grouse hunt

[gregcincy]

What about a group gouse hunt on some of the public lands in southern Ohio. Like Wayne NF, or maybe some of the Mead Paper lands. I'm thinking of a gouse camp, hunt in the mornings and evenings, tell a bunch of lies around the campfire the rest of the time. The season opens up Oct 11th.
Whats everyone think?

[vvarmitr]

Now that sounds like fun, especially for guys like me that don't have a bird dog. I love to watch dogs work. For me that would be a good enough reason to be there. IF I got a grouse that would only be icing on the cake. But not to many of them stop & hover in mid air in the open like a hummingbird where I can shoot them. :( Now don't take that wrong & think that I shoot hummingbirds. :rolleyes: However don't count me in until I find out when I'll be getting days off.

[MrFurious]

I've been wanting to try my hand at pheasant & grouse for a couple years now, so count me in! I don't have a dog either, and the few "pay-to-play" places up here are on the pricey side (annual membership + per bird fee's).

[MrFurious]

Speaking of "pay-to-play" places, here's a link from the DNR all of the shooting preserves in the state.

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/PDF/Pub%20015.pdf

[Aimrite]

My pups only 5 months old we just started to break him to gun, When he is im gonna hit some public grouse land down by WNF.
Depending on date If I can get off work Im in.

[Caribou Dreamer2]

Sounds like fun.I will already be a Lake Hope state park on the 11th and the 12th so count me in i will see if i can hit on of those birds.I have yet to hit one but sure have taken sown my share of tree though,let me know whats going on might just have to pack the shotgun for a afternoon grouse hunt instead of deer that day

[Thunderflight]

I'd like to go too. Sounds like alot of fun.

The last time I went grouse hunting was in 1986.

TF

[gregcincy]

Ok sounds like we might have some interest brewing for this outing. Here is what i am thinking. I am planning on trying to set up an appointment this week with the Unit forrester for the Ironton disctrict of WNF. I will be asking him to point out some 5-10 year old clearcuts that would hopefully prove productive for us. I read i should do this in the latest issue of Ohio Game and Fish magazine. Anyway I hope to have several places marked on a map that we can try. I'm sure a little preseason scouting couldn't hurt, especially since i dont have a dog either. I need to find the best places I can to help make the odds at least a little less in favor of those birds.

What weekend do you guys want to go for?

[Thunderflight]

How do you scout for grouse?

TF

[gregcincy]

you look for old clearcuts vs huge mature stands of hardwoods. From what i know you tend find more grouse in grown up thick areas rather than clear easy walking mature stands of large timber. That is what i will be scouting for not nessasirly the birds themselves. Just the most likely looking areas. Make sense?

[Thunderflight]

Gottcha.

At first I had visions of someone on their hands and knees with a magnifying glass looking for grouse tracks and droppings...:D

TF

[vvarmitr]

Thunderfluff: that works too. You need a good pair of knee pads too. I keep forgeting mine at work. lol :eek: :D

[MrFurious]

vvarmitr, exactly why are your knee pads at....nevermind, I don't think we really want to know the answer to that! :D :D

[firtras]

I grew up in the s.e. part of the state and have always had good luck kicking up grouse in the clearcuts w/pines nearby. Kicked up some in the pines to. Depending on which weekend you guys choose I am interested.

[sycamoreredneck]

What part of South Eastern Ohio did you grow up in Firtras?? I know you live in "Nerk" now. Thanks for the game warden joke by the way, twas very funny!!!

[gregcincy]

Ok I called the Ironton district office today at work on my lunch hour. Talked to one of the "wildlife guys" that the receptionist recommended i speak with. I told him i was looking for some clearcuts in the 5-10 year old range. He told me most of the clear cuts in the Ironton unit of the Wayne NF are more like 10-15 years old. Reason being is the Tree hugger enviromentlist crowd has pretty much raised alot of hell for most of the 90's and made it hard for them to conduct very many timber sales. Gets me a little fired up talking about it but anyway thats a different subject. He did say he would be happy to show me what he does have. So i plan on going down on friday to see what they have. He did say that some of the State forests in that area have some clear cuts in that age structure and to check them out also. Anyway I'll let you guys know what I find out.

