16ga.com ~ View topic - Traditional fair chase Grouse hunting here in Pa

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

Filsons never made the cut with me either, they are too heavy especially when it's over freezing.

I like the light rip stop fabrics, they really are perfect in the early season when it's warm. Don't really need the rip stop unless you misjudge the barbed wire fences as you swing a leg over them LOL.

MSM2019,

I have to admit I was never fond of the heavy Filson chaps or vests. As soon as Gore-Tex brush pants were introduced to the hunting market, I purchased several pair even though they were very expensive. The Browning Gore-Tex Grouse pants along with the Columba Gore-Tex Brush pants are my go to Grouse pants, light and extremely durable high tex clothing, completely water proof for snowy or rainy weather I have found them great for Grouse hunting. If I know I am going to Grouse hunt in some extremely heavy Green Briar habitat, I have a pair of Browning light weight chaps that snap up the sides, to throw on over my Gore-Tex Brush pants. In reality I hardly ever wear these Chaps, however they are kept in the the explorer in case they are needed. Our clothing we Grouse hunt in has always had to be light and tough,
I see no need for having old style clothing, when the modern high tex clothing is so much lighter and water proof. I have to tell you I still have my original Black & Red checked Woolrich Grouse Jack, with the internal bird pockets, unfortunately with the PGC making only the safety Orange legal to hunt in, I wear my beautiful Woolrich Grouse Jacket as my every day winter jacket. Still one of the most comfortable jackets I own. If it was legal I would still wear it Grouse hunting, in cold snowy weather.

all the best

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

My original Woolrich Grouse jacket, one great warm piece of clothing for winter weather Grouse hunting. Unfortunately no longer legal to wear Grouse hunting in Pa.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

Yes, I agree, the older, heavy fabrics have been replaced in my closet. When I was in CT I had LL Bean hunting clothes, I could have been in one of their advertisements. Their pants were waterproof and briar proof, for all upland hunting. I finally wore the last pair out several years ago. In this area of ND it is semi-arid with not too many briars (I haven't found any yet). I have gone to lightweight tactical pants for the early season and Wrangler upland pants for later on. Looking at some of the tactical pants to replace the Wranglers, no real need for the cordura on the front of the legs. Base layers are Under Armor. No coats or jackets, I have tried them, but I don't like the gun mount with a coat on. I like thin layers and my WingWorks vest on top. If it is really raining....I stay home now with a nice bourbon. I have some gortex bibs, but they haven't seen any use since I retired. If it's snowing, I am hunting in it.

Member Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 376 Location: North ID.

When it's cold and/or with snow on the ground, I often wear my Filson single layer tin pants. I find them to be comfortable, they break the wind great and work for me. That said I do have a couple pairs of Merino wool camo pants I also wear. It just depends on where I'm hunting. I also have a LL Bean Wool black and red checked coat I wear regularly big game or upland hunting in colder weather.

When I was a kid, prior to being old enough to hunt I would tag along with my dad, he packing his Browning A5 auto in 12 gauge he bought after WW2, who had a GSP and would hunt forest grouse with his GSP. My guess would be, there weren't many in our neck of the woods in N ID that hunted grouse with a dog, hunting them in the aforementioned manner, from a vehicle and swatting along a road or tree limb, which I'm not ashamed to say, I did regularly, as well! Although I started hunting with a Winchester model 37, 16 ga single shot, most of my bird hunting nowadays is with a sxs shotgun in 16 ga and to tell the truth, I don't hunt forest grouse much anymore and prefer to hunt pheasants, quail, chukar and huns. And, I have no moral/ethical issue with whatever manner one chooses to hunt grouse.

I had the double tin waxed, hard to get into in a cold cabin, hard to get out of wet. Wore a hole in the right leg by the ankle so big I could put my shoe through it (CT briars hold some decent birds). At some point, someone gave me a double tin waxed jacket as well, wore holes in the sleeves by the cuff, best use was carrying tool’s & paperwork at work. Still have the jacket, tossed the pants. I do use the strap vest for upland and it has held up. But now for pants I run either Tac5.11 rip stop or a set of Prana I was given (lightweight, stretchy & quick drying). Breathable shirts and a fleece. I waterproof everything with NikWax stuff. And for thorn protection, Boyt snakeproof chaps, which though shredded at the ankle, still protects my thighs.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1310 Location: Western WA

Filson started in Seattle to sell heavy duty outerwear to gold miners in Alaska, and thereafter to northwest loggers. Yes very heavy and stiff, quite honestly outdated and expensive today. But still functional, as the giant blackberry briars and salmonberry thickets in the timber and rainforest out here laugh at modern textiles like ripstop and goretex before shredding them to rags.

Filson holds up to such abuse, but so costly that we merely purchase new gear made with standard materials, then discard after a season or two, and repeat. Some of our boys simply wear a couple layers of their old street clothes in the field then toss them in the trash after the hunt!

B.

