16ga.com ~ View topic - PA Grouse Season starts the 19th Of October this season.

Gentlemen,

Although its still pretty warm in the 1st three weeks of October, here in PA, and I do not like Grouse hunting when the tempature is above 60 degrees. I still see the PA Game Commission has shortened our Grouse Season even further. Opening now on the 19th of the month in 2024, that is 3/4 of the way thru October, instead of the usual closest week end to the 15th, that would have been the 12th of October this year, and we still loose all of January also, actually the best time to Grouse hunt in PA. I do hope we get some early snow this year to make up for our lost days to Grouse hunt. Most times now I only hunt every other day because of my age. In reality my Grouse hunting time has really diminished. At least I can still train my new Ryman/Old Hemlock pup during the season and when it ends also, in the colder weather. Daisy will never get the time in the Grouse woods that her name sake had, that is for sure, a real shame. She will definitely be cheated our of our cold weather Grouse hunting time, and now even some of the time in the mid October.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man
Pine Creek Grouse Dog Trainers

Joined: 27 Nov 2020 Posts: 93 Location: mtns of central PA

The state of PA is not generous w/ its grouse season, esp. considering that its neighboring states of WV and NY have seasons that run through February and allow Sunday hunting to boot. Which is why I buy licenses for those as well. It would be difficult to educate a grouse dog on PA alone. I will kick things off next week in NY if weather half-way cooperates.

Regardless, I am looking forward to PA grouse season, as I have a 7 month old pup to train & believe there was a decent hatch this year. We have been finding the PA birds on some cool mornings.

2.5 year old with a nice grouse find earlier this month, one of 3 she pointed on her run (and also 3 bonus woodcock to boot):

The pup learning about woodcock:

Dogs are the same breeding, two litters apart. Pup still has a great deal to learn but is handling nicely.

boon,
Good to hear from you, I was hoping you would post. Usually I purchase a WVa hunting license, NY however not so much. To much gun control in NY and the Grouse numbers are not very good in the western part of NY where we use to hunt, near Potter County, Pa

Great pictures in the heavy foliage! Looks like you're pup is doing well!

I need to get Daisy our new Ryman pup out in the Grouse woods, that will happen shortly in Potter/Tioga, Pa. Still very thick cover and to warm also.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 27 Nov 2020 Posts: 93 Location: mtns of central PA

Good luck to you, Dave. I think it will be a good season. I did not run dogs this weekend as our RGS chapter is busy helping develop a new woodcock propagation area in Union Co. I just got back from a soggy day of planting 400 spotted alder, quaking aspen, winterberry, nannyberry, and Viburnum. Time for a stiff drink! A friend of mine just texted me to say he moved 2 grouse broods today.

boon,
I am also hearing positive contact numbers here in Potter/Tioga. This is definitely great news, and it does seem we had a good hatch this spring. We will soon see how good the hatch was, I plan to be in the Grouse woods opening day, we also get to hunt that Sunday of opening day weekend, myself I have never taken a Grouse on Sunday, don't know if my Grandfather & Father would approve or not. However we have a lot less days to hunt now, can't make up my mind whether this is right or not hunting on Sunday. Taking life on Sunday does not set well with me, my respect for Gods gifts to us here in our mountains is most important to me. When I hunt on Saturday, opening day, I will probably not hunt Sunday any way. My new Ryman pup does need the Grouse contact however.

Nice article in the Project Uplnd Magazine this month about woods craft Grouse hunting, by John Haines. Glad some of the younger generation is now starting to understand why developing ones own covert locations, is so important to our Grouse hunting sport. It is hard for me to call some of these modern hunters sportsman, when they purchase GPS locations for Grouse coverts, the people selling such information should be jailed IMO. Yes I am very old school for sure.

The best of luck to you this season training and hunting your Grouse dogs, be careful out in the big forest! Give the dogs a pat on the head for me. I know what you mean about the soggy planting, worked with Bill Palmer on several RGS work sights long ago, way to old for that kind of work now, wish Bill was still the Grouse Biologist for the PGC however, retired many years now. He knew what he was doing and never played politics.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 27 Nov 2020 Posts: 93 Location: mtns of central PA

We got it going early in NY... Grouse have been scarce, but she did a nice job pinning this one in a swamp.

