(EP. 43) What I have learned from hunting Late Season Blue Grouse!

In this episode I talk about how to hunt late season grouse and where to find them. Hope this helps you all be successful!! 

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Thanks for listening everyone and good hunting!

Transcript

Speaker 0:49

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Bird Dog Podcast. My name is Tys. I will be the host of the show today. Uh, just wanted to tell everyone happy New year. Hope everyone had a good time with family, friends, hanging out, doing whatever you did on the new year. Um, hopefully 2026 is gonna be a great year for all of us. And, uh. Yeah, I'm looking forward. It's good to have a, a new year, a new start, and just, uh, you know, set those goals. Not, not that we shouldn't, we should be setting goals, you know, year round, but it just is a time to kind of reflect, see where we're at, see what new goals we wanna, you know. Get back on with, or start or finish, you know, the ones from last year. But anyways, it's just a, it's a good time of year. I, I, I do appreciate, uh, a new year. It just, uh, gives us a new start. So I, uh, last yesterday, well, I'm gonna backtrack a little bit here. If you wanna help us out, you know, follow us on our social medias on Instagram. Um, you can find us at the Bird Dog Podcast on Instagram. Uh, my training website is Utah Bird Dog Training, and our Instagram is the same Utah Bird Dog training. If you're looking for a nice golden retriever puppy for the future. We also breed high-end working golden retrievers. That's field breaded golden retrievers on Instagram and, uh, field breaded golden retrievers.com. But those are, uh, um, our, that's our golden retriever information. My wife Rachel, uh, does a great job at sharing, um, pictures and videos and updates with you guys, so I'm not as good as her at that. We also own Utah pointing labs.com. And our pointing labs. We breed, we only have one or two litters generally a year. But if you're interested in a really nice, uh, laboratory retriever pointing lab, just if you don't know, pointing lab is a purebred. It just has the natural gene to point. They've been breeding these for 40, 50 years where they're really focusing on, you know, breeding. These labs that have this cool pointing gene, but also perform, you know, at the high levels of the A KC hunt test. And, uh, some of'em do field trials with them. So, um, just a really versatile dog. Um, we'll be having to litter this spring, so if you're interested, you can reach out to us at the Bird Dog podcast@gmail.com or you can also, uh, DM us and, um. And just reach out however you can and we can get you information so. Um, little background information about me. If you're new to the podcast, appreciate you listening. First of all, um, I, I've been a hunter my whole life and I've loved dogs my whole life. So, uh, these animals I'm passionate about.'em. I geek out about'em. I watch other's people's videos. I even make my own videos. It gets me all pumped up just'cause I'm so passionate about these animals and, uh, seeing them work. My love is hunting with these animals. Um, I've hunted everything here out west from Chucker, quail, Hungarian, partridge, sharp tail grouse, rough grouse, blue grouse, sage, grouse, pheasants. I say chucker already. Anyways, I'm just, and then I love to waterfowl hunt, so. Uh, I do this for a living is what I do is, uh, we train dogs, and then this podcast is more for fun. Um, it doesn't really generate much money. Uh, you know, I, I'm trying to grow it, so hopefully share that. So, uh, when, when I do spend time. Uh, focusing on this, uh, it, it, it can continue to grow. Um, a way you can support us is if you go to nda.com, K-U-R-A-N-D a.com and buy one of their cots. They are the best cots on the market that I have seen to date. If something beats them, I'll let you guys know, but they hold up the best, get the anodized aluminum. I think I run the. 44 by 27. I know it's kind of a weird shape, but 44 by 27 works for, um, the average size dog. I would say obviously a smaller dog up to 80, 90 pound animal, so I, you can check them out. Some other companies have helped us out are crispy, crispy, do com, crispy, usaid, check out their boots. Those are the boots I use. Every day when I'm working, when I'm hiking, when I'm hunting, they have an awesome boot line up. Go try some on, fill'em out. They're, they're great stuff. Uh, tangle free. Wanna give a shout out to them? Tangle free helps us out. Uh, they, uh. Uh, produce awesome decoys, great company, family company. Check them out. If you're looking for decoys dog vests, blind, blind accessories, um, gun cases, tons of waterfowl stuff, you can go ahead and check them out. Um, also Sitka Waterfall, Sitka gear. That's what we use primarily. Um, they help us out too, and so we really appreciate them and, uh, man, we're just, I'm looking forward to it. I need to, I, I, hopefully you guys don't mind me just rambling on here, sharing information I have, I need to line up some guests more. I really enjoy actually having guests on more than just hearing myself speak, but I do have a lot of information when it comes to training that hopefully you guys can, uh, get some from that that'll