Brewster11,

Filson has always been high quality hunting clothing/Vests. My problem with them has always been the weight to carry up and down the Grouse mountains while hunting.
I did wear out some of their Chaps, Pants and Vests before I started using my Gore-Tex
Brush pants and my Field & Stream and Columbia upland Vests. If Filson would come up with good light longevity wearing stuff, I might try them again, however I am not ever going back to their heavy clothing or vests that is for sure. At my age and after having open heart surgery carrying that kind of weight in the Grouse woods, would probably be the end of me. I have to admit the Columbia Grouse vest which is not longer available and the old Field & Stream Upland Vest still get the job done, and the Browning Gore-Tex Grouse Jacket is fantastic.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man
The old Columbia Grouse Vest, when it was new.

Joined: 17 Oct 2019 Posts: 456 Location: New Jersey

I mostly wear Beretta and Orvis nowadays grouse hunting. The Beretta thorn resistant pants are 100% waterproof and very comfortable. But for years I jump hunted rabbits every weekend and every day off. I wore out a few pairs of double tins about half way up to my knee (multiflora rose and blackberry) and they would replace them. The last pair the woman asked me what I was doing with them and I said rabbit hunting and she said this is your last free pair. I guess after 3 or 4 they got tired and I was likely one of a few people that could wear these things out. Between the tins, Muck boots, and a Dans jacket I could pretty much go through anything without a problem.

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

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I certainly do remember the thorns and the wild primrose tangles back in the "old Country". The trails I'm waking for grouse "Up Nort" are like golf courses by comparison, and while I do need to go off-trail occasionally, the Minnesota woods don't seem to have anywhere near the variety and overall nastiness of the brambles back where I grew up. Thick and swampy, yes, sharp and jagged....no. I can't even imagine using a hammergun back there on grouse.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

I have some great memories of hunting for grouse and woodcock back in Connecticut. Towards the end of my living there all we were hunting was property that wasn't good for anything else, and certainly not good for hunting. I got tired of mud, briars, always having to move tree limbs, climbing over deadfalls etc.

When I made it to Iowa for the first time in 1993, I still had decent woodcock and ruffed grouse hunting, but the trip out west opened my eyes. I found out what it was like to hunt in the open. I fell for that big sky, big fields, and not feeling hemmed in. I vowed that when I retired....bye-bye northeast. A couple years later in 1995, I was invited by the owner of Big Foot Goose Decoys (The Clinton Decoy Company) to hunt with him in Springfield, SD. Art had a place there and he and his son Greg hunted ducks and I went pheasant hunting. My rent was to clean all birds that came into the house, no problem. Anyway I can remember standing in a field in Avon, SD, watching snow coming from the west. My brittany Maverick and I, had gotten our limit and I can remember screaming at the top of my lungs, because I knew where I would be living at some point in my life. I made it, kinda sorta, but missed SD by a few miles and ended up in North Dakota. I have fond memories, but I wouldn't go back to how I started hunting.

ND ain't the place for everyone but it is the place for me. I can literally see miles in every direction, from our home. Big Sky that shows the Milky Way, the Northern Lights and some wonderful sunrises and sunsets. Cold? Yup. Windy? Yup. Unpredictable weather? Yup. Close to big towns? Nope.

This is all new to me but in 2020 at the age of 64 I started MY tradition......finally.....and as you can tell I don't live wanting what was. I am too busy looking foward to what will be, and I am at peace with that, just ask my wife. She bought me this shirt in August 2023......I think she's jealous!!

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

Lloyd3,

That picture is beautiful and reminds me of grouse hunting in Mansfield, CT, right next to the Fenton River. I remember fly fishing the river in the spring (not exclusively using dries, sorry Dave) and hearing the grouse drumming. Never took a lot of grouse there, but that's OK, because it is all good memories.

Joined: 07 Mar 2010 Posts: 483 Location: South Eastern PA

Joined: 17 Oct 2019 Posts: 456 Location: New Jersey

Yup, the only other thing that’s worth it for bunny hunters is Dans or similar.

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

MSM2019: The East and the West, two completely different worlds that I straddle regularly. If I were King, I would probably choose to live where both grouse and trout abound but... then I would surely miss the big sunny skies and the vast plains. As it is now, I have the luxury of both. I must travel of-course, but...the separation of those worlds isn't all bad either. Have gun, will travel.

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2 things : 1) my all time best Grouse gun is my lightweight M1100 28ga . I only use 2 shells in it . My fave out west gun is the Davis . Cheap old crap gun , but 2 triggers . Been too far from the truck to have a useless gun - 2 triggers/barrels is the only way to go .... 2) I have real emotions seeing those out west pics again . Every once in a while , a trick knee would stop me from chasing Nick and Reno around , and I'd just hold my ground and take in the vista . AMAZING !! And you'd be surprised how many birds in that vastness would be hanging around with you ! They sound like a bunch of chickens when undisturbed ! Really missed that hair ball Britney then !!