B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, September 18, 2021
Ending a disappointing month in 2020 with a pair of grouse
BRAD
TRUMBO
UPLAND PURSUITS
September 2020 was our worst
on record for upland birds. Wild-
fi res canceled road trips while poor
habitat ruined others. Meanwhile,
not a bird moved in our local covers.
Sept. 29 was the fi nal day for us
to put a bird on the books for the
month and I did a risky thing — I
trusted my instincts.
Loading up Finn, my oldest and
only capable pointing dog on the
bench at the time, we went all-in
and headed for the only local creek
bottom with a gated road weaving
through the riparian. My spirits
were high as the amber glow of the
morning sun cracked over the east-
ern horizon. The cover was fairly
new to us, but immaculate with
young red alder stands, fl anked by
sparse dark timber, mixed pock-
ets of grasses and an understory
of hawthorn, rose, snowberry and
young fir. An absolute thing of
beauty.
The alders shimmered in a
soft morning breeze as Finn and I
departed the truck. As we strolled
up the road, I encouraged her to
check an embankment of mature
serviceberry with a crimson snow-
berry toe. She gave it a meager sniff
and strolled on gleefully.
Splitting from the main road
onto an old, washed out two-track,
we were surrounded by grousey
thickets amid dark timber. A small
opening ahead to my left presented
a lush labyrinth of emerald ferns
and grasses meandering the length
of an old creek channel. Finn lazily
disappeared into the opening about
20 yards out, followed by wingbeats
against the greenery. My side-by-
side 20-gauge rose quickly to shoul-
der and I sighted down the old road
cut, prepared for quick shooing. The
sound of the grouse piling into the
understory suggested that they had
not fl ushed far.
Knowing Finn would check up,
I carefully jogged closer, and in
perfect time. As my Garmin GPS
receiver beeped “point,” the birds
fl ushed again. This time, a young
gray-phase male angled low across
the old road. Quickly swinging,
I jerked the front trigger as the
barrels covered the bird, tumbling
it into the pine boughs.
Finn seemed a bit confused by
the ruckus, having spent the better
part of a month in the covers with-
out hearing a single shot. Appear-
ing briefl y and casting an inquisitive
Hey, whatchya shootin’ at? glance,
I ordered her to fi nd the bird, which
she immediately noticed as it gained
its feet. Moments later, the Garmin
beeped “point” again as Finn stood
over the young ruff at the base of
a fi r.
I’ve spent far more time in the
grasslands than forest covers and
have bagged relatively few ruff s
in my upland career. I had never
had the pleasure of taking a gray
grouse before that moment. This
young bird was gloriously colored
— storm cloud gray with streaks
of cream and feathers edged in
chocolate and caramel with a coal-
black neck ruff . Unfortunately, Finn
plucked its tail clean of all but two
feathers as she secured the bird, but
the signifi cance of the moment was
not sullied on that minor detail.
Pressing on, it wasn’t 100 yards
before Finn was into another bird.
Having picked up the main road
again, a circular opening in the
timber led to a miniature meadow
about the size of a large house.
Candy-apple shaded hawthorn
was immersed in an almost char-
treuse-colored grass with mahog-
any rose and snowberry scattered
throughout. On the edge of the
opening was a steep drop where the
creek had scoured the bank during
high fl ow at some point in history.
On the far side of the opening, I
walked with Finn as she ambled to
the point where the grass faded into
timber. The scour channel pinched
into the road, forcing it up against
the mountainside, and a grouse sat
at the convergence of terrain, grass
and timber.
Suspecting the birds had been
fl ighty all morning, Finn’s posture
suggested she was on the scent. The
moment I anticipated her point, a
sizable ruff jumped from the grass,
angling left across the road and
directly behind the double barrels.
Squeezing the rear trigger spurred
the modified choke barrel into
action, depositing the ruff on the
edge of the road.
Recovering the bird, I marveled
over its contradictory humble, yet
Brad Trumbo/Contributed Photo
Finn tolerates a photo-op as I captured the results of an epic day in the grouse cover.
MORE INFORMATION
Regulations for ruff ed and blue
grouse
Season: Sept. 1, 2021, through
Jan. 31, 2022
Bag limits: Daily limit of 3 birds
of each species; possession limit
9 birds of each species
Brad Trumbo/Contributed Photo
The beautifully-striped, gray tail fan of the “king of the woods,” a ruff ed
grouse.
intense hues. Boasting the same
glorious color palette as our fi rst
young bird, the size and fl awless
plumage were a sight to behold. I
had dreamed of this bird since fi rst
jumping one while archery hunt-
ing about eight years prior. At that
moment, a specimen more fantastic
than I had imagined lay softly in my
palm, taken over my fi rst and oldest
pointing dog, who has been the
pillar of my upland hunting career.
I could have pushed for a third
bird to round out a limit, and if we
were ever to take a limit of ruffs,
it would have been that morn-
ing. Instead, I turned back with
Finn at heel. We had disturbed
the cover enough for one day, and
the second bird was too beau-
tiful to see the inside of a vest.
With the little double broken over
my shoulder, our final grouse in
hand, and Finn trotting at my side,
we savored the walk out to the
tune of songbirds and the babble
of the creek.
Success was nearly guaran-
teed as we entered a fi ne cover on
a perfect day with the mindset of
singular fashion. It was our day. We
had earned it over our longest streak
of consecutive hunts without so
much as seeing a game bird. Read-
ing the cover, trusting the dog, and
anticipating “the king of the woods”
brought September salvation.
———
Brad Trumbo is a fi sh and wild-
life biologist and outdoor writer
in Waitsburg, Washington, where
he also actively serves the Walla
Walla-based Blue Mountain
Pheasants Forever chapter. For
tips and tales of outdoor pursuits
and conservation, visit www.
bradtrumbo.com.
WHAT
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Our 2021 fair saw an unprecedented amount of support from all of you! Families
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