Western Pitt Lake, north of Dennett Lake?

[Alienation]

Hey, newbie hunter here, done a couple runs in the Princeton area with no luck. I'm looking for some grouse hunting locally, if there is anything. I grew up in Port Coquitlam and hiked up to Munroe lake many times, but never been up the side of Pitt, just past widgeon slough. Now my question is, what is up that way for grouse hunting? I don't mind hiking up past Dennett, and don't mind throwing all my stuff into my kayak either to head up widgeon. Any thoughts or ideas for other local access to some grouse?

[fearnodeer]

Never seen a lot of grouse in Poco and lived there myself for 30 years, use to have a fair number of pheasants back in the day, picked to Munroe myself and caught a fair number of fish, have not done much up widgeon but hopefully someone can shed some advise here for you.

[Alienation]

Ya I know PoCo is not a hot spot for grouse. Was thinking up the mountain maybe. A few times when I made the hike I saw a couple. I thought maybe further up in the alpine meadows maybe?

[primmed99]

lots of grouse out there just get really deep they prefer tall trees, I find climbing to the top of the tallest fir I can find and scanning with my bins the best tactic……..dont forget your grouse tag lots of co's like to park right close to the boat launch

[gamer]

Check regs on lower mainland special area map. No possession of firearms allowed in Metro Vancouver regional parks. If you leave from Pitt lake boat launch you will be going through Widgeon Marsh Regional Park Reserve to access widgeon lake area.

[Alienation]

Check regs on lower mainland special area map. No possession of firearms allowed in Metro Vancouver regional parks. If you leave from Pitt lake boat launch you will be going through Widgeon Marsh Regional Park Reserve to access widgeon lake area.

I will have to look further into this...maybe contact a CO for questions regarding? Or would it just be best to head up the mountain from quarry road?

As for tags, the regs state upland game birds require no species license, just leave attached one feathered wing, am I missing something?

[Alienation]

Drove down to the gate at quarry road, no phone number or the like. Neighbor with the driveway right there came out to talk to me, said the land owner is very strict about nobody using the road, wonder why? Anyway, if anyone has any ideas about taking the mountain trails, and if it's even worth it to hunt for grouse, feel free to chime in. I know from quarry road to an area able to hunt the hike is pretty good, don't want a wasted day trip here.

[pmj]

The owner of the road has always "been that way". It is their property. No reason to allow people on their land. I would not allow people to travel across my property in that part of Coquitlam. And of course you are aware there is no discharge of bows or firearms in that area of Coquitlam... You need to hike past the City boundary above Dennett Lake to be out side of the boundary and be allowed to discharge a bow or firearm. Only open area for discharge of guns with shot is on the shore of the Pitt River for migratory game birds.

[Alienation]

Yes I am aware of the boundaries, hence why I'm going north of Dennett.

Anyway, Monday I'll be heading out first light to hike to the top, will post if I have any success. Taking my big game rifle just in case as well.

[BowRunner]

I have seen grouse (blues) up on the other side near Lindsay Lake so there must be some where you are headed. Looking forward to hearing about your attempt...would probably be safer to use archery tackle traversing those areas, IMHO

[Alienation]

Well, nothing to report...old guy I was with tapped out about 5/8 of the way to the hunting ground. Saw lots of grouse on the way up where we weren't able to shoot, one actually walked right up to us while taking a short break. Lots of deer sign higher up, bear track, fresh cougar scat, and something growling at me from in the thick brush during a bathroom break behind a tree...all in all was a good hike regardless, full pack, my 308 and 22 with me, made for an interesting hike up. Hopefully next time I can find someone else to go with that will make it, or I'll just go it alone. Cheers.

[ff89]

Well, nothing to report...old guy I was with tapped out about 5/8 of the way to the hunting ground. Saw lots of grouse on the way up where we weren't able to shoot, one actually walked right up to us while taking a short break. Lots of deer sign higher up, bear track, fresh cougar scat, and something growling at me from in the thick brush during a bathroom break behind a tree...all in all was a good hike regardless, full pack, my 308 and 22 with me, made for an interesting hike up. Hopefully next time I can find someone else to go with that will make it, or I'll just go it alone. Cheers. did you try from the gun clubside or the munro trail side?

[Alienation]

We went up the gun club side, took a path we thought was the most direct, turns out it was an insane trail haha. Did a bit of recon that night and found a much better path via google earth and pictures along the trail. There will be a next time, I can tell you that, I didn't want to turn around but he was done and I couldn't leave him to go back alone.

[BowRunner]

I got curious and decided to go up today after the Remembrance Day ceremonies. I grabbed some directions from Club Tread and parked at Quarry Rd trail head to Munro Lake. For sure, it was an aggressive hike. The aforementioned site calls this a 5-6 hr return trip and it was right on. Dressed for a day hunt with minimal gear (i.e. good clothes/boots, day pack with essentials, and bow kit), it took me a solid 3 hrs to Dennett Lake. Needless to say with my late start, once I got there and cooled off for a bit; it was already close to 4 and I knew that I only had another hour of light...so it turned into a scouting trip - I didn't even assemble my take down as I wanted to get back through the swampy areas and major trail junctions before dark. As it was, I took about 2 hrs to get down from Dennett with the last hour using my red light (i.e. headlamp).

As for signs, I found some days-old human tracks - a poppy at Munro Lake and just a few birds; I flushed the larger ones in the dark. Although, I probably scared a bunch of stuff away since I was more in the mode of reaching the objective and getting out safely than prepared to do any still hunting or stalking - I just left everything too late. Normally on local mountains I will just wear trail runners but I am glad that I brought my full height boots - several streams to ford, marshy areas, and gnarly rock. I just spent 5 days hunting in the Alberta foothills and this hike reminded my feet - in one day - of the aggressive nature of our local BC wilderness. The elevation gain is not that much more than the Grouse Grind but it seemed like much more of a hike - although this is 12 km round trip vs 3 km one way for the Grind (i.e. with no descent).

That's my two bits (full disclosure: I usually run about 75 km per week so calibrate against that). I think there are easier ways to hunt grouse but this a doable if you leave early in the morning...just don't expect to see as many birds as you do east of Hope.

BTW - if I could just upload a photo you would see there is already a dusting of snow that remains on the ground.

[Alienation]

Ya we encountered frost near the end where we turned around. That Munroe trail used to be a almost weekly hike for me as that mountain was my back yard since I grew up in PoCo. I will send you a pm regarding east of Hope, I am curious about that one.