Grouse season ended last Saturday. This was the first season I really got out since coming back to Pennsylvania. My first year in grad school I hunted pheasant and woodcock a lot with Paul as grouse numbers were super low. New puppies the next year meant I had to maximize their contact with birds. With grouse numbers still low, I figured my best bet was to buy quail for training and hit the game lands to chase stocked birds. With stocking numbers shrinking and quail hurting the bank account I joined Ideihl farms and got the dogs on tons of quail, pheasant, and chukkar. This year, the dogs are trained and grouse numbers are finally back into a semi-healthy range. I only got out a few times during the late season, but ended up with three birds by the season's close. Paul, Primo, and I headed out Saturday and had four beautiful flushes. T pointed my bird beautifully (even if I wasn't paying much attention) and it went down with one shot from my new DeHaan 16ga. Great ending to the first of (hopefully) many more PA grouse hunts.
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