benefit. A year lives. So, um, and today is the first of the year and, um, just really grateful man to be for 4, 20, 25. Overall family is healthy. Um, uh, had some great hunts. Um, you know, that's really it's main thing is getting out, doing a little bit what we love. Work is good. We're grateful for the clients that trust us with their dogs and let us train them and, and spend time on them. We really do. Take that serious. Um, and we're really grateful for the dogs that we get to train and, um, and put back in these families and help people have, you know, hopefully wonderful experiences with these animals. So, um, again, thanks for coming on. So, uh, in this podcast I actually wanted to do, um, I wanted to talk about late season blue grouse hunting. So dusky grouse, blue grouse out here in the west. Um. In Utah, we have pretty good populations of these birds and um. There. There are, there are a handful of people that hunt them, but I would say in general grouse, I'm guessing just talking to clients and stuff like that, not, not a lot of people actually target them. Most people target them when they're hunting deer or elk and they happen to see'em. They'll shoot'em with their gun. Whatever. And, um, that's how most people harvest grouse, but they're actually one of my favorite birds to hunt with a dog and actually target them. A lot of people will target chucker pheasants, some quail, but they grouse kind of, they kind of, uh, don't target'em as much. There are people that definitely do, I'm not saying that doesn't happen, but it just, you don't see that as much so, and something lately that honestly was, I think I've done it. Last year was maybe my second time in my life where I've actually targeted late season blue grouse. So, um, so I'm still learning. But in this podcast today, I want to share some tips and tricks that hopefully can get you guys on some late season grouse hunts. So, uh, the blue grouse is a bigger grouse. Um, they're super cool looking. Um, they. Late season color plumage is awesome. And I mean, I love gruff grouse too. They're a little bit smaller, uh, but just a awesome species of bird. But, um, typically in the past I've hunted them early season, like September, you know, before I big game hunt too. So before the big game hunts get going, I'll get out and usually hit'em here or there in September and then duck hunting, all this other stuff starts up. Um, I usually, they kind of go, can't sometimes go on the back burner, so, um, but last year I did a late season Grouse hunt, mid-December. I was able to harvest, uh, two blue grouse and I think three or four rough grouse with a buddy. And yesterday actually went out last day of the year, end of December. I wanted to get out and try for some late season grouse. And uh, luckily enough we were able to shoot a limit of blues and a couple rough grouse is a bon is bonus. So we were targeting blues, um, and, uh. And, and that's what we got. So, uh, how I found this spot that we hunted yesterday, me and a, my good friend Brent Hunted, was, uh, this spot. Uh, I was actually, my daughter had a late season elk tag a handful three years ago. And as we were up, um, getting her meat packed out, um, when she shot her elk, I noticed all these blue gros that were flying out. What am I, oh this, I gotta come back here with some dogs. And, um, there was just a good amount of birds and it's a spot not a lot of people think to go. Um. It is steep. It is nasty country. And that's the beautiful thing about grouse hunting. If you're willing to physically work, you can find birds, but they're not, they can be right on the road, but then they can be a long ways from the road. So this area's a really good hike, straight up, steep gets up in the, in the pines where they like to be this time of year. But anyways, that's how I found this spot and I made a mental note. That I want to come back here with my dogs and actually target these, target these birds. So that's gonna get be my tip to you. When you are hunting big game and you see grouse, make notes of'em. Make note where you're seeing'em. You can even have on OnX, drop some pins. Okay, I saw some grouse here. I saw some grass here. They're about this elevation. And uh, and then when you come back with your dog, just go back and target those areas. Um. Again, it depends on the season. We're gonna talk about that too, the time of the year. So make a mental note. If you do not big game hunt, but you have friends or know people that hunt, ask them when they're out deer hunting or out hunting. Hey, can you keep an eye out for grouse? If you talk to'em in advance, just say, Hey, if you see any grouse, can you let me know? And if you don't mind sharing. Those spots, you know, I'd love to go back there and try to hunt'em with my dog. A lot of people, if they're not bird, some people are only big game hunters, and they're not bird hunters. They don't really care. They're just like, well, you know, um, now if they're both, they might not share their spot, but that's obviously getting to know your friend and what. They're willing to share with you. But that being said, ask big. He game hunters, they're hiking all over the mountains, all over the hills. They're usually in the high country. They're around different areas and