Here out west….we also hunt forest grouse. Blues (dusky) and Ruffs. There are many times that you cannot get the birds to flush out of the trees and even getting them to flush from under cover can be a chore. I’ve literally yelled at them…thrown sticks & rocks at them, all in an attempt to get them to take to wing. I’ve even shook the tree or branches they are sitting on to try and stir em up. Sometimes it works, a lot of the times it doesn’t.
Yep…..to some of you the Ruff is the king of upland birds…to a lot of us out west, the ruff is in the same class as a squirrel. They prefer to sit on a branch, stare at you and make little noises rather than flush sight unseen. In some years you can go up into the mountains and shoot limits of blues and ruffs on one hunt..walking up a single draw…with very little challenge. It sort of takes the fun out of it.
Very similar to hunting Spruce Grouse in Alaska. Not very challenging. People who’ve been there and done that know what I’m talking about.
