grouse hunting with dogs?

[ajr5406]

Curious how many grouse hunters use a dog when hunting vs not? Does using a dog make that much of a difference?

I don't have a dog but we are looking and getting one in the future.

[OKsean]

I don't use a dog. Would like to in the future though. Mostly walking old logging roads and cruising fsr's. I seem to do ok.

[Big Lew]

I currently use one for retrieving. I used to use one for flushing them
out of thick bush. It was quite effective and a lot of fun. It's best if
the dog is trained for it though. You should be able to send it in the
direction you wish....out, in, left, right, etc.

[dakoda62]

Used mine once, a Golden Retriever. He would flush, but would not retrieve. lol

[ACB]

Curious how many grouse hunters use a dog when hunting vs not? Does using a dog make that much of a difference?

I don't have a dog but we are looking and getting one in the future.

I used my old Female Black Lab to flush grouse once. I sent her to flush the bird and the bird went up about 2 1/2 feet tearing through the pines and my dog right on it's tail. Couldn't shoot the bird for fear of shooting my dog as well. So if we were out grouse hunting and saw some I would make her heal and then shoot the bird, then send her for the retrieve. No flushing. Hunting around thick bush is a different thing. It would be just like Pheasant hunting in thick bush, when the bird flushes it goes up and out of the way of the dog. Sometimes when we were driving a FS road and see some grouse, we would get out and shoot the grouse and toss it in to the bush and then go get the old girl out to find it and retrieve it.

[1/2 slam]

I have 3 English Pointers. Only one hunts now the other 2 are retired. They are a lot of fun to hunt behind. They find and hold the birds (in theory) until I can get up for a shot. It's a lot of fun. In addition to old logging roads I hunt some timber and old open slashes with them. Most guys think that grouse hunting is driving roads and shooting the birds on the side. Yes you can do well doing this but a well trained bird dog is an absolute pleasure to hunt behind. You have to be careful when the birds flush. Let them clear your dog safely before shooting. This means that sometimes there is no shot. And to answer your question hunting behind a well trained bird dog makes a big difference.

[835]

dogs make a masive difference.. BUT!
if you are the guy who uses a 22 for grouse when you are going home from your morning hunt.. you will never know the difference.. i am sorry that is very "General" but..what i am trying to say is some people dont care enough about birds to see how much fun they can be hunted properly...

to see the difference you need to want to hunt birds... not just kill them incidentally. I am going with my wife, kid and father with our 2 labs for a week.. just for birds.
you need to have a properly trained dog,, not just think your dog is "Birdy" i mean need to buy a proper gun dog from proper lines and put in a bit of effort training it...... "Prey drive"

my dog will go out off the road and push the bird back on the road ( if all works well!) you can walk a road and know there is nothing on it, know there was a bird on it yesterday,, know if there was one there this am.... or now.. all by the reaction of the dog.... you also do not need to worry about lost birds... the dog gets them.... All of them...

hunting behind a good dog is like nothing else.... and you will never know untill you do it.... I can go on for days about dogs and Upland....
quick story,,,,
many years ago, when there was alot of blues on the island... We hunted Springers, a flusher... mostly because well,, according to Rob, my great uncle.. they are the only dog for island Blues and all else is inferior! lol
Buck, My Second Cousin Claudes dog was one of the last truely great dogs i hunted behind..... Buck was borrowed by a Friend of Claudes. They went out hunting... The guy let Buck out. In a bit he had put up a bird, to which the guy missed...
Buck Upped another,,,, missed... Then a third,,, missed. Buck walked back to the car. No Shit. Guy was given 3 chances and failed..... lol

Bottom line... Yes i hunt Grouse with my dog, to tell all the stories of Chase the dog in my avtar would take beer,, alot of it. If you dont train the dog and you dont know how to hunt the dog... you will never understand.
But if you do, if you put in the time to learn and train..... there is nothing like a Working dog working it out.

[ajr5406]

Interesting... Somthing i'd love to get into as well.

While on the topic of Grouse, what about guns? Is a 12 gauge overkill? I know lots of guys use .22's as well. Any advantage either way?

[wideopenthrottle]

12 guage works great...just aim a little high so you keep the pellets out of the meat

[835]

Yes it is over kill.. BUT!
the beauty of the 12 is diversity... you can hunt alot more stuff with one.... As wide open throttle has pointed out
"Aim a lil high" shoot them in the head when sitting.. in flight you just need to get good at judging distance.
I come from a very umm,,,,, my way or highway Grouse family...... 20Ga and Springers,,, the first shotgun i bought was a 12ga 870 Wingmaster,, my uncle ,,, Was not so inlove with that move.... i did it for the ducks...
Later on my Uncle was just unable to handle the fact i could not afford a good 20 double, he went to his passed on Cousins sone and asked for Jacks Shotgun to give to me..... Jacks son diod not shoot or hunt, the gun had been in the closet for near 20 years.... so Rob Gave Me Jacks Grulla SXS 210E 20Ga.

my honest advice for you is Get a 12gage pump,,, 870 or BPS both should set you back about 300$ if you have a smidge more money get a Benelli Nova.
Loads of guys swear by 22 or 410.... i think the 12 will offer you more things to do with one gun.