Do You Want To Make History?
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: DL
17-Jan-15
Be the first person in modern history to take one if these with a bow. There's one place to hunt these on the Northern Hemisphere and that's in Nevada south of Elko in the Ruby Mtns. This is a Mtn goat hunt for a grouse that gets up to 9 pounds. These are not average grouse that are dumb. They can hide in rocks and when they take to flight its short and then they dive. They have been clicked at 140 mph. They are the tomato difficult bird there is to hunt because of where they live. The story is climb until you see mountain goats there and climb a little further. They are located in some if the most gorgeous country you will ever hunt. I had a burning desire to hunt them until all of these knee issues. I went up into Lamoille Canyon to check it out once. There's a great read on two fellas hunting there. They got into a thunderstorm on there way down and had St Elmo's fire crawling over there gun barrels. That was before the first lightening bolt hit. Just food for thought. Google them and dream.
From: Bou'bound
17-Jan-15
a challenge?............HA......that is no stinkin' challenge......... 'bama turkeys make those things look like learning disabled chickadees man.
get real.
From: LUNG$HOT
17-Jan-15
Dammit Bou! You beat me to it!
From: DL
17-Jan-15
I did know that was coming.
From: leo17
17-Jan-15
Have you completed the ssaggs?
Single season archery grouse grandslam
From: Steve H.
17-Jan-15
I saw some mega-grouse like species in Mongolia while ibex hunting, just one from about a half mile away.
From: Medicinemann
17-Jan-15
140 mph?!!
Did someone carry a radar gun up the mountain to clock them?
From: Genesis
17-Jan-15
I've got Mossback watching two 9's for me now.Camping at the heli pad waiting for the weather to clear presently.Hopefully tomorrow is the day.
From: TurkeyBowMaster
17-Jan-15
I'll take care of them as soon as I get my Montana unlimited sheep.
From: TSI
17-Jan-15
TBM already made history,he was the first person to kill a turkey or something along those lines and hes immune to mosquitos.
From: Huntcell
17-Jan-15
They stopwatch flight time between a known distance of two landmarks Because of Parallax could be off by few mph either way
From: DL
17-Jan-15
From a magazine article.. "Biologists conducting bird and sheep counts from helicopters have tried to pass snowcocks, only to give up after the birds hit 140 mph."
There's a movie called the big year where birders try and see how many species they can count. One seen shows a snow cock flying off a peak and once it cleared the edge it folded its wings like a falcon and dove
From: drycreek
17-Jan-15
Must have a good set of goggles !
From: Wood
17-Jan-15
Look like big chuckars
From: DL
17-Jan-15
In the last thirty years only 300 of them have been taken. All with shotguns. Hunters report it easier to get close to the mtn goats than the Snow Cocks. One thing about it is that you'd never hunt in any more spectacular wilderness.
From: spike78
18-Jan-15
That would be a neat challenge. Ive got faith in TBM to get one of those down or die trying.
From: jjb4900
18-Jan-15
"I've got faith in TBM to get one of those down or die trying."...........do we get to pick which one?
From: DL
18-Jan-15
Well it is a chance to be the first at something. Sports Illustrated even had an article about hunting them because of the extreme difficulty. I have a friend in Nevada that's a rock climber that's hunted them and said its very challenging. They are turkey sized so they are not small. To upland grouse hunters these are the Holy Grail of birds. The thing about gun hunters as we all know is that they aren't thinking about glassing and then setting up an ambush on them like a bowhunter. May take days of patterning them but it can be done. If you google them you will find birder information about where they have seen them. You drive through sagebrush rolling hills and then this smacks you right in the face. Who wouldn't love this?
From: TSI
18-Jan-15
Says population is 200-500 birds is that are they a bird one can hunt OTC or is a draw/limited hunt?
From: Zbone
18-Jan-15
"They are turkey sized so they are not small"
Hardly.... 5-1/2 pounds, compared to 20, not unless you are shooting month old poults....
These are an interesting birds for sure, but no reason to over exaggerate...
From: DL
18-Jan-15
Birds have to be checked in at Elko and the largest male weighed in was 10 pounds. There are some bruisers apparently. Definitely closer to hen size up to 30" head to tail. Parking at the end of the road in Lamoille Canyon and hit the trail head. Mtn goats, Mule Deer and these guys.
From: Florida Mike
18-Jan-15
This load could catch hundreds! Especially in January when everybody is bored. Carry on....Mike
From: stick n string
18-Jan-15
Snow cock. So if TBM slays one, would his handle chance to TCM?
From: Thornton
18-Jan-15
Go for it! I would try it if I lived closer, but probably with a shotgun.
From: DL
18-Jan-15
Thornton three years ago that was my goal. 9 surgeries, two knee replacements and two staph infections in my right knee ended that goal. It's such beautiful country just being there is amazing. That picture with the ram is the road coming in from Elko. Such a contrast in geography.
