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Huey
11-20-2008, 12:00 PM
This was my first year hunting in BC and I was able to take some grouse during those hunts. I felt like I saw a handful every time I went out (reg 3,5,8). It was nice... I got to the point of being pretty picky with the size/type of grouse I would take.

Would you guys say this is a good year or slow year for grouse, I don't have anything to compare it too.

421fighter
11-20-2008, 12:13 PM
I have hunted 3-40 for a few years. Hole-in-the-wall area. There were far less grouse there this year. We took 2, but left the rest in the hopes they would rebuild.Now, wolf tracks were a different thing. Lots of them! Might have something to do with the few deer we saw? D P

Sasquatch
11-20-2008, 01:00 PM
This has been an average or below average year for me as far as numbers are concerned.

Found plenty in some areas and very few in others. I think we need a couple of nice dry springs to kick numbers back to where they were 2 years ago.

PGK
11-20-2008, 01:21 PM
This has been the worst year in a long time around PG. We haven't had a good year for almost ten years

Gateholio
11-20-2008, 01:37 PM
Lots of grouse encountered this year for me...Reg 2, 3, 5 and 7:tongue:

huntwriter
11-20-2008, 02:00 PM
I would say so. Lots of grouse where I hunt. Every time I go out I come home with a bunch of them. I wish I would see as many deer as I see grouse. I am heading out right now to look at a new deer spot, I am sure a few grouse will get a ride home with me.

Barracuda
11-20-2008, 02:37 PM
Seen almost none this year but then again since i no longer have my birddog with me i am not really as interested in hunting them so perhaps i am just not noticeing them.

Salty
11-20-2008, 03:45 PM
Saw quite a few in Region 8. Shot a couple but was there for deer so didn't bother with lots others. I saw a few coveys which is encouraging..

The island seems about the same as usualy these days - a few around, nothing to write home about. Not too bad a year everywhere where I visited considering the cold miserable June we had I figure. ..

weatherby_man
11-20-2008, 04:13 PM
I had a pretty good grouse hunting trip to the Cache Creek region earlier this year.

LeverActionJunkie
11-20-2008, 04:34 PM
I haven't been out hunting and not seen grouse, usually always while I'm still hunting deer though. Some areas didn't hold many birds but others have lots.

Steeleco
11-20-2008, 05:37 PM
Slow days here, lower reg 3 and 8 have produced lots in years past. We have taken them, but not in the numbers of years past.

one-shot-wonder
11-20-2008, 06:18 PM
I have taken a fair amount of grouse this year and passed on many more, hunting mostly region 3 & 8 but also in region 4 took quite a few too.

I have heard that the health of the spring hatch determines the population and hunting is a mere drop in the bucket, and can't detrement the population. Something like 85% mortality rate for yearlings. Any buddy else aware of this?

hoochie
11-20-2008, 06:29 PM
havent seen one in reg 2 this year.

bsa30-06
11-20-2008, 07:07 PM
I spent lots of time in the lytton area and i can tell you grouse numbers were definately down this year, as were the rabbitt numbers.

Bow Walker
11-20-2008, 07:09 PM
Been an exceptionally slow year for grouse in 1-2..............dagnabbit!

Huey
11-20-2008, 09:49 PM
Wow sounds like I must have ran into some beginners luck then... I can't wait till the numbers are good then!! Thanks for your help!

duckhunt
01-18-2009, 08:35 PM
It doesn't matter when I go I always see a lot of those little buggers.

frenchbar
01-18-2009, 08:46 PM
I get out alot hunting ,probably more than most and can say that this yr was a good yr for grouse numbers here in reg 3.bumped into a lot of Blues on my travels.

martyonthewater
01-18-2009, 09:22 PM
Wow sounds like I must have ran into some beginners luck then... I can't wait till the numbers are good then!! Thanks for your help!

don't forget your tags:shock::mad::sad:

Johnnybear
01-18-2009, 10:03 PM
don't forget your tags:shock::mad::sad:

Ahhh Horse Sh*t! We'll see..........:lol:.

Maybe I won't be laughing next year:eek:.

ElectricDyck
01-18-2009, 10:10 PM
I shot around 50 this year, maybe that's why I only shot 1 deer LOL. That's almost $65 bucks in tags if the rumors are true.:biggrin:

7mag700
01-18-2009, 10:13 PM
don't forget your tags:shock::mad::sad:

lol :razz:

Sigh :frown:

7m7

Sasquatch
01-18-2009, 10:57 PM
Grouse numbers were average most places I hunted last year. Didn't see near as many in the Boston Bar area as I usually do, but found lots of birds in other areas. Little Fort was better than most years.
Saw more blues than usual too.

Let's hope for a nice dry spring, that's what makes all the difference. If the chick mortality is low, there will be birds everywhere come fall.

Mr. Dean
01-19-2009, 02:27 AM
Where I've all hunted this year, I'd say it was a banner year for grouse.

