Storm and Thunder went out grouse hunting this weekend.  The weather was just about perfect for hunting…hard freezes at night, and warm sunny days.  Storm drew the late morning slot and had a terrific number of flushes, around 15, including flushing 6 at once that were tucked under a log.  However, she was not a good hunting partner.  She would flush the birds and then chase the birds.  A big no-no while hunting.  Once she took off after some birds and failed to return when called.  Another big no-no while hunting.  Hunting with a dog that is not under control just leads to missed birds because the hunter has to worry about where the dog is before shooting at birds or stop and wait for the dog to come back after it has run off chasing a bird.  Storm knows what she is expected of her, so she got a refresher course on her role while upland hunting.  In the end she got one bird, but probably should have had more.

I tried to get a picture of her with her bird, but she was not cooperating.

Not Posing!
How About I Just Look At It?
But We Can't See Your Face Storm

Thunder drew the late afternoon slot and  had a few flushes, but there were no shots.  There just never seems to be as many birds in the afternoon as in the morning.  Thunder worked hard and quartered nice and close.  If you don’t know what quartering is, it is when the dog uses its nose and works an area looking for birds.  The dog basically zigzags out in front of the hunter trying to find the birds.  You want the dog to work fairly close because if the dog flushes a bird too far out, the hunter will not be able to make the shot.  Thunder did a good job flushing the birds but they were just not in a position for a safe shot.  Drat!

The next morning Storm went out again.  This time she was the perfect hunting partner which made for a much more enjoyable time.  She had a lot of flushes and unfortunately there were a few missed shots.  Some of the birds flushed too close to the ground and others were into the cover (which is still very heavy).  Just bad luck and not Storm’s fault.  There were also a couple of cripples that they looked and looked for, but could not find.  They ended up with one bird and had a great time.  Good job Storm!

Storm was even more cooperative posing for pictures.

Very Nice Storm!
Good Girl!

While getting the items together to clean the bird, we put it on the woodpile.  Of course that attracted attention.

Hey What Is Up There?
Hey Thunder Stay Away From MY Bird!

Tonight will be grouse for supper (people supper that is ;)).

Maybe I Could Have A Little Bite Of Bird?

28 thoughts on “A Weekend Of Grouse

  1. Gorgeous Chessies! Don’t you just love how brown dogs always take amazing photos in the autumn?

    I love the photo of storm holding her bird where you can’t see her face. It made me LOL. =D

  2. I so saw Delilah in that first picture of Storm….LOL I am going to do it MY way.

    Dogs are like people I guess, anyone can have a bad day but she made up for it the next day.

    They are really beautiful dogs.

  3. Sounds like a good time and perfect weather…we are still sweating here in Texas 🙂
    Sweet Thunder some days we just have our off days!

  4. Look at those poses! I would be distracted by the large wood pile too! How was dinner??

  5. What beautiful pictures! They look so good out there in the fall foilage!
    So what does grouse taste like? I am curious:)

    Jen
    MyBrownNewfies

  6. All these pictures are terrific but I love the one of Storm with the bird in her mouth where her face doesn’t show. Hugs and nose kisses

    1. That is one of my favorite pictures, which I didn’t realize that you could only see the tip of her nose until after I put it on my computer. 😆

  7. That bird looks like a tasty dog toy. If my person tried to take a picture of me with it I’d be jumping all over her with the bird in my mouth. -Bongo

  8. Hi Y’all,

    Hey Storm, sounds like day one was like my “gettin’ even” day! Too much pent up energy!

    Y’all come back now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

  9. Great shots of the 2 brown dawgs. I guess one bird is better than no birds. They look pretty good size, do they have a lot of meat on them?

    Liking the new look, I am still trying to figure out that darn CSS.

  10. I love all the pictures, but those two of Storm looking at the bird and then holding it up so you can’t see her face really made me chuckle! What a personality she has – ya gotta love it! 😀 Glad you had a good time.

    1. Storm does have a personality. There are times I know I should be cross with her, but then she makes me laugh and I forget all about what she has done wrong.

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