From: Seahorse
19-Jan-15
Among birds, the females are typically far larger than males. If the male weighed 10 lbs., just think how large the females get!
From: JLS
19-Jan-15
I plan to do this someday. I wish it was closer. The Rubies are incredible.
From: oldgoat
19-Jan-15
I lived in northern Nevada for a while but never knew enough about them to give it a try but I'd love to give them a whack!
From: Zbone
20-Jan-15
Seahorse - "Among birds, the females are typically far larger than males."
You are thinking raptors, its just the opposite with poultry and gamebirds... Tom turkeys are bigger than hens as is rooster's and hens...
From: Fuzzy
20-Jan-15
sure! after all, TBM already beat us to being the first to make Mythology! lol
From: Seahorse
22-Jan-15
Zbone, you make a good point. I hadn't looked up the specifics at the time. According to an article by the USDA, "Sage-Grouse are the largest grouse in North America and exhibit the most sexual dimorphism; the males are nearly twice the size of females. In other grouse species males and females are nearly indistinguishable in size."
From: Kurt
22-Jan-15
Neat bird. Always wanted to hunt them but Kiki, my best bird dog (Vizsula) has passed on. We did get 6 species of quail, 7 grouse species, 2 partridge species, pheasant and ptarmagin together. Snow cock would have been the ultimate challenge. All shotgun, none with the bow. She pointed turkeys too but I never shot one over her.
From: Busta'Ribs
23-Jan-15
If he kills one do you think he'll proclaim himself the "Cock Master"?
From: Fuzzy
23-Jan-15
lol
From: Bou'bound
23-Jan-15
He's aleady a cRock Master. what difference does one more letter make.
From: Barty1970
23-Jan-15
Himalayan partridge...now THAT is a challenge
From: velvet mulie
23-Jan-15
You can almost see my house from that last picture, just a little more to the west.
From: stick n string
23-Jan-15
Yup, TCM.
From: Adventurewriter
23-Jan-15
Seahorse I think you have birds mixed with fish...female fish are bigger than males I can't think of any birds examples...pheasants...turkeys...ducks...etc
From: TurkeyBowMaster
23-Jan-15
Females are bigger than males west of the missasippi
From: willliamtell
23-Jan-15
140 mph - that would make them faster than peregrine falcons!! Not bad for a grouse. Creeping up on one above the snow line would be a real challenge unless they about as dumb as ruffed. Something tells me they aint. Hey I'll take a road trip, the $150 I give to Nevada oughta be good for something. Anybody else up for a hike?
From: Huntcell
23-Jan-15
The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known as the peregrine,[2] and historically as the duck hawk in North America,[3] is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache". As is typical of bird-eating raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, females being considerably larger than males.[4][5] The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over 320 km/h (200 mph) during its characteristic hunting stoop (high speed dive),[6] making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom.[7][8] According to a National Geographic TV programme, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is 389 km/h (242 mph).[9][10]
From: DL
24-Jan-15
For any that are interested google them. They typically fly down in the AM and feed their way up the mountains. They have been seen clear down at the parking area. Birder websites provide a lot if information and locations if them and when they were last seen. Might be fishing up in the lakes up there in top. Not sure. Spectacular country though. To be able to see mule deer, bighorn sheep and mtn goats sounds very interesting.
From: Zbone
25-Jan-15
Adventurewriter - Females of many or most raptors (birds of prey) are about a third larger than their male counterparts, and a reason why some falconers prefer to fly females, bigger birds, bigger prey...8^)
From: writer
25-Jan-15
Zbone, true on birds of prey, but not most types of birds.
A buddy shot a snow cock to go along with his slams of grouse and quail species for a book he did on the subject.
From: flyingbrass
25-Jan-15
When my son Jake was in the sixth grade he had Arkansas history. When Jake raised his hand to tell the teacher their was a picture of himself in the book they were studying the teacher didn't believe him. You can figure out the rest of the story. The teacher offered his apologies for not believing him!
From: Seahorse
25-Jan-15
Yeah, I guess I was thinking mainly raptors. Lots of bald eagle hype going around lately. Didn't think it thru before typing :^) Sounds like all but Sage are about the same size, as far as grouse go.
From: Zbone
26-Jan-15
Aside from raptors, most male birds are bigger than females, and more colorful. Although animals are all individuals, as said (read my post from the 20th), think of poultry such as chickens, peafowl, wild turkey gobblers, gamebirds such as pheasants, even perching birds such as red-wing blackbirds. Even ruffed grouse males are slightly bigger than the hens, and yes even snowcocks....
From: Amoebus
26-Jan-15
Mossy Oak has come out with a new camo line for the Himalayan Snowcock.
From: LongbowLes
26-Jan-15
Wouldn't a smaller version be tougher?;^)
