Northeast Kingdom

New England's Northeast Kingdom is a destination worthy a visit for any itinerant, upland bird hunter. A biodiverse ecosystem encompassing over 2000 square miles of primitive wilderness area. The remote location is coupled with rugged topographical features allows this area to remain virtually unspoiled and wholly intact. Furthermore, the unique ecological diversity coupled with comprehensive, selective timber harvesting provides exceptionally healthy diverse habitat, sustaining a seemingly endless myriad of our quarries most desirable flora, in short, a seemingly endless amount of  early-successional habitat suitable to accommodate exceedingly large populations of both Ruffed Grouse and the American Woodcock. The combined effort and best-management practices has resulted in some of the finest Upland bird habitat anywhere in the world.

 

January Grousin'

Whistled up the pup, grabbed the snowshoes and hit a couple covers out of desperation this morning. It is always tough to watch the season slip away.

 
Moved a pair of birds out of this corner...roosting in the spruce as always. Can't they just bust across the open field one time? A nice day afield

Mixed Bag

Old, familiar, fallow farm pasture. Birds were a touch jumpy today. Moved half a dozen, most were runners. Cedar pinned Ruff' x2, affording a young lad the luxury of an education. I dinged one that  glided into a spruce blowdown, burying itself. "Hunt dead", he worked the area determinately for several minutes, popped out of the snag and dropped Ruff near my feet. 

Woodcock numbers were heavy today. Found them in a finger that meanders down a sidehill, sprinkled with young spruce, Poplar and Grey Birch, leading to a small, Alder studded creek bed with a couple old, scraggly Apple trees.

September Scouting

Pup and I walked a familliar cover this morning, feels good to be back in the brush after an unusally warm summer here. The soft maples are turning red, Chestnuts are dropping leaves and apples are on the ground. Gravity always prevails.


Looks like the fruit bearing trees and shrubs profited from the high humidity this year.


Tons of Honeysuckle

The edges have filled out nice as well

Apple Bottom. One of our favorites.

Trailhead marker
Someone's feeble attempt to spook me out of the cover,it almost worked.


Cedar had several grouse finds this morning and a pair of nice points. Steady to flush? Not even close, but boy it sure is a pretty three seconds. Guess I'm going to have to walk fast this season. Seven young birds got up out of here like bottle rockets, blew his little mind to pieces and scared me half to death.
He did manage to relocate one of them, had to use the zoom on this one.

Heading home.

Tired Setter.

Partners in Crime

Seeing that the weather was mild today we decided to take the boys out for a romp. We took care to avoid the birdy tangles and stuck to the hardwoods to give the broods some breathing room. Caddis is my good friend Nate's Golden. At 15 months he is showing great potential from the duck blind and displayed quite a propensity for scaring up grouse last season!

The end and the beginning

With our Grouse season coming to a close here in NY, it is the beginning of a new season for Cedar and I. He found me 90 days ago, via Bill and Dianne St. John of Heartland Setters in Atwater, MN. Already showing an outrageous amount of natural ability on wild birds and true gentlemen character, I look forward to charting his evolution from playful pup to companion gun dog.