Gunner
01-19-2009, 09:40 PM
Some areas we were in had plenty,others just a few.Around home the numbers were down,but we had a very wet spring and early summer which affects chick survival.Pheasant and quail brood numbers were down this year too.I've found over the years,dry,warm spring=lots of chickens! Gunner

stickbow
01-19-2009, 10:01 PM
Seen a few more than normal in reg2 this year and seen alot more than normal in reg 8

blacklab
01-20-2009, 07:25 AM
Ruffed seem to be as per usual, but saw and shot more blues than I have in years, Region 3.
Didn't see a lot in region 6 during late season moose hunt.
Didn't see any during late season region 4 deer hunt.

Leaseman
01-20-2009, 08:30 AM
Worse year I have seen in reg. 8, hunted there for 25 years and this year we took 4 or 5.........:?

BEARSLAYER
01-20-2009, 03:40 PM
grouse numbers are one thing I am always interested in.Over the last 10 years hunters have noticed rise and fall numbers with the weather. This can be true to a point but one factor some of us do not take into account is defoliant agents sprayed one large areas after logging.The ramifcations of these actions are two fold. One is that there are no new buds on aspen and other buck brush in the spring to feed chicks {or bears} but it also reduces the insect life which feeds on the new growth there by reducing food for the chicks. As an interesting sidebar to the thread on tags for grouse, if they really did it with an incubation program in mind it would fail. From as early as the 1920 s game keepers in Canada but more the US have tried and failed to intensify grouse populations. Grouse like no other bird with the possible exeption of hungarians will not be crowded in small cut blocks.

FlyingHigh
01-20-2009, 05:00 PM
i didn't see any in Region 2 last season, and I only saw about 5 in 3 trips in 3-30 last season. of course, i was hunting in october, so maybe i was out a little late.

kyleklassen
01-20-2009, 07:24 PM
not good on the south island

sneg
01-21-2009, 09:39 AM
For me:
1-6,1-7- not many.probably below average.
2-6 - plenty,too many.above average
2-18,2-19 -average year
3-19- average year
5-02 -plenty
6-09-plenty,too many. well above average
8-05,8-06-plenty,too many.well above average.

horshur
01-22-2009, 06:18 PM
Grouse numbers were average most places I hunted last year. Didn't see near as many in the Boston Bar area as I usually do, but found lots of birds in other areas. Little Fort was better than most years.
Saw more blues than usual too.

Let's hope for a nice dry spring, that's what makes all the difference. If the chick mortality is low, there will be birds everywhere come fall.

there were good numbers of blues in little fort this year but not so many ruffed as usual and a lack of spruce the last few years.

Fisher-Dude
01-22-2009, 09:04 PM
I saw tonnes of grouse in the E Koots, W Koots, and throughout the Okanagan last fall. Still have a big blue in the freezer. :smile:

I was surprised with the wet spring and summer we had that there were so many. They suffer about 85% mortality in their first year, whether they are hunted or not. Sucks to be a grouse!

PGK
01-22-2009, 09:19 PM
I saw tonnes of grouse in the E Koots, W Koots, and throughout the Okanagan last fall. Still have a big blue in the freezer. :smile:

I was surprised with the wet spring and summer we had that there were so many. They suffer about 85% mortality in their first year, whether they are hunted or not. Sucks to be a grouse!

hahaha :lol: Do you just yank these numbers from your rectum??

PGK
01-22-2009, 09:20 PM
And I don't remember if I posted here already, but like what others have said, pickings were slim to none in region 7A this year. I killed 12 over 16 days afield.

frenchbar
01-22-2009, 09:28 PM
And I don't remember if I posted here already, but like what others have said, pickings were slim to none in region 7A this year. I killed 12 over 16 days afield.Just over 1 an outing,adds up to lousy grouse hunter:wink: better stick to the ice fishin:razz:

kootenayelkslayer
01-22-2009, 09:38 PM
Just over 1 an outing,adds up to lousy grouse hunter:wink: better stick to the ice fishin:razz:

Better check your math :razz:

frenchbar
01-22-2009, 09:45 PM
Better check your math :razz:ha ha my mistake either way you look at it ,it still sucks:razz::lol:

Fisher-Dude
01-22-2009, 10:19 PM
hahaha :lol: Do you just yank these numbers from your rectum??

No, I pay attention when our regional biologist is speaking. What is the 'correct' percentage according to Tinney's Rules of Grouse Mortality?



"The early mortality of grouse chicks may be very high. Within a week or two of hatching, half of the hens may lose all their young, and the remainder may have broods about half the size of the clutch. Studies suggest that the early mortality may be largely due to the type of eggs produced by the hen. This, in turn, is influenced by her diet in winter and early spring, which provides the food reserves for unhatched chicks."

Okay Tinney, we're at 75% already, and they aren't even a week or two old. Care to start adding up predation during their first year now?

"The control of predators and disease does not offer much hope of increasing numbers of grouse. Hunting by humans has little effect on numbers. Most hunting is of young birds along the edges of roads and in openings, and many of these juveniles will die anyway. Other older and established grouse are deeper within the forest, where hunters have less success."

