcock.  Tomorrow I'm back hunting with Tony and his entourage.

Too Busy Hunting

Alex Rikert going in on one of Frankie's points this morning.

Steve Groy and Alex Rickert wait for Tony to send out a woodcock.  Alex got this one.

Yesterday we started the day with four of us hunting -- Tony, me, and Mr. & Mrs. Carney. The 100 Bird Cover came up a little short today as we only moved 37 woodcock with Mo (Joe McCarl's dog) pointing many of them.  Then we got mixed up with the Big Thudd and a couple of his internet buddies -- Jeff from southern New Hampshire and Alex Rickert from Montana.  We split up for a hunt with Jeff and Lloyd going with me while I ran Jack and ALex and Timmy went with Tony to see the Little Thuddster go. There seemed to have been some confusion over when to shoot as the grouse Little Thuddy pointed escaped with out a shot.   We went up high with Jack and he had two grouse finds in tough windy conditions and Lloyd knocked one down.  We then took The Rig to another spot where we moved some grouse and a woodcock -- Alex shot one of each over points.  Then it was The Missile's turn -- only her second outing of the season -- and she had a nice find on a woodcock and stopped where some grouse had just gotten up and one landed in clear view in a tree.  Alex was given papal dispensation from Tony to shoot the bird and he walked towards it just as it flew he snagged a foot in a branch and almost fell.  The grouse needless to say flew away without a scratch.  the final hunt of the day was in the home cover where we moved a half dozen woodcock and a 2 grouse most of which were pointed but the cover was thick and we didn't get any good shots.

This morning we went back to the 100 Bird Cover with Steve Groy and Renzo who seemed a little baffled by the quantity of woodcock.  we moved 33 of the little bogsuckers -- he pointed a few -- and Lloyd knocked down 1.  It really is a miserable place to shoot.  LJ ran second and had a half dozen finds on 8 woodcock and 2 grouse.  The woodcock twice came up in pairs and Steve and Alex each got one.  Frankie ran in the Cemetery and Alex got two woodcock over three finds.   Gracie got a dry cover and we didn't move any birds.  Then Trash ran in a little corner where we moved a couple woodcock and a pair of grouse with one woodcock in the bag.   Alex then had to head out to his next hunting appointment in Maine.  We hunted one more woodcock flight cover that only had two woodcock one of which was killed.  However we moved six grouse.  It's hard to keep track with that many birds in the air but the total for the day was somewhere around 48 woodcock and 11 grouse.