Official 2022 Blue Grouse meatpole
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: PoudreCanyon
29-Aug-22
Keep those judo points handy! They’re thick in my area this season!
From: PoudreCanyon
29-Aug-22
From: Grey Ghost
29-Aug-22
I love "mountain chickens", and always have a judo point equipped arrow in my quiver.
Matt
From: APauls
29-Aug-22
There goes $30! lol
From: PoudreCanyon
29-Aug-22
Adam - you’re a better shot than me if they only cost $30. I’m usually on my way back to the truck for more arrows:)
From: Jordan
29-Aug-22
My 4 and 5 arrow in the quiver are the most beat up heads I possess.....to defend myself from deadly grouse attacks.
From: JL
29-Aug-22
This "bird" thread could be pretty good if it keeps going. Folks getting birds with a bow is impressive. Getting a bird with trad is even more impressive. Looking forward to seeing the pics.
From: Sivart
29-Aug-22
So it is the "blue grouse" that hangs out in the high country? I'm not good at Grouse identification.
From: Mpdh
29-Aug-22
Are they all white meat like Ruffed grouse?
From: KB
29-Aug-22
Here’s a few of the coastal cousins from spring ‘22. Hopefully I don’t get hammered too bad for the rifle kills! Think I have more fun chasing “hooters” in the rain forest than I ever did turkey hunting.
From: JohnMC
29-Aug-22
They are also know as and officially so in CO as dusky grouse. Not a difficult kill with a bow as many time the just sit there and let you shoot them at 20 yards. They are a great addition to camp food.
From: samman
29-Aug-22
I have thumped many of them over the years with a rubber blunt. Always have one in my quiver. Great eating over a campfire or on the grill in fire ban years.
From: MichaelArnette
29-Aug-22
Love bowhunting the grouse! Hope to post some pictures soon
From: PoudreCanyon
29-Aug-22
Great pics KB! Looks like a ton of fun!
From: Grey Ghost
29-Aug-22
John is correct. The Dusky grouse we have in Colorado aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, and are easy to kill with a bow. If you accidentally flush one up, there's usually at least 1-2 more that will hold on the ground until you can get a shot. I won't shoot at them in a tree anymore because it almost always results in a lost arrow, even with a Judo point. I like the Montec Small Game heads. They've proven to be accurate and durable for me.
Matt
From: Jordan
29-Aug-22
Big Finn would be all over this thread! LOL
From: KB
29-Aug-22
Thanks Poudre. Those are the Dusky’s cousin, the Sooty. More commonly referred to as Hooters up here in AK. In the spring the males stake out a big tree on a prominent terrain feature and send out an 8-9 note “hoot” from the very top, audible up to a mile or more. Thus the need for some glass and a scoped .22. It can be a frustrating couple hours getting to the tree and then finding the damn thing 150+ feet up sometimes. It’s a fun outing after a long dreary winter.
I was in Colorado earlier this month for a sheep hunt and heard a male down the ridge from my glassing spot most mornings. Just one loud note. Flushed him on my hike out the last morning, but no arrows flung as I didn’t think the season was open quite yet.
From: PoudreCanyon
29-Aug-22
KB - dusky season opens September 1 every year in Colorado. I’m typically dove hunting for the opener, and don’t hunt them specifically very often because I’m usually chasing elk at that time, but never pass up an opportunity to fling an arrow at one when I see them. They really are delicious.
From: Brotsky
29-Aug-22
I've taken dusky grouse and sharptail grouse with the bow so far. Is there a "grouse slam" I can chase? It might finally be the slam in my budget.
From: Treeline
29-Aug-22
Heck yeah, Brotsky!
You’ll need to get a ptarmigan and a Sage grouse to get the western species finished out. Then a trip east for the ones over there… Not sure what the name is for them. How many different ones are there, anyways?
Guess chukars and Himalayan snow cocks would be considered exotics?
I think I am ahead of you with blue (dusky), Sage, sharp tail, and ptarmigan so far.
Hopefully get a few blues and maybe sharp tails this fall… Do love eating them!
From: KB
29-Aug-22
KB's Link
Here you go Treeline. Awesome resource for planning grouse slams!
From: JL
29-Aug-22
JL's Link
FWIW.....when I took the above photo of the bird, I was in Montana scouting in the mountains and it was on the side of the two-track. I did a little looking around to see what kind it was and found this MT.gov field guide of Montana birds. There are a bunch of them.
From: kscowboy
29-Aug-22
kscowboy's Link
Don't forget to get a HIP number in Colorado. This is easily overlooked and I'm sure a lot of people unknowingly violate this one.
From: Grey Ghost
29-Aug-22
They can be a bit "chewier" then chicken. We found that brining them overnight really improves their texture for frying. Otherwise, we brown them, then slow cook them in stews or pasta dishes. Some of my favorite elk camps meals have included grouse.
Matt
From: Bowaddict
29-Aug-22
Absolutely loved chasing ruffed grouse in Michigan, and honestly it’s the one thing I miss hunting from growing up there. Question for the Wyoming/Montana peeps, are the populations of them up there worth a week or is it one of those bonus bird type deals? Planning on a Minnesota/Wisconsin hunt one of these years because I would love to get whipped in the face from aspen branches and stung by Yellowjacket’s chasing them again:)
From: keepemsharp
29-Aug-22
Surprised to hear they are white meat, thought they might be dark meat like our prairie chicken in KS.
From: Razorsharp123
29-Aug-22
Brotsky and Treeline - Come on down to Georgia! We have a small population but I am happy to lead a chase through our small mountains to round out the slam. Might be dang near impossible with a bow, but that doesn't stop us!
