First small game hunt... Left with questions...

[5.56mm]

Hello everyone,

i have been been studying the forum quite a bit for the last couple months. I finally did my CORE, got my license and found time to go explore.

I went to to an area that is supposed to have a very healthy Hare population, as well as grouse and some big game.

I drove into a good place to park on this FSR and proceeded to walk along the FSR in couple kilometre increments, didn't see a single viable game target until I went back to my vehicle the last time, I startled a ruffled grouse that turned out to be a covy of ruffled and when I stepped on a stick , they spooked.

i should add that I'm bow hunting.

so here are my questions...


should i have walked into the bush instead of walk the roads?

Is is it common for grouse to stay hidden until mid-day?

is it common to not see any rabbit, in a healthy rabbit populated area?

thanks all, still had a blast walking and hiking with my son.

Jon

[monasheemountainman]

they are tiny little animals with tiny little brains...just practice..if you don't see anything try somewhere else. best time for chickens is in the am when the sun is out, they will be on the roads eating little stones, or at dusk, where they will usually fly into a tree if they are scared. boom boom dead...

[hare_assassin]

so here are my questions...


should i have walked into the bush instead of walk the roads?

Not necessarily. I have had great success with both hare and grouse just walking roads.

Is is it common for grouse to stay hidden until mid-day?

No. Not really. Usually they are down on the roads warming up and gravelling when the first sun hits the road. They may do this mid-day sometimes. Then they do it again near late afternoon and as late as dusk.

is it common to not see any rabbit, in a healthy rabbit populated area?

Yes. Absolutely. I have had situations where I shot 9 one day in a very "harey" area and the very next day I saw zero... in exactly the same area. Then go back the following week and they are everywhere again. Just the way it is.

[adriaticum]

I've noticed that grouse will hang out in the same spots always.
So if you see a grouse in an area there will be others and you will be able to always find grouse there.
I was exploring a mountain that had 6 different FSRs and only one branch had grouse.
And every time I go there I see a grouse or two while none of the others had any.

[hare_assassin]

I've noticed that grouse will hang out in the same spots always.

My experience coincides with this. Furthermore, if you flush a grouse from a spot along the trail and he loses you, keep an eye on that exact spot the next time you are out hunting. Very often the same bird will be in the same spot at the same time of the day. I got 3 of them like that this year. I got so familiar with the trails that I knew exactly where to expect the timid little buggers to be.

[Fella]

Your best bet is probably to stay on the road for grouse as they blend in pretty well with their surroundings if they're in the bush. I've come across grouse off the road that I didnt know were there until I was literally a foot or two away and they'd flushed up into a tree and I don't feel comfortable shooting up into the air with my .30-06...

[Rackem]

Grouse will stay in the original area for years. i have had "pet" grouse that live in a 20 foot radius under a tree. They will stay for days under the snow if the weather is yucky...



Ptarmigan seem even more attached to a particular bush, when we were sheep hunting, we tried to drive one out of a bush but he stubbornly refused to leave it for more than a minute or two...he really loved that bush!

[Singleshotneeded]

Hello everyone,

i have been been studying the forum quite a bit for the last couple months. I finally did my CORE, got my license and found time to go explore.

I went to to an area that is supposed to have a very healthy Hare population, as well as grouse and some big game.

I drove into a good place to park on this FSR and proceeded to walk along the FSR in couple kilometre increments, didn't see a single viable game target until I went back to my vehicle the last time, I startled a ruffled grouse that turned out to be a covy of ruffled and when I stepped on a stick , they spooked.

i should add that I'm bow hunting.

so here are my questions...


should i have walked into the bush instead of walk the roads?

Is is it common for grouse to stay hidden until mid-day?

is it common to not see any rabbit, in a healthy rabbit populated area?

thanks all, still had a blast walking and hiking with my son.

Jon

Hi Jon, I agree with my fellow HBC'ers. Grouse have great camo, your best bet is finding them on a road on a sunny morning or later afternoon. You drive around and find a road that has grouse and you'll find them there again. They generally prefer being in the sun until late morning, then coming out again in the latter part of the afternoon, in my experience. Especially if it's been raining for several days and then you get a sunny day, on that sunny day you'll see grouse on the roads and often all through the day. I've found good areas for hares are roads that climb up into the hills and have deciduous brush on the road edges and conifers behind that. Once you've found a good snowshoe hare area then you'll see them there every evening within an hour of sunset. I've walked or driven into the beginning of a good area, shot one there, moved further on and shot another, and then one more at the further end of the good area...I kept an eye on the km markers, the good areas are often 3-4 km in length. I then turned around, waited a few minutes, and shot two more hares as I headed downhill through their area...the last one at the very end of shooting light. Hope this helps!

[ruger#1]

A good dog sure helps. Let the dog do the leg work. I have found more grouse with my dogs then walking without them.

[B-rad]

As far as grouse,,,,,,,,8-9 am is the time I like to start huntin chickens on the forestry roads,,,,they need a bit of time to drop out of their roost to forage for food,,,then they will end up on or very close to the roads,,,,this why I prefer to hunt on foot,,,,many many times I've been walking and road hunters will drive by and I will see or hear a bird right off the road the road hunters just drove by within min.,,,,easy to miss a bird cause of their camo,,,but walking u can hear their clucks and movement,,,,love hunting kamloops blues,,ruffies and higher up spruce,,,,,as far as rabbit,,,,pick an area u know have bunnies,,,,,they will be on sides of road literally as it gets light out,,,and very close to dark,,they love the clover as do the grouse,,,anyways good luck to ya,,,,and happy trails,,,,B-rad