hey, did you see any grouse wear out there? Deer hunting, eling? Yeah, actually I saw a lot. Or like, dude, I see one bird. Okay, well you probably don't want to target that area. If they're hiking around and they're not bumping any grouse, so. Target your big game, big game hunting friends. Ask them if they've seen birds and then if they go out before and they know you're a bird hunter and you don't, you know, say, Hey, can you mark some pins on your OnX where you see some birds for me? And then if you don't mind, can I go back there and hunt those spots? I always ask for permission. Obviously if you're asking about birds and they're sharing pins, you're probably gonna be okay. But just, you know, be respectful of people's areas, hunting areas. Um. I've been burned on some hunting areas before Iman. It really stings. You know, you spend a lot of time hiking the hills, locating these spots. You're kind of managing'em yourself, especially if they're, if it's an area where not a lot of people get into and areas, if they're hit really hard, a lot of times they can be shot up or shot out, you know, so, um, spots I have, I, I manage'em. I don't take too many birds out of'em. I want to know what's going on, and so hopefully I can have my little spot when I go in there. I know there's a good chance I'm gonna harvest, you know, some birds, but I don't want to over harvest it. So every year those birds will reproduce and we'll have, have some good hunts. So be really respectful. I'm gonna just talk, go down this rabbit hole. Be really respectful. If someone takes you. To a hunting spot and you had no clue there was birds there or how to access that spot. And the only way you know about it is because of that person. Do not go back to that spot without their permission. Do not take someone there and doing it secretly behind their back and hunt that. I think that is, to me it's very offensive. It's very unethical, um, in my book. So just if it's a friend and they take you there. You know, and you want to go hunting there, hopefully, you know, um, you keep in good relationships with that friend and you guys go back and hunt it together. Um, don't go there without him. And if, if you have a good enough relationship with your friend and he can't make it and you really wanting to go hunting, call him up and ask him, Hey, do you mind if I hunt that spot? Um, go myself. Don't take a bunch of people there. Very be very clear on communication and um, if the person's like, Hey, that's kind of my spot. I'm kind of managing it for myself and I'm happy to take you there when I have time, then be respectful of that. Go find another spot. So that is the fun thing about finding your own spot and not having someone take you there is you can go there and take whoever you want and it's your spot. So, um, take the time. Don't be lazy. Hike the hills. Cover ground. If you don't find anything, well, you know, there's nothing there. Go find a new spot, go find a new spot until you find some spots. But again, a tip would be if you have all your hunting buddies that are big game hunters and maybe they don't grouse hunt. Just ask'em, Hey, you see any grouse? And that can be, I think that is a huge tip on finding grouse. So, um, that's how I have found most of my grouse hunting spots is when I'm hunting big game, I bump into grouse and I make a note, and then I go back and hunt'em later. So. Uh, let's talk about blue grouse in Utah. Um, I did some research on these birds just to, it was kind of interesting just to, I was gonna do this podcast off just what I have seen and learned by being in nature and around these birds and hunting them. But then when I went and did some searching, uh, you know, on the internet, it only reaffirmed what, um. What I was finding. So it was pretty cool to, to see that. So, um, blue grouse, you kind of think of their, their, uh, we're gonna talk about blue gros, not as much rough grouse. Um, and, but blue grouse, they'll start a little lower in elevation. When they're nesting. They're gonna be around just doing research on the elevation, so they're in nesting season. They're gonna be between breeding season 5,500 to 7,000 feet in elevation on average. And that's the key with grouse hunting is the right elevations. Now you can find occasionally the random grouse at different elevations, but if you hunt that elevation band, those birds consistently are in, you're gonna have greater success. So during breeding season, and pay attention on your OnX maps, when you're hunt, hiking and hunting around, you can see. 5, 5, 5 50, 500 to 7,000 feet, so right in that elevation. Um, kind of what this looks like on a mountain, what I really find is those birds are gonna nest. I've really found in like dense, if you can find really dense quay patches, like young Quay patches and just cover that's low to the ground. And then above those are like. Um, you know, pine trees, uh, Douglas Furs, um, sub alpine furs. Those, those are gonna be what they eat in the winter. And so they're gonna kind of come down, they're gonna eat and they're gonna nest. There's like more grasshoppers and bugs and nesting, you know, it's denser cover. So those females, they're gonna come down breed, they're gonna have their clutches in that lighter cover. They're