From: Brotsky
29-Aug-22
Oohhhh I have the ring neck pheasant as well! I missed a chance at the ptarmigan on Kodiak last year. I’ll have to make another trip for that one. I also have a prairie chicken, partridge, and chukar but they’re gun kills so I’ll need an archery replacement for those.
From: RD
29-Aug-22
Who needs a bow, I used to carry fishing pole and about 2 ft of line with a sinker on the end it. Just walk up on them, swing the line around their neck and pull their heads off.
From: Boreal
29-Aug-22
From: Jordan
29-Aug-22
Reminds me of the hunts I had for doves, rails, snipe, and timberdoodles back in MO. Super fun. Super tasty too. Quail and pheasant were fun too but I didn't like their taste as much....and unless you lived in the very north of MO it was hard to find them.
From: BUCKeye
29-Aug-22
I have no idea how they aren't extinct. There's plenty of predators out there and those birds are not hard to catch.
From: HUNT MAN
29-Aug-22
I like to save my arrows for Beav to use. Stick is my weapon of choice.
From: Treeline
29-Aug-22
Wow! The list is longer than I realized! It would be a darn fun one to do, though… especially with a traditional bow!
From: t-roy
29-Aug-22
Thumped a few of them with rocks, in Colorado over the years, as well.
They’re a sucker for a back door slider….
From: cnelk
29-Aug-22
Mtn Chicken Nuggets and gizzards
From: Jordan
29-Aug-22
OMG YUM~!!!!!!!
From: 'Ike' (Phone)
29-Aug-22
Yes sir…
From: Ambush
29-Aug-22
Unlike cnelk, I save all my hearts and gizzards for a big gut feast.
We have ruff, spruce, blues and ptarmigan here. The ruffies are definitely the preferred table fare. Blues are pretty good and the other two are dark meat with older birds being tough. The ruffs are not too bad to get with a bow, the blues are near impossible and the other two are dumb as rocks.
From: Brotsky
29-Aug-22
I actually shot my limit one afternoon with the bow in Wyoming. Never thought I would do that!
From: Machino
29-Aug-22
Huntman those are spruce grouse not blue grouse.
From: shortstop
30-Aug-22
Not very tasty. A few years ago, my buddies and I cooked the same bird about three times to get him tender! Think that had anything to do with it? :)
From: APauls
01-Sep-22
Ruffies are fantastic eating. I've taken them with rocks, a hatchet, bows, guns and even popped the head off with the F-150 differential. I'll take em however they come.
From: Grey Ghost
01-Sep-22
Shortstop, as I said earlier, if you would have brined your grouse overnight in salt water, it would have been tender. Alternatively, you can slow cook them in a stew or pasta dish, and the meat will fall off the bone. If you just burn one a stick over a fire right after killing it, it will be like chewing on leather in our experience.
Matt
From: LINK
01-Sep-22
Tasty boot leather GG. Beats the heck out of mountain house. Of course the steak is cheaper than losing arrows all over the mountains.
From: Grey Ghost
01-Sep-22
I agree, LINK. I'll take just about anything over dehydrated meals. "Leather" was probably an exaggeration, but they are chewier than chicken, if you don't brine, or slow cook them.
Matt
From: JohnMC
01-Sep-22
Being that most think they are as dumb as a rock. May I suggest a few members that may consider changing there bowsite handle to 'Blue Grouse'?
From: Dax Morgan
08-Sep-22
My son with his
My son with his
From: Dax Morgan
08-Sep-22
From: Beav
09-Sep-22
Love me some grouse!
From: Beav
09-Sep-22
From: Beav
09-Sep-22
Great guide! Always has extra arrows just not enough of them.
From: HUNT MAN
09-Sep-22
Got this one with a rock.
Beav took all my grouse arrows.
From: APauls
09-Sep-22
Hunt that thing looks like it's ready to pull a Pat on you!
From: samman
09-Sep-22
Get some cheaper rubber blunt flu-flu's for the grouse. They aren't as big a concern if you break or loose them. I always have one in my quiver.
From: Beav
09-Sep-22
Great guide! Always has extra arrows just not enough of them.
From: Beav
09-Sep-22
Great guide! Always has extra arrows just not enough of them.
From: Glunt@work
17-Sep-22
Elk Hunting is slow this weekend.
From: Jaquomo
17-Sep-22
They had to change the name to "dusky grouse" because one member of the Blue Man Group was offended.
I've used the pioneer trick of flinging a 2' long stick at them just above ground level. Stuns them so you can grab them, and not waste an arrow.
From: Jeff Holchin
17-Sep-22
From: Glunt@work
17-Sep-22
Made a believer out of a couple grouse newbies at camp tonight.
From: WYOelker
19-Sep-22
William age 12 finally on the board…
From: DL
22-Sep-22
I finally got smart and brought a pellet gun to camp.
From: goelk
18-Oct-22
From: bigeasygator
18-Oct-22
Decided to give this guy a pass on my moose hunt. Assuming it’s a ruffed grouse and not a blue, but I liked the pic so I thought I’d share haha
From: GhostBird
18-Oct-22
Wrist Rocket slingshot is the way to go... or maybe a blowgun...
From: tradi-doerr
18-Oct-22
GhostBird, Last 6yrs I've been using my wrist rocket with 35# pull bands I got out of Germany. Using a 1/2" steel bearing knocks them dead, sounds like their getting hit with a bullet, so far I have taken 4 blue grouse with it. Unfortunately no birds this year, well missed one. Arrows are just to expensive these days to be flinging at small game.
