I don't know what the elevation is but it is mountainous! There was a truck already parked there, and I started to drive on away. Making this double made the 10th grouse without missing! In the year of 1977, I realized I had a string of seven grouse killed without missing a shot. Firearms deer hunting is not allowed in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton (north of GA Highway 92), and that portion of Glynn County lying within Jekyll Island. When you have the first really cold spell, they tend to come down to the creeks, Monte said. Archery: Sept. 10 - Jan. 8 Extended Archery*: Sept. 10 - Jan. 31 In spite of their importance as one of Georgias most charismatic upland gamebird species, the current distribution and abundance of grouse in Georgia is unknown. In this guide, well take you through the basic habitat requirements of the ruffed grouse across its range so can have a general idea of what to look for in a healthy forest. Late one afternoon when Arthur and I had encountered a hard days hunt, with no grouse in our game bags, Dot became pointed way up high on the mountainside above the logging road where we were walking. While I will not say alive and well, to those willing to sacrifice days and hours, long walks and dog runs, the wild birds are still there. But there are ruffed grouse to be had if you know where to look. Meyer, Rachelle. Most weeks they hunted six days a week. Great tips and I would have to agree with the others on pointer being the only dog comment.. Most WMA's have too many trees and not enough sunlight but Russell has a vey open forest and has been burned. OVERJOYED! They seem to be coming back a bit. Are there still ruffed grouse in Georgia? | GON Forum All things considered, you only need a shotgun, a pair of boots, some durable clothing, and blaze orange. This family of shooters consisted of Arthurs pa and grandpa. 2017. When nearing Dot, three grouse flushed, all going around the mountainside the same way. But as Broderick moved slowly toward the brush it became apparent that the grouse family had already made its escape. This one is easy. Dove hunting tradition runs as deep as the culture of southern bobwhite quail. Sometimes, it would be so cold that when the dogs ran across a creek and got water all over them, they would stop to shake the water off of their hair. 2014-2023 Project Upland Media Group, LLC. This drastic decline in population levels is partially the result of changes in habitat. As with all states, the daily limit is 3 with a possession limit of 9 birds. PDF 2021-2022 Season Dates A snap-shooter shoots at a spot. As we crunched through the leaves, Broderick confided that the wind was probably going to be working against us. After lunch, Star and I went to High Shoals Creek nearby for another hunt. The author lost me and a lot of other readers from the get go when he cited pointers as the only dog worthwhile hunting grouse. Whenever . Many hunters use programs like Google Maps to find Ruffed Grouse Habitat. Instinctively, I covered the leading grouse and saw it fold up at the shot. - YouTube I hunted small game in New York during winter (early December 2013). Being tired from a hard days hunt, I declined. PDF The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Its very similar to Lake Burton, said Broderick. I grew up hunting ruffed grouse in the Great Lakes States, and after almost a decade being gone hunting pheasants and quail on the Great Plains, I returned to the grouse woods. The region for northern bobwhites extends from the Blue Ridge Mountains down to the coast. The reason that I ask is that I recently drove through the WMA and was blown away at how beautiful it was! Biding the man farewell, I left without explaining anything else. It will be even better if theres an understory of rhododendron, mountain laurel, or soft mast species (wild grape, greenbrier, hawthorn, and blackberries). A Guide to Hunting Grouse Outdoor Canada Stays close and gets real birdy right before the flush. He was not a follow-through type shooter like todays gun-range shooters are. Biologists have concluded that ruffed grouse taken in the early part of the season do not affect the overall survival numbers, but those taken in winter will. Before I could even summarize the situation there, a grouse flushed going across the logging road from my left to my right, and when I shot, it folded up and fell on the other side of the logging road. In evenings, they will come to forest openings for insects or roadsides for gravel. Fats Truelove was never married and did not work from September to June each year in order to have time for deer hunts, grouse hunts and turkey hunts. If one of these riparian areas borders a fruit orchard, all the better. Squirrel opens August 15th as one of the earliest opportunities to break in new boots and to satisfy the overwhelming