"Liberal game bags and a lengthy hunting season are a B.C. tradition for this province wide upland game bird species. "Hunting mortality tends to replace other mortality and is not additive." This statement from the Ministry of Environment, the managers of blue grouse, summarizes the reasons for these liberal limits and lengthy seasons. In discussions I have had with Dr. Zwickel, he indicated that hunters harvest only about 4% of blue grouse populations and are not a factor in their population."

Mr. Dean
01-23-2009, 12:29 AM
I was surprised with the wet spring and summer we had that there were so many.

Me too!

End of July we were seeing chicks-a-bouncing down all the ditches. Had to be very careful in not running the little buggers over. The forest was like a popcorn popper with chicks....

PGK
01-23-2009, 01:29 AM
Less than one a trip don't mean I'm a shitty grouse hunter. It means there ain't very many birds. I shot every grouse I saw in sept (6) and missed 4 for a total of 10 seen in oct. Never hunted birds in Nov.

In this region, shitty harvesting practices are taking out the birds. If they don't have a mixed age stand, they don't have good survival, and if West Fraser keeps on trying to nuke every deciduous species in the bush, they won't have anything to eat either. It's garbage what's going on up here. Timber companies are using PB salvage as an excuse to rape and pillage good doug fir and spruce stands.

frenchbar
01-23-2009, 07:04 AM
Less than one a trip don't mean I'm a shitty grouse hunter. It means there ain't very many birds. I shot every grouse I saw in sept (6) and missed 4 for a total of 10 seen in oct. Never hunted birds in Nov.

In this region, shitty harvesting practices are taking out the birds. If they don't have a mixed age stand, they don't have good survival, and if West Fraser keeps on trying to nuke every deciduous species in the bush, they won't have anything to eat either. It's garbage what's going on up here. Timber companies are using PB salvage as an excuse to rape and pillage good doug fir and spruce stands.Iwas just kidding around with ya:biggrin: the climate up there is a lot different up there as compared to down here in the Lillooet area and your numbers are no where near what they are here,i probably see on an average of 20 birds most of which are blues when im out hiking the bush around here or just out on the back roads on the quad for the day.its grouse heaven around here:-D oh by the way could ya tye up some of those beadhead pheasant tails you posted and send them to me im running low:wink: those work like a hot dam come late may early june one of my favorite flys thanx:wink:

Singleshotneeded
02-19-2009, 12:31 AM
:D I'd have to say the numbers of grouse in the east of Reg. 8 and west Okanagan were down this past year. A couple of years ago I was limiting out, but this past year it was 3 or 4 per day. A dry, warmer spring has a hugely positive effect on grouse numbers...

Black Bird
02-26-2009, 09:53 PM
I am pretty new to this - but on my one and only deer hunt I saw probably between 5 and 10 per day over 3 days just north of Kamloops (end of Oct).

I only took one head shot at one with a .22 I had in our vehicle (and missed!) Funny, just to show you how bad I am at this, I had a semi-auto .22 with probably about 5 rounds I loaded into it after getting out of the truck. I took my one shot, missed, and the grouse didn't even move! Instead of taking a 2nd or 3rd shot, I tried to sneak closer. Stupid! The bird was no more than 50m away from me and as soon as I moved a metre or two closer it skeedadled away!

Oh well, maybe this year...

Cheers,
BB

Hotwheels81
02-26-2009, 10:51 PM
Was seeing approx 2-3 per km of driven FSR in the mable lake / kingfisher area last summer/fall... in the earlier spring the same region had alot of healthy looking chick's... by late fall in mid afternoon i was flushing the odd bird (and moose) every 500-800yrd's on the powerline rite of ways.

sugar lake past the 30km marker has alot of good grouse habitat and activity as well...

a long cold spring and sudden cold snap's really hurt nesting bird's and are not good for chick's... only so many chick's fit under a hen's body and a sudden chill will kill a chick...


I only took one head shot at one with a .22 I had in our vehicle (and missed!) Funny, just to show you how bad I am at this, I had a semi-auto .22 with probably about 5 rounds I loaded into it after getting out of the truck. I took my one shot, missed, and the grouse didn't even move! Instead of taking a 2nd or 3rd shot, I tried to sneak closer. Stupid! The bird was no more than 50m away from me and as soon as I moved a metre or two closer it skeedadled away!

there are alot of feathers on a grouse... i have shaved feathers off a few in my day and its only evident when you see the "gray mist" on the ground where the bird was standing how close you came to havin a fresh lunch... keep trying! they are tastey critters :P

5 spike
02-27-2009, 06:41 AM
good numbers of grouse this year in region 1 and 5 we saw alot more than in previous years.

hunterofthedeer
04-02-2009, 02:05 AM
seen 15 west of williams lake one weekend but nothing much around PG

Singleshotneeded
04-02-2009, 11:52 AM
:smile: Hopefully this spring weather improves or this fall will be awful!