doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Not just for the grouse guys

It reminds me so much of my own "Scrubapple Hillside" in Vermont's North East Kingdom.

I started hunting those covers in deer season in 1961 but soon learned they were grouse havens and the occasional woodcock flight would drop in.
There were old "tote roads", originally farm roads, in those wooded hills. we hunted abandoned farms like the old "Bedore Place" or the "Hall Place" or the "Fink Place" up on Fink's Hill. Today they have been logged twice since '61 and the cleated skidder tires have ground into the earth any evidence of what we once knew; foundations, stone walls, stone dams for water power...
There was a spot off the back corner of a field of the Heath Farm that had the remains of two model A's and a '29 Ford touring car that we used to call "The Old Ford Covert" but an AH driving a skidder flattened every one of them for no reason whatsoever except that he had the power to do so... Today it is known as "The Tin Pile" and few remember what it once was... but I have pictures both in my pictures folder as well as in my memory.
I only wish it was easier to post pictures here...

similar to a place I used to hunt in ny in the seventies...

50 miles north of Grand Central station, in Manhattan...

now, all just houses, lawns and cultivated shrubs that deer just love...

specially junipers...

That was mighty fine writing and evoked deep emotions. I even forwarded the article to my dad who is an accomplished hunter but who started out as and still is at heart an old New England partridge hunter.
I grew up hearing tales of places that used to be great bird cover but were now housing developments. Now I'm making the same observations to my own boys.

Thank you Jason.

Seems like it turned out to be mostly for the grouse guys after all.

Maybe, but, it was good reading with a nice art representation.

Grouse hunting later in the season is sometimes hit or miss. Often, I stomp around in the snow and don’t even see footprints. Other times, you hunt all day and stumble on a spot that half a dozen of them fly out of. There is a glacial ridge that runs a few hundred yards on some public dirt I hunt in Pine County, MN, that I was walking parallel to, in about two feet of snow. The ridge is about 10 feet tall, and for no reason I could discern, the grouse rocketed out over my head, presenting a few wonderful shots. I got three out of about eight that were loafing on the ridge. They flew off, one or two at a time. There wasn’t a good reason for them to be there, no food, almost no cover, and fairly exposed to avians.

Never have seen another grouse anywhere near that spot. Believe me, I’ve looked. They were on that ridge 25 years ago, but, not since, that I can tell.

Best,
Ted

Stan;

Have you discovered Covey Rise magazine?

Last year John Boyd sent me some old issues and I subscribed. Produced over in Alexander City, Alabama.

Kind Regards;
Stephen Howell

I have not, Stephen. Sounds like something I need to look into. I don't get a single hunting rag anymore. There are a few hunting articles in the AH Fox and Parker newsletters, but I kinda miss the good stories I used to be able to enjoy in others.

I will certainly give it a "look see".

Thank you, and may you steadily gain in strength and vigor!

Stan;

Here is a quick look at Covey Rise magazine.

https://coveyrisemagazine.com/

Kind Regards;
Stephen Howell