Another Success Story from Grouse Camp

One of the dogs that attended our summer wild bird program was Jagger, Justin Evan's young setter.  Jag got a lot of exposure on wild birds and settled into a good hard hunting, forward pattern.  Justin messaged me that Jagger placed third in the Derby at West Branch today.  I'm sure that this will be one of many placements for this very nice young setter.

I've been hunting with Tony and the Great Carnoski the last couple of days and we have been having good luck finding woodcock although it does not seem like the flights have really started yet.  We always seem to get a lot of movement early in the season as the the native birds become more active as they try to feed more and add fat for the migration south.  The birds I cleaned today were the first I have seen this year with any substantial fat deposits.  As of today, including the three days in New Brunswick, I have seen 180 woodcock in front of the dogs.  Most of those have been pointed although many of the puppy points have been brief.  Grouse numbers are definitely down from last year which was exceptional.  To date we have counted 98 grouse.  

A limit of woodcock from today's hunt.