gonna raise'em there. Until about the beginning of September. And then as those birds get older, then they actually move up in elevation. Bluegrass only move down for breeding season. They move up, um, the rest of the year and in late and in winter, they actually move up. So in my book, the Bluegrass is actually probably the hardest bird to hunt. Late season. One, because they move up in elevation and that, and when I'm talking about elevation, on average they're gonna be around eight to 10,000 feet in elevation In the wintertime. Yesterday when I was hunting'em, I was right about 8,000 feet. So I checked on Ionix maps. It was right about 8,000 feet, eight to 8,500 in elevation. I was probably, because this is a lighter snow year, I was the deepest. I was probably a foot of snow, but I was probably in any on average, four, four to five inches to a foot of snow. And then bluegrass. Will they typically like, um. They like a, a, a north facing face or a northeast facing slope. So, um, obviously when you are on a north face, you're gonna have more old growth Conifer stands, and that's what these birds are gonna like. They like denser canopy. Um, they don't need a lot of underbrush underneath them. Um, but they're gonna get up in those pines and it, and they're gonna, where I found they sit typically sit about halfway to three quarters up from around that three quarter ish range in the trees in the winter is where they're gonna stay. And they don't come down to the ground very often. They can go up to two weeks without any water, which is crazy. They, but I'm sure they just mostly drink the water off the pines when things are melting. Um, I don't think they actually need to go to a water source so they can. Drink the, um, they can eat the snow, whatever. And then they, uh, and then they eat, um, by just reading online. Here they, the Douglas fir is their number one food source by choice. And um, and then they will eat the needles only so they can digest resin heavy material and have enlarged CISA to ferment fiber. Um, this is why they stay in the conifer forest all winter. So they just sit up there and they eat pine needles. I honestly thought they more like the pine cones. Maybe they ate a little bit of that, but they just sit up in the top of the trees all winter long and, uh, eat pine needles and just fly from tree to tree. And then occasionally they'll come down and uh, and be on the ground. So it's kind of a different type of hunting because at times you're hunting them. On the ground. And um, and then sometimes honestly, you're looking in the trees, so it's a different hunt. Um, you're using your dogs. I would say more, obviously, if there are birds that are on the ground, probably right after the, you know, late morning is gonna be a great time to hunt'em. Or early morning when they maybe come down the roof, scratch around, and then get back up in the trees. That's gonna be ideal time for your dogs. I hunted an afternoon evening hunt, so the birds were all in the trees, so. I got up to the elevation of 8,000 feet in the areas I've seen them. And then I would just basically cover a lot of ground. I'd look for big pine tree, big, um, conifers and um, uh, Douglas Fir, I believe is what they were. Um, and. And I just look into the trees and, um, and I generally, I only saw one that I saw before it saw me, but the other ones, you're just hiking along and all of a sudden they just come flying outta the tree. It's pretty fun. It's quick shooting. Boom. Knocked the bird down. And then there were a couple others that flew to other trees and so it's kind of, you're flying, shooting'em as they're coming outta trees. So, um, it's a different. It's a different game. Um, but it's a, it's really challenging and I think the reason it's really challenging, it's super steep, it's snowy, it's slick, um, and it's just a fun, a fun adventure. Beautiful country. No one is up there and these birds are just beautiful colors. So this bird I shot, oh, a couple of these males I shot were giants. I don't know how old these birds are.'cause again, I, I don't think anyone hunts this spot in a lot of your bluegrass spots. Not a lot of people hunt'em unless they're just, uh, you know, out there deer hunting or something like that and happen to see one. But these be big, beautiful, late season blues are really fun. They're really, it's again, a really fun challenge. So, um, so to kind of give you guys Yeah, so, so kind of just reiterate where they, what they do. They're gonna be, um, their wind range is anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 feet. So they go up in the winter, they stay in the trees. Um, look on the north facing sides, northeast facing sides. Ideally if there's trees kind of out of the wind. Um, obviously think of they're just trying to get protection. And then, um, the birds, I found there was kind of a, an avalanche basin, and then there was a ridge in the basin and in the middle of the basin there was a bunch of big, um, pine trees. I just, I'm calling'em pine trees, but I'm sure there were probably Douglas Fir, but just the, the Pines. We had the big old growth pines that we have around here. They were up in those trees and there were, and, and they're generally not in the same tree together, but