Joined: 27 Nov 2020 Posts: 93 Location: mtns of central PA

It was hot and dry, the birds were jumpy all day and kept busting early or running out from under points... but it did come together on this one.

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1683 Location: Denver, Colorado

Boon: Your red birds look different than my red birds...

[url=https://imgur.com/Z0caPBA]

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[url=https://imgur.com/sCdMCJI]

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a bit more of a pronounced "red" perhaps? Maybe not...

[url=https://imgur.com/lt6TdPl]

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Grey tail, mixed phase birds predominate up here this year.

Joined: 28 Mar 2010 Posts: 33

Nice classic grouse gun you have there, Boon. Congrats on the birds too.

Joined: 27 Nov 2020 Posts: 93 Location: mtns of central PA

Lloyd, I have only shot one intermediate bird down here ever.

Joined: 27 Nov 2020 Posts: 93 Location: mtns of central PA

The grouse have been paranoid in the dry conditions and flushing out far ahead, so I switched over to the Sweet 16 with the IC barrel. A rare Pennsylvania grouse limit came my way due to some nice dog work.

boon Haggenbeck,

Congrats on the well earned Pa Grouse limit! Great stuff for sure when the dogs are working well. Real nice pictures also! Hope you had a wonderful Grouse season, mine was short and sweet due to a foot and leg operation, emergency surgery in the middle of Grouse season, really sucks. Hope to be fully recovered for next Grouse & Woodcock season.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1683 Location: Denver, Colorado

Boon/Dave:

Nice to see these photographs on a cold January morning. Reminds me of the very full season just past and makes me think of my plans for the next one to come. Sorry to hear that my old home state keeps trimming the grouse season back there Dave, I used to really enjoy those January hunts in Pennsylvania as a younger man.

Boon, I meant to tell you earlier that mixed phase birds now predominate up at our home at LOTW. Solid red birds are rare and solid grey even more so. It's quite cold everywhere in the country at the moment, it seems, even where my brother now winters in Florida. But nothing ever seems to get as cold as this...

[url=https://imgur.com/ezOdN29]

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I'm glad to see that tree missed the house(!). My mother-in-law just recently sent me this (she checks-in on things there regularly). 50 below "Up Nort" is fairly common this time of year but since grouse season ends January 1st there, I haven't had to deal with those temperatures (just yet). Maybe someday I'll try it over Christmas, but that seems unlikely now. I much prefer it more like this:

[url=https://imgur.com/K4rR1vS]

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What's the old saying? "Fall is the island and the rest of the year is the swim."

Gentlemen,

The Grouse hunting use to be best here in Pa during late December/January with 6 to 10" of snow on the ground. The early season in October was always real tough because of the heavy foliage here in Pa, until the leaves fell from the trees. November was great Grouse hunting with sunny cold days, usually the most pleasant time to hunt and lots of hunters in the woods. Now with the loss of our January Grouse season we hope fo some decent snows in November and December. Lots of serious Grouse hunters are very up set with the PGC for not closing & opening Grouse season by County as was promised by the PGC. Taking the easy way out and closing the entire state just before Christmas put a real hurt on most serious Grouse hunters time in the woods. The PGC could have closed all of the southern tier to Grouse hunting and left the norther tier, where we still have a good Grouse population open after Christmas at least for the 1st 2 weeks of January. I did hear an argument that this would put unusual stress on the norther tier grouse hunting. I do not agree with this argument however, because as Bill Palmer our real experienced Pa Grouse Biologist pointed out, we have lost the majority of our Grouse hunters due to age, and the younger generations participating in few numbers. Further it has been proven that closing Grouse season has no real effect on Pa's Grouse population. So only the Grouse hunters loose with the closing of Grouse season.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Dave , you need a coalition , get together and hammer on the PGC . We're open till the end of Jan or Feb (got to look ) . Same conditions as we are just in the Northern tier in NY . Haven't seen a bird hunter here in eons after Deer season . But the commissions can be steered with some pressure and reason . Got the doe tags changed here a while back ..... Nothing walking a steep hillside , with a ft of snow , and have a buried Grouse flush inches from your face !! Had that happen twice - do not know why I'm here today - worst I've ever been scared in my life !! (did have a snowshoe do the same thing when my snowshoe broke thru a brush pile - same result , just a different story !!)