PROGRESSION OF A BIRD HUNTER
When I first started bird hunting over 15 years ago, I preferred–over any other game birds–those gaudy, Chinese birds of the grasslands so colorful and beautiful that they would capture any young hunter’s eye and heart. But like the mythical sirens of old, I soon learned that their beauty was only skin deep and they loved to prey upon the nerves and psyche of young hunters and their pointing dogs. Fortunately for me, I quickly realized that there are less frustrating birds to hunt.
Matt and Andy pose with their trophy (birds of the year) roosters. It took me four years to finally get one of those darn river roosters!
I’ve always had a tender spot in my heart for valley quail. But when bird numbers are high, they can frazzle your nerves like no other. If you’re up to it, there is no finer shooting. I love it, but I could not take that intensity every day. In 2011, I shot a limit of quail one day in Western Idaho and the next day, I could not connect. I suppose it’s because I did not have the hyper-focus necessary to hunt those crazy, top-knotted birds two days in a row.
Farles on an epic day of quail hunting in November of 2002.
For many years, I raved about blue grouse and sharptail hunting, with the blue grouse taking the lead by a small margin. Blue grouse hunting in September will always be one of