To most hunters, the ruffed grouse is king of Maine’s upland birds .
The leaves have started to turn their crimson shades.
Apple cider is once again a staple item available at farm stands and grocery stores. Pumpkins, gourds and hardy mums decorate houses as leaves blanket browning lawns.
While all of these images signal that autumn is upon us, nothing spells fall to this writer like the opening of the upland hunting season.
For those of us who yearn to traipse along a dirt road or through the thickets with guns cradled in the crook of our arms, the ability to take a grouse, woodcock, pheasant or rabbit (along with other game) for the larder makes each trip afield a special one to be remembered for decades. All of these game animals are in season, providing hunter with the opportunity to bring home a mixed bag for the makings of a game stew, but one quarry stands out among the rest.
To most hunters, the ruffed grouse is king of Maine’s upland birds and is hunted hard from the first day of October, right up until deer season opens and shotgun is replaced by rifle. The ruffed grouse, or partridge as it is commonly called, has attained a well-deserved reputation as a tricky bird to shoot when on the wing, but it is equally well-known for its sheer stupidity when on the ground.
Hunters with dogs that can point and flush the bird probably have the best luck of all. The grouse will usually hold until the dog is looking it in the eyes before it flushes or darts off. If it flushes, a hunter in position has to hope the bird will choose a path unobstructed by limbs and branches. Typically, it does not. Sometimes it will hop onto a low-hanging branch and taunt the hunter to shoot it where it sits. Most dog hunters will forego such a shot for fear of striking their dog with a pellet.
If the bird runs off, the well-trained dog will take up chase, and can forgo pin the bird down again. I have had a bird trot off a few yards away and not been able to locate it, so perhaps these birds do “run for the next county,” as many suggest.
Most of us get our start hunting grouse by walking old logging roads in the morning hours when the birds begin to stir. Ruffed grouse spend their nights in the boughs of spruce and pine trees to shelter them from wind and predators. When the morning sun hits the dirt roads, they drop down out of the trees to warm up, feed on buds and insects and ingest sand that aids in the digestion of their food. These “road birds” will typically freeze when a hunter approaches, or they may simply step off the roads and sit motionless in the weeds and leaves. With their mottled brown appearance, it takes a sharp eye to spot a sitting partridge when the leaves are on the ground.
Road birds are also a prime target for “heater hunters”, or hunters who ride the roads from the comfort of their trucks, stepping out to take a pot shot at a bird when one is spotted on the ground. While some may frown on this method of hunting, Maine’s vast networks of logging roads made this a traditional form of hunting for partridge that produces results. While my favorite manner of hunting grouse is over a finely-tuned dog, I enjoy road hunting when going from covert to covert, knowing that I will get a chance to stretch my legs when I reach my next destination, yet not willing to pass up a bird that is foolish enough to sit still for me!
Hunters who wish to hone their stalking skills for later in the month, when deer season opens, can do so with ruffed grouse. If you travel the back roads around the Lewiston/Auburn region, you can easily spot old homesteads along the side of the road. There may be an old cellar hole, or perhaps a pile of rocks that was once a fireplace. Once you find such a site, poke around a bit and you will likely find a patch of apple trees behind where the house previously stood. These abandoned trees often still produce fruit, and draw grouse in to feast on the tart, tangy orbs that hang from the tree or drop to the earth. Once you know where an old apple orchard sits, creep in slowly, and you may get a shot.
I had an old orchard of several dozen trees at my old house that still produced apples, some 70 years after the trees were planted. I could see the gnarled trees from my kitchen window, and regularly saw grouse pecking along the ground at apples and sapling buds.
For stalk hunters, the end of the day also provides a window of opportunity to catch these otherwise wary birds off guard. Much like turkeys, grouse seem to sleep in the same tree, or at least one nearby, each night. If you are in the woods in the morning and bump one from its roost, you can probably find this bird and others close by when the sun sets. A few years ago during deer season, I was sitting on the ground just inside the edge of the woods where field met forest. I was hoping to intercept a deer as it made its way to the field at dusk. Light was just beginning to fade when I heard a crunching sound. I readied myself, expecting to get a shot at a doe or buck in the next few seconds. The crunching got louder and I could not believe that I could not see the deer that was making this racket. Suddenly, I caught movement off to my left. A grouse was making his way across the carpet of dried leaves.When he was about 10 yards from me, he flushed and landed in the spruce tree that I was leaning against. I looked up and could see him settling in for the night. Had I been bird hunting with a shotgun, he would have gone home for a nice meal. But then again, had I had a shotgun with bird shot, the buck of a lifetime would have probably been the source of that noise!
Whether you opt to chase the king of Maine game birds with a pointing or flushing dog, walk the myriad paths that bisect the forest, hunt from the comfort of your truck or stalk-hunt these crafty birds, October is the best month to do so. With a backdrop of colorful shades of yellow, red, orange and brown, the days are milder and more conducive to a day-long hike along roads and trails. For a complete list of season dates and bag limits, visit the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries Web site at: http://www.state.me.us/ifw/
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