Name: Aaron P.
Date of Hunt: September 1, 2018
Location of Hunt: Central Colorado
Animal Hunted: Blue Grouse
Were you successful?: Yes!
Weather, Wind, and Conditions: Warm and Clear. Upper 60’s

Interesting Details of the Hunt: It was the first day of grouse season 2018 and I had the  opportunity to go out with a friend and his two boys. We all had small game licenses and I was looking forward to not only get a grouse or two myself, but also have my friend and boys get a grouse.  None of them had ever gotten one before and so I was excited to introduce them to this small game.

Grouse are strange birds.  They can just stand there on a log looking at you or they can flush suddenly from right below your feet!  These crazy birds have just about given me a heart attack a number of times when I am out hiking or hunting.  I’ve heard it said that for every grouse you see, there are five more that you don’t see.  I was hoping today that we would see at least a few.

Late morning we headed out looking for grouse.  I could not imagine how successful we would be.  We headed down a old mountain road and started looking out for birds out along either side of the road.

Ten minutes in we came across our first bird.  I took 5 shots with my .22 and eventually bagged by first grouse of 2018.  (I later determined that my sights were about 10 inches high.)   Despite a good ribbing from my friend on if I had enough ammo, I was thrilled to get my first bird of the year.

Two minutes later we came across our first group of birds.  Between my .22 and my friend’s 20-gauge, I quickly filled my limit of 3 birds for the day and my friend had 2 himself!   Over the next 45 minutes both boys had numerous shots at birds and we finished about an hour later with a total of nine birds.  Every single one of us were able to get a couple birds!

They didn’t last long!  The next day, we cut the meat up and covered them in flour.  After frying them in butter, they disappeared quicker that we had gotten them in the first place.

I don’t know how many other grouse I will get this year, but I consider this year already a wild success!