| Title: | The Hunting Notesfile |
| Notice: | Registry #7, For Sale #15, Success #270 |
| Moderator: | SALEM::PAPPALARDO |
| Created: | Wed Sep 02 1987 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jun 03 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1561 |
| Total number of notes: | 17784 |
I recently returned from my annual bird (grouse and woodcock, with
the odd duck and snipe thrown in) hunting junket to New Brunswick.
I've been going up there for about 7 years.
This was the best trip yet. It rained on the way up, it poured.
I felt like that character in the Lil'Abner cartoon, the one with
the raincloud over his head! It only rained part of one day and
on Sunday after that, and you can't hunt on Sundays up there anyway.
After we dried out we saw the most game I've seen yet. The ratio
of grouse to wood cock was 2/3, which is very high. We averaged
over 30 finds a day. We don't count verifiable reflushes or "I
thought I heard one go up?" in this total.
We had excellent success. The limit in NB is 8 woodcock, 6 grouse
per day, and you're allowed to return with 2 days limit. My hunting
partner and I were able to put on a feast for the camp we were staying
in. The cook there did MARVELOUS things to the little bogsuckers!
I was glad to be able to share the game in this way because my
family only likes things that come from SHAWs or have PERDUE on
them.
Other high points was that my 6 month old pup had his first woodcock
point, my 15 year old dog flushed about 6 doodles in the space of
an hour, and my buddy's bitch came into her own this year. My best
shot was a looong shot with my 28 gauge. You know, that little
gun is every bit as effect as a 20 for woodcock.
The strangest part of the trip was the number of woodcock that were
running. If you hunt in New Eng. I 'm sure you've heard of doodles
running, but I'd say that 50% of these birds ran out from the point.
The dogs wanted to relocate the way they do on pheasants or grouse.
We had as many as 5 relocations before pinning the bird at the edge
of the cover.
Because this was tantilizing the dogs I wanted to see for myself,
so I ran a loop out to where I thought the bird might go, well in
front of the dog (about 35 yds.) I stay there and sure enough,
here's this doodle running through the goldenrod like some sort
of manical windup toy! Another time when the dog kept relocating
I ran out of the cover into
a field (yes a regular grass/straw thick field) and here's this
woodcock running through the straw! I was so astonished the bird
flushed and I didn't shoot. Has anyone else noticed this tendancy
this year?
After returning to NH I went out last weekend and had success with
doodles. Two covers that I go to for nostalgia had birds in them
for the first time in 5 years!!!! I cannot say if they are flight
birds but all the birds were large and healthy and an examination
of their wings proved them to be birds of the year. (There's another
one - how do you tell a flight bird? Tattered tips on wing feathers?)
I flew a number of grouse, too, especially when I was cursing at
the dog. The bird watching me from the apple tree decided it had
had enough profanity and flushed. I shouldn't have been surprised.
Bill
PS
I left my Tracker Beeper collar in Maine so I bought a Tritronics
Tattler at LLBean on the way to NB. The one I bought failed after
3 days of use, so I swapped it for a new one on my return trip.
I think the reason that it failed is that the speaker stopped working,
not because of abuse or dead batteries. I like the Tattler because
the speaker is in a horn above the dog's head and aimed away from
its ears. I find I can only tell direction (and of course if the
dog is pointing) from the electronics; I need a bell to tell me
how the dog is moving and what its doing.
I'll keep y'all updated on the Tattler. Has anyone else had experience
with these products?
