Grouse Hunting with Fritz

Last weekend was grouse opener, so we decided to get our GSP Fritz out for his first time grouse hunting! We camped at St. Croix State Forest and hiked the trails nearby. We’d never hunted there before and it’s pretty thick. We had to put effort into keeping Fritz off the trail and prompting him to range in the thicker shrubs. We jumped a couple of birds that were feeding in some berry bushes and Fritz had no issues with diving in to find the downed bird! It was chilly at night but the sun warmed us on our hikes during the day. We jumped a few more birds near some fallen trees but the area was so thick that we barely saw the birds. Although we only got one bird over the weekend, we both had a BLAST seeing Fritz in action! He did pretty well for his first time.

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Some more pictures.

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Fritz looks like the kind of dog I’d like to have a beer with!!

Nice pics.

Great stuff Sharon!

Looks like all three of you had fun! It will get better when some of those leaves come down. That B&W picture of Fritz by the truck is a real classic.

The B&W photo of Fritz is my favorite too! What is the forecast for grouse numbers this year?

Sounds like everyone had a great time! And you guys did better than we did as we walked away with only one shot fired and no birds. Fritz will probably really love it when some of these leave finally fall.

We saw about 6 birds total this weekend, and I feel like I’ve been hearing and seeing more this year than in previous years, but I’m always too optimistic when it comes to grouse. We’ve never gotten close to a limit. But I’m happy with one or two birds.

It’s fun being out in the woods, getting exercise, finding critters to play with. I got my foot stuck in a mud hole just as a huge frog crossed my path on Saturday. I wish I could’ve grabbed him!

Looks like you guys had a blast! We camped this weekend with our two children (3 years and 9 months), and it was was chilly!