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Author Topic: 2011 sage grouse season  (Read 1268 times)

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Offline Wyo. Coyote Hunter

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2011 sage grouse season
« on: September 25, 2011, 12:31:28 PM »
 ;)  Sage grouse season opened Sept. 17..this was the first opener I missed in almost forty years of sage grouse hunting...the reason was simple we were off for a few days hunting mulies in an early season...plus antelope opened the same day, and I didn't want to be out with my golden retriever hunting sage grouse when antelope hunters were out in full force...Since returning from the deer hunt, unsuccessful, we have been out hunting sage grouse six times...while the birds are not quick like forest grouse, the are strong fliers now that the season is later, and mostly flush between 20 to 30 yards..so it makes for some longer shots..this year I carried my Remington model 31 12 ga. full choke with a 30 inch barrel...I have shot 'em with everything from a .410 though my 10 ga. BPS...except never shot one with a 16..never owned one...anyway, in the  six hunts my pup and I bagged 10 birds..all I and my friends can use...I would say I did my best shooting ever this year with this model 31...it fits like a glove and points perfectly...I shot at 11 birds and killed 10..as I said most shots were pretty long between 40 and 60 yards...my loads were WW 3 1/4-1 1/4-5's..Last year used the same load with 4's...Next year may try 6's....I have considered having the 31 opened up to a mod. choke, but it shoots so well as it is, I hate to mess with it...plus have several 870's with screw in chokes that fit almost as well as this one....Sage grouse hunting is pretty limited any more...but we are lucky to have some close to home...the only down side is, there are few other game birds here, but a smattering of stray waterfowl...hope your hunts are successful this fall... ;)
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Offline spruce

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Re: 2011 sage grouse season
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2011, 03:11:47 PM »
10 out of 11?  If I was shooting like that I don't think I'd change a thing!
 
Sounds like a lot of fun, but a lot different than the grouse hunting I'm accustomed to (the Ruffed variety).  This time of year 25 yards would be considered a long shot, some of them are out of sight before they ever get that far, at least in the areas I usually hunt.
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Offline Wyo. Coyote Hunter

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Re: 2011 sage grouse season
« Reply #2 on: September 29, 2011, 11:47:34 AM »
 :-\  Spruce, usually, I do not even come close to this average...but for some reason this year I was especially relaxed when grouse season opened..usually I am wound up and pretty excieted, but maybe not being there for the opener had something to do with it..also the model 31 is be best fitting shotgun I have ever owned...but for ruffed grouse, it would be the pits...30" full!!!!! :o :-[ :-[  But for the open prairie it is pretty good...at least this year...
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Offline JWP58

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Re: 2011 sage grouse season
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2011, 11:53:19 AM »
How many different upland species does Wyoming have? I know theres sage grouse, and blue grouse, what else?
 
Im hoping to move up there, and im trying to figure out what the upland hunting is like up there.
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Offline Rock Home Isle

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Re: 2011 sage grouse season
« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2011, 10:32:03 AM »
Post a few hunt photos...  8)
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Offline bilmac

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Re: 2011 sage grouse season
« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2011, 01:45:02 PM »
JWP. Pheasants, hungarians, chukars, sharptails, blue, ruff, and sage grouse, maybe spruce grouse, one or two kinds of ptarmigan, but I don't think there is a season, turkeys. I probably missed one or two.
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Offline JWP58

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Re: 2011 sage grouse season
« Reply #6 on: October 05, 2011, 02:40:09 PM »
Quote from: bilmac on October 05, 2011, 01:45:02 PM
JWP. Pheasants, hungarians, chukars, sharptails, blue, ruff, and sage grouse, maybe spruce grouse, one or two kinds of ptarmigan, but I don't think there is a season, turkeys. I probably missed one or two.

That sounds pretty dang awesome! Gotta get my pup trained up for next yr..
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Offline Wyo. Coyote Hunter

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Re: 2011 sage grouse season
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2011, 05:01:06 AM »
 :-[ We have lots of variety, but getting into concentrations of birds can be difficult..and requires a lot of travel...just drove twohunred and fifty miles one way to hunjt huns and chukars...got one hun and a missed a good shot at a chukar...have made this hunt several times and had no success...as usual the local hunters have nooks and crannies that hold birds, but in general, I have found the bird hunting here is tough compared to other states...
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