[Lance]

I usually have a lot better success in that age than the younger stuff. So that's not so bad. If it's later in the year I may be able to make it but October is looking pretty much out this year.

[firtras]

Sycamoreredneck,
I grew up in jackson county(towns of wellston and oak hill). I've hunted in jackson and vinton counties and very little in ross county.

[gregcincy]

Lance,
help me out here a little. What are we talking about as far as a 10-15 y/o clearcut looks like? Are we talking about trees that are 3-4 inches in diameter. or am i way off? How about a clear cut in the 5-10 year range? What would that look like. Which is going to be harder to hunt in? I'm guessing the older clearcuts would be more thick. Is that why you seem to have better luck in the older stuff?

[MrFurious]

Well chit! I was thinking for some reason the season didn't come in until November. I"m pretty much booked up on weekends through October, so I guess I'm going to have to pass on this outing regretfully.

[Lance]

In most trees those 3-4" trees are usually close to 10-20 yr range. The younger stuff in the 5-10 yr is more like a 2-3" inches and not real tall. You'll find some grouse around those still but not as many. The real young stands tend to hold more woodcock(when the flights come through) which prefer a higher stem density than grouse. The only time I seem to find more grouse in really young stuff is if there's a good food source like dogwoods, berry bushes or if it's a a lot of small oaks. If the trees arean't at least 15' tall the birds are really exposed to hawks and such. At least this is my experiences. It would be interesting to hear where others find their birds. I know the places I find them here is diffent than when I go to MI.

[gregcincy]

Well mrfourious i dont see why we cant plan for a round 2 later in November or December. Heck why not plan 3 or 4 outings. Beats sitting on the couch watching TV on your days off.

[scott trout]

count me and my gordon setter in. anyone ever been to blue rock state forest . in the last 2 turkey seasons i have kicked up several grouse(over 30) in 3 trips. thats alot of grouse!

[gregcincy]

Where is Blue Rock, Is it close to the Ironton district of the Wayne NF? If so maybe i can go check it out when i'm down there on Friday.

[firtras]

wow that is alot of grouse:cool:

[scott trout]

ya i couldnt believe it. these were all flushed wile i was scouting for turkeys. groups of 6 -7 birds everywere.the forest is 80% pines with alot of brushy ground cover. it is in muskingum county.look it up in a search it is one of our state forests.when you find a map look up browning rd. thats were i saw most of the birds.

[gregcincy]

alright everyone, I went down to the Ironton district office on Friday and met with a guy named Gary, They are putting together a map of the district specfically for grouse hunting. What they have is a map that shows areas of the forest that have stands of timber that are 20 years old or less. Which is what they consider to be the prime age range for grouse in the forest. They have a working copy that they are going to be revising and then they will make it avalible for the public. They did not know when they would have it avalible but they did take my name and number and Gary told me he would call me when they had it updated. What i did was i bought a unit map for myself and he let me borrow the grouse map so that i could mark the prime areas onto my map. There are a ton of different areas scattered thoughout the forest. So i just marked a bunch onto my map. Plenty enough to keep several groups of hunters busy for the remainder of the season. Even if we went every weekend. Finding decent places to hunt won't be a problem. I am thinking about going down Friday and finding a place to camp at the Lake Vesuvius campground. We could probably make that the head quarters for the grouse hunt camp. So what do you guys think? Does everybody still want to try to hunt this coming weekend?

[gregcincy]

Ok looks like the campground at Lake Vesuvius closed at the end of September. I guess we would have to try to find another place to camp. Or there are several hotels close to Ironton. I myself would prefer to just camp in the back of my truck.

[scott trout]

im hunting ravenna arsenal sat. so i cant go this weekend

[gregcincy]

Ok whats the deal guys. does everyone not want to hunt this weekend? Should we look at trying next weekend? Or maybe a different place? I've got Thursday Friday and Saturday off. So i dont mind to travel to meet somewhere.