Idaho Examiner: Ruffed and Sharp tail Grouse"Common Sense News"

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Ruffed and Sharp tail Grouse

Posted on: October 12, 2007

By
Dave Langston

Sharp Tail season is open and we have seen a large number of birds in the field during our hunts. We just finished shooting a show on bird hunting and stumbled upon a large covey of 30 birds just north of Pocatello in the two and half mile area. After walking the field for just a few minutes we limited out.

Concentrate on agricultural fields especially on the upper wind swept ridgelines. We found almost 90% of the birds on the crest (top of the agricultural fields).

Good areas to concentrate to fill a limit are the Bonneville range, two and a half mile road and most of the Arbon valley fields. But, this season birds seem to be in good numbers and wide spread. You will find that most fields will hold a population of sharp tails this season.

Reports from the field are very encouraging for ruffed grouse hunters. Hunters are gunning down birds in some of the traditional areas like Inman Canyon, Mink Creek and McNabb Canyon all just outside of Pocatello. But, bird hunters are finding game in small patches of aspen and concentrating near a water source.

On a recent sharp tail outing I saw some huge ruffs in areas I would have never of looked at. Small patches of aspen in the middle of agricultural lands are safe havens for ruffs and are overlooked by most hunters. I stumbled on these small patches and limited out shortly on both species. What an incredible hunt!

Do some scouting; this is your best bet to fill a limit. I can only point you where to go, you are going to have to make the hunt happen by knowing your quarry and their turf. Your best bet is to find those out of the way areas that hunters never bother to check out. I can guarantee you this technique will fill your bag limit as the season progresses.

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About Dave Langston

Outdoor writer Dave Langston resides in Chubbuck. He grew up in the Midwest and south fishing and hunting across the country.

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