they will be around each other. So, I mean, I found five or six birds within a hundred yard stretch. So they're kind of, they like that habitat, they like being kind of around each other. But then I've seen birds that are solo. I've seen a pear, but it does seem from the little experience now, I'm, you know, just there my third time hunting'em late season. But they do seem to not be bunched in the same tree, but within. Very commonly, you'll see a couple of'em in pine trees almost next to each other within 20 yards or something like that. So, um, so again, um, yep. Preseason scouting. If you see, if you're seeing birds in November, that's, they're pretty much at their wintering grounds. So if you're hunting around in November, they're right there where they're pretty much gonna be there in December. So, hunt that. That's when I found these ones, was in November about, uh. What was it? Mid, uh, beginning to mid-November and they were still in that same area, so they've already transitioned from that. September, October, they're gonna move up, couple thousand feet, get up in those high, um, Douglas Fs, um, old growth Fs on north northeastern slopes, and that's where you're gonna find bluegrass. So, um, if you're, if you wanna, you know, worst case scenario I always talk about with my buddies, if you're hunting chucker, you're hunting grouse, worst case scenario, you're gonna get a good workout and you're gonna have some beautiful views. You may see some mountain lion tracks, you may see some elk, some deer, just some cool cool stuff, just being out in nature. Right. So, um, uh, trying to think if there's anything else about bluegrass. Um, that's pretty much it, but I would say the biggest key is that elevation you need to be at. Um, I would not hunt them. Generally below 7,500, below 7,000, let's say seven, you know, 7,500 feet in elevation and up to as high as 10,000 feet in elevation. And they can just look for that habitat that they enjoy. And then preseason scout, ask big game hunters the best you can, um, and get information from them. So if they're seeing birds down lower. They generally just go up. So if you're seeing birds lower and you're like, man, I'm seeing all these quakes and stuff like that, and you look up on the mountain and, you know, a thousand to 2000 feet elevation up above them, there's uh, you know, some old growth Douglas fir. Pines, then on some north slopes, check those out.'cause most likely you're gonna find grouse in that area. So, um, as we were hunting down yesterday, after we had, um, taken a limit of blue grouse, we were hunting down through the quakes and some, some quakes that were down below, um, these pines. And, um, you know, around, I would probably say. Um, 6,000 feet elevation and were able to bump into a pair of rough grouse, and they were just kind of. They are more on the ground. What I've found this time of year, they're not up in the pines like the blues. They actually get down on the ground. They're gonna be in that thicker cover, um, thick quakes. With some underbrush, you're gonna find the rough grow. So. These ones were on the ground, we encountered them. There's a pair, we're able to harvest them. And, um, and so it's just cool to be able to hunt blues and roughs kind of in the same mountain range that can be done, but you're always gonna kill the blues down or the roughs down lower in the blues up higher. So, um, that's kind of my, my, those are my tips for bluegrass hunting. Again, if you're targeting'em in the summer, like, or not summer. Right when the hunt starts, kind of in September, September timeframe, you're gonna be at that lower elevation. Um, you're gonna be, you know, 7,000, around six, 7,000 feet of elevation. Six to 7,000 I'd say. And then again, look for that thicker habitat, the quakes. Underbrush where they're gonna nest and then they're gonna move up in the winter, which is pretty crazy'cause you get feet and feet of snow but they don't come down. So I did see tracks in the snow in those pines where I was hunting yesterday. Um, not a lot, but we did see pine. There are tracks, so they will come down, kind of scratch around, feed whatever they're doing. And then they just go back up in the tree. So if you guys are looking for a challenge next year, put it on your schedule to try some blue grouse hunting. Um, late in the season, it's fun'cause it's a long hunt. Grouse hunting here in Utah, Utah goes from September 1st all the way to the end of December. So you got four months of hunting these birds. Um. Uh, you know, a pheasants are slow or a quail are slow or whatever you like, try something different. Try chucker, try, try gr grouse. There's lots of different birds that you can take your bird dog out and get after. So, um, hopefully this information helps you guys out and gives you something to look forward to this coming year. Again with those dogs. Now is the time. While we're still hunting, we still got lots of hunts underway, which is great. Um, but um, those young dogs, you may not be hunting'em right now, but we're getting'em ready for next season. Remember to train for the Hunts, train for how you're gonna hunt with your dog and you're gonna be successful. So happy New Year guys. Have a great day, and we'll see you in the next episode.