So I think the season bodes well for birds.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70.1 | BPOV09::JAMBERSON | Thu Oct 29 1987 08:04 | 12 | ||
Hi Bill,
Sounds like you had a great time up north. We've noticed _alot_
of grouse this year. Some of the covers we hunt that normally hold
mayby 5 or 6 birds, have 10 to 15 this year. We've been putting
them up pretty regulary. Woodcock seemd to be slow down here at
the beggining of the season, but I here that it is picking up as
the flights arrive. I've only hit one flight, but I haven't really
hunted them that hard. Now that were in between duck seasons, I'll
put more effort into them. Good luck
Jeff
p.s. Are you planning on attending any more shoots at Addieville?
| |||||
| 70.2 | BPOV09::PERRY | Thu Oct 29 1987 10:23 | 23 | ||
Hi Bill,
I have never gotten to go to N.B. but am planning a trip for next
year. Not for the woodcock, but for the grouse.
This year I started a young setter that looks really promising.
We've only gotten out a few times this year for a grand total
of about 5 hrs. but we've had about 50 to 60 points on woodcock.
Although I've been hoping to get her into some grouse this year,
in our area these birds seem to be really down and spread out.
I only use a bell becouse this dog is mostly white and seems to
show up in the cover pretty well. I haven't had any difficulty
finding her on point. In addition to this I've been told by
some grouse hunters that the beeper seems to spook the birds.
Have you experienced any problem with this ?
I still couldn't imagine hunting grouse or woodcock without
that magical bell going and going and finally that still silence
when the dog locks up !!!!!
Since woodcock are migratory birds, how come they get a much
higher bag limit up there ?
Anyway, it sure sounds like the trip is worth while.
pat.
| |||||
| 70.3 | SMURF::JUCH | Thu Oct 29 1987 11:41 | 6 | ||
Hi-
Yes, I'm planning on going to one on the 8th. It should be humongous.
So how do you tell what is a flight bird?
| |||||
| 70.4 | BPOV09::JAMBERSON | Thu Oct 29 1987 13:15 | 10 | ||
I'll be running Skeet at that one, so I'll see you there.
Re: Flight birds
I always assumed that I had gotten into "flight birds" when we
put up a multitude of birds. Seems that in the early season we
would see only two or three birds per cover, or if there were more
they would be spread out. Later on you might get a whole slew of
flushes in the same area, which I thought meant a flight had probably
come in. Just a theory....
Jeff
| |||||
| 70.5 | Tattler update | LESNET::JUCH | Fri Jun 02 1989 12:20 | 11 | |
I received an updated Tritronics Tattler. It has not failed during
several training sessions including swims in the Merrimack River
(attached to a dog).
Since it uses the same speaker as the $150 collar I suppose they
both can be recommended at this point.
The folks at Tritronics have been very cooperative.
Bill
| |||||
| 70.6 | Latest on (Expensive) Tritronics BC-10 | LESNET::JUCH | Mon Aug 28 1989 18:48 | 34 | |
Further update on Tritronics: I tried their expensive model (my
rich friend bought one), the BC-10.
I think that, at this point, it has to be regarded as the best beeper
made. It survived numerous dunkings and early morning dew. We
found that, with it in run/point mode (default) that it was as easy
to tell what the dog was doing as with the Orvis bells (best we've
found). Also, the motion detector inside seems to adapt itself
for a given dog's habits, so it doesn't give false indications of
pointing when the dog slows down. However, a young dog that was
establishing and leaving point was revealed to be doing just this
by the beeper. The beeper went from the point cadence to the moving
cadence instantly. It was much easier to "read" than some of the
collars that have two or three different types of tones for
different movements. This beeper carries farther than
any other we've tried - people milking cows in the barn on the other
side of the farm heard it!
The outstanding part is that the beep is behind the dog's head and,
when the dog is moving, only beeps every 10 seconds or so. There
is ample time to give the dog commands, and you don't have to shout
as loud to be heard over a bell or over a constantly sounding beeper
that "rings" like a bell. The dogs were very responsive
which I credit to their being able to hear my commands.
The unit carries a charge for 60 hours, uses the same recharger
as other Tritronics products, and is well built and compact.
We're going to use the BC-10 as our standard location indicator.
The $50 beeper by that fellow from Minn (?) the original beeper
in point only mode, used with an Orvis bell, will be our backup.
Bill
| |||||