anticipation for the coming hunting seasons in Georgia. . Anyone born after 1960 must complete a hunter education course before purchasing a hunting license. Bring plenty of water especially if working with dogs because high-country streams can sometimes be tough to come by with the ongoing drought. Fats had all the talents needed to become a grouse hunter. The license structure in Georgia is pretty straightforward, except for a Public Lands Access Pass which is needed to hunt public lands. Dot, came to a point in an open area where all three of us could approach Dot together. Last Day to Receive the Spring Issue FREE I just stood there in awe with my mouth open, watching how smoothly and easily his triple seemed to be. It took dogs with plenty of get-up in them to hunt up the steep mountainsides above the creeks and logging roads where grouse might be found. This bird hunt took place in the early 1940s in Jackson County at a big bottom near the North Oconee River, also known as Peckerwood. Deer hunting exposed Fats to the ruffed grouse. Driving home after my hunt was over for the day, and thinking about the prior two hunts, I knew I had got my limit of three grouse each of those past two hunts. Hunting Georgia for Bobwhite, Grouse, Woodcock, and Small Game We continued up the steep ridge, watching with racing hearts as Buck sniffed and searched. Soon you will develop an eye for birdy cover. I read a book last year about the grouse in georgia. They prefer higher elevations; quite a bit of the Chattahoochee National Forest has good habitat for them. 2023 Georgia Outdoor News. Gilreath and Williams creeks in Gaddistown were very special places, and almost all of the Blue Ridge WMAs creek drainages were, too. Can We Stop the Decline of the Ruffed Grouse? U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Thats obviously a completely ridiculous statement. Like killing the first grouse, missing the second grouse, and then killing the third. Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) - Bellwether of the Forest - Project Upland Arthur told me about him making a shooting-straight one time. What could be better? According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, there are, but I doubt there's many. If you learn them, you can find grouse and scout for deer and turkeys. For 10 years I was just a causal skeet shooter as a part of my outdoor nature. How blessed my life has been. That late, theyll be looking for something green to eat.. He has researched the birds winter diet and said that during winter months, its primarily made up of evergreen plants such as mountain laurel, Christmas fern and foam flower. These states also manage their forests well, which means they protect young forest habitats. All Rights Reserved. My dog Star and I had become a good hunting team by the mid 70s, the same way as Dot and Arthur were during their grouse hunting days. However, a big running dog has to learn to work hand signals to keep the dogs hunting crossways to your travel direction, not just up and down a logging road. Sometimes, even with a dog, youve got to get right on top of them before they flush, said Broderick. Broderick prefers Hi- brass shells to blast through thick cover. Our turn to decide who lives and who dies. A pair of Georgia grouse and the shed from a nice ridge-runner buck sit atop Herb McClures jeep in this 1979 photo taken in the snow-covered mountains. Most of these areas consist of national forests that arent managed for young forest. It is incredible how something so familiar to a New-England-born hunter as a drumming grouse could cause such sensory overload. Bucks point melted back into a searching run, and the hunt continued up the mountain. I have a chocolate lab as well that started grouse hunting at 8 months and is a natural. Most of the grouse I see here in western NC are above 2500'. No abusive comments, threats, or personal attacks. For a list of available wildlife management areas, go here. Bang, bang, bang went Arthurs old model 11, and the three grouse went tumbling down. Putting in ten miles a day might sound impressive, but it doesnt mean a thing if youre not focusing on the right Ruffed Grouse habitat. Also, my slipping and sliding was bad as I made my way up toward Star. So use an open choke such as a cylinder bore and No. Recent studies have even shown woodcock jumping between the central and eastern flyways. The complete 2022-23 Georgia Hunting Season Dates and Bag Limits will soon be available at license vendors and online. However, I quit and left them because I was spending most of my time working in middle and south Georgia on lakes. We returned to the truck with empty bird bags and tired legs, but the views of Lake Burton and the mountains beyond had been worth the trip. The ultimate goal of the research is to provide recommendations for increasing the grouse population and thereby increase sustainable hunting opportunities in Georgia. Going to her, I was making a lot of noise crunching in the frozen snow, loud from the freeze the night before. The thick regrowth will be one of the best spots to find grouse in this region. I remember walking the hills and hollars of Lynchburg Tennessee training cull dogs and killing a handful of bobwhites in the process. I had killed 13 grouse without missing. Great days spent with my dad. Thermal Hog Hunt in Georgia | Outguided Ive always hunted without a dog and while Im sure Ive missed flushes, it never stops me from getting my limit when I find these areas. I realize, too, in todays world, most grouse shooters now shoot over/under guns, with only two shots. After an hour or so hunting there, Star pointed and I went to her, causing two grouse to flush out of the rhododendrons, both going the same way, straight-away. When fully mature, the understories are open enough to provide lots of shrub species that grouse forage on (gray dogwood, winterberry, hazel, mountain ash, serviceberry, and others). Gun handling and shooting were instilled in Fats as a very young lad. Grouse hunting was a special part of my hunting life. If youre going to be a successful Ruffed Grouse hunter, you need to learn where the birds are hiding. It may not display this or other websites correctly. 3. Grouse: Saturday-October 15, 2022: Monday-February 28, 2022: Statewide: Limit of 3 each day: Quail: Saturday-November 12, 2022: Monday-February 28, 2022: Statewide: Limit of 12 each . However, recent. DNA Samples Needed. We never killed our limit of Tennessee bobwhites, but the memories are worth much more than a limit and a cold Coke never tasted better than at the tailgate cleaning quail. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Now is when I seek out the unhunted spots, which usually means places difficult to hunt or get to. Stopping your hunting in December, its proven, will result in more birds next year. There are a lot of access points and logging roads. *Not our quarterly print publication. Anything other than a pointer, and a very good one at that, is more of a liability than an asset in grouse hunting, and youd be better off without one. My grouse hunts became more enjoyable during the 1970s, because of an English setter bird dog given to me. One particular area at around 3500 ft I'll see a few every time I'm in there. A well trained springer , working cocker, or english setter of good breeding make great grouse and woodcock dogs. Paired with a complete administrative map, it can be a handy tool in anticipating where birds may be holed up. All Rights Reserved. Yet you can still find good grouse hunting there. Back in those days when we hunted, there were no food plots or drivable roads off of the main U.S. Forest Service roads, just logging roads. The 25,000-acre Chestatee WMA near Cleveland is also a good spot to scout. The trick to triggering winter flushes is to get into the heart of the habitat. I enjoy scouting new areas and mark a map book with the prime spots for future reference. grouse populations over the past 25 years with a general decrease in numbers since 1996. Efforts by Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division to monitor grouse populations via spring drumming surveys have proven to be ineffective and were recently abandoned. Its tough getting shots, but the birds like that. Well get more specific by breaking it down into regional differences in order for you to really narrow down some hunting spots near you. With all of these habitats, try to find forests that have been managed in the recent past for the best chance of finding birds. I was able to load 12-gauge shells for .95 cents a box of 25. Buck was still holding his point, and tiny drops of blood blossomed on his lips and tongue courtesy of the blackberry tangles. The best thing to do is find the cuts, said Monte. The grouse hunter who I was taught by was none other than Arthur (Fats) Truelove, of Hall County. Please don't spam. Georgia is famous for its warm climate and many locations to hunt game with over 58,000 square miles. Without good dogs, our grouse hunting would have certainly been hampered. Last season, Monte averaged .75 flushes per hour of hunting effort. All rights reserved. Before going to the over-and-under, I shot a Remington Model 1100 in 12 gauge and had all kind of chances to make a triple. Its got streams and cuts and mixed forest.. Those two hunts and todays hunt made nine grouse killed the last three times I had gone hunting. . A quick meal. This pups name was Dot, who was born in 1959 and lived till 1970. A breeding survey cited in 2007 by the University of Georgias Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources showed that during the mid- 1980s, 1 1/2 flushes per hour was a good day of hunting.