Opening Day, One Blue out of Two

Actually, we came upon four on the road, I shot two, the first one flew about 20 ft. and then did the funky chicken right by the side of the road, so I dropped another, one flew away, I put a fourth into a tree but that one flew before I could get a shot, along with two more (a total of six) that were off the other side of the road.... Unfortunately, Molly (my chocolate lab) only managed to find one of the two, I guess the first one I shot flapped enough to fall down the slope by the side of the road, and despite her searching for a long time (and us) we never turned it up.... The one we recovered was a huge female Dusky (Blue) Grouse.... I'm really surprised we couldn't find the first one I shot, it was just flapping away in the grass at the side of the road when I shot the second one.... Since we had Molly with us, and it was obviously not going to run or fly, I figured I had a double for sure....

Anyway, a great way to start the season.... one Blue in the freezer....

Bob

Those birds that are doing the funky chicken dance are prone to falling into stump-holes (which you are probably familiar with in B.C.) which can be surprisingly deep for such shallow rooted trees as the spruce. Add the natural camoflauge of these birds, and you got your work cut out for you finding them. Roadsides seem to be the worst around here for these holes...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail