These days we get only one shot at big woods animals, and believe it or not it is in the form of small game. Squirrels were just about non-existent in the Tioga County woods we were hunting.That was not good news for the 11 and under crowd(Carter and Reed) who could basically only hunt the furry tree rats. The first day began with an early start. This means breakfast at a diner and being the first guests to arrive at the mountain house. Unpacked, we must be observent because turkeys loom in the fields. In the 22 years up here only 2 turkeys have been shot while I visited. They usually make their appearance during Sunday's mid-morning coffee. So Thursday resulted in one squirrel shot: Reed's first. The true hunting starts Friday, Nov.13, 2009. My brother in law (Steve), my son (Hudson),and I woke with visions of grouse flying in our heads. The first patch of thistles pushed resulted in a scared bunny eventually falling to Hudson's 16 gauge S/S Stevens shotgun (his first). A very long walk resulted in 2 or 3 flushes, not the 10 plus we were hoping for. With lunch dancing in our heads by now, we pushed the last patch of nasties out. The woods erupted with 8 to 10 grouse and 2 rabbits. Some grouse ran,some flew,and some stayed put inside the briars. One rabbit fell to my 12 gauge s/s,and the other was killed by Steve's 410 o/u. One of the sprinting grouse fell to Hudson's gun.The reason I say 8 to 10 grouse is because so many flushed out of that 1 acre patch that we lost count. That was one of my all time great hunts in my grouse hunting moments,and this was Hudson's FIRST grouse hunt. Later that day, Hudson connected on another rabbit putting the total to 2 grouse and 4 rabbits. We had over 10 grouse flushes and 4 rabbit flushes, rabbits always being a total bonus for the grouse hunter. The trip had already started as a succes.
Stay tuned.
