First grouse of the year.

I was going to say first blood of the year, but I already took a bear this summer. 10 yard shot, base of the neck with my souped up Ruger MK1.


Bear was a little closer. 7 yards.

Love the dog yawning, like "so what, impress me."

Nice work Andy

Nice. I have seen a bunch of grouse while bear hunting this year. Time to run the pups. Next time I go out I'm bringing a .22. So far I've been out 3 time, and only seen sows with cubs except night befor last. I had a nice one at 30 yds and my rifle was slung, and he mad it in the brush before I could shoot. Might go out this eve. Kinda stoved up with all the hiking. Being stuck on a boat for 5 mo doesn't do much for the legs. I hope to get out a few more times before I head back north for our last trip. Berries will be gone by the time I get back.

Busted two groups of grouse. One with 3, and another with 8.

Have had two close encounters with bears this year. Hope to make it three.

JG, Cedar wasn't impressed. This years bear was only 245lbs. Last years was 310. Cedar is 96lbs, for size reference.

Nice work!

I love success particularly after all the work it takes to prep. Well done Andy!

We've had fun so far with just one day of chasing animals with sharp sticks in the books.

Took about 50 hours of effort to get the bears patterned. Ended up having a sow walk in front of me at 10 yards at about 6pm, but she winded me. She was blocked by a big bush, so no shot. The boar came in 3 hours later, but he announced his arrival by being less than silent for about 15 minutes. Damage bear. Meat went to the Union Gospel Mission.

Two hits, one to the heart, breaking his sternum, and another behind this jaw, taking out his wind pipe and carotid arteries. Still ran 70 yards into the heavy timber, making for a rather interesting tracking job. Flashlight in one hand, rifle in the other. Retrieval was also fun, but I was prepared with snatch blocks and enough rope.

Nice Ruffed & TacSol'd Ruger. Stock trigger? Clark makes a good'n.

#2 son will get a break between school and work in short order. We've talked about chasing after the Blues. I'm hoping it comes true....

Best of luck to you and your son Driftin'.

Stock trigger, probably had 5,000 rounds through the pistol in its lifetime. I know I've shot 2,000 or more through it in the past 10 years. Silky smooth, clean break, so there was no reason to change it out. The TacSol upgrade over the old bull barrel probably saved a pound, even with the suppressor. The nice thing with the can is I got two shots off before they spooked. Tha bad thing is I missed bird #2.

Awesome Andy! Can't wait to see a report that you arrowed something.

That won't happen until late September, Drew. I have the multi-season tag as well as a very nice muzzle loader permit, so I'll probably try humping around with my bow for part of the first day and leave the gun in the truck.

Cedar is great on birds. Unfortunately I can't have him hunting birds while I'm deer hunting. We're checkin trail cams tonight, so Cedar gets to tag along.

Lol. If there erver was a bird that can humiliate ya. It's a friggin ruff grouse. Ya always hear more than ya see. I hunt um with the open choke. Still miss them. Heck if ya decide your gonna shoot them out of a tree then ya watch them fly in a tree 30' away then can't find um. Next to quail, they are my fav bird to hunt. They hold purdy good for a pointing dog. I've seen at least 2 coveys a day and I'm not hunting them. This should be a good year. I ran into a guy on the opener that drove over to the east side and by 11 am was back on the west side in a spot I hunt bears and he shot his 3 in ther and was done by 1. I'm going to do a afternoon hunt today, I should just carry a shotgun. Most the bears I see are under 50 yds.

If anyone wants any gas / food money and some good company on a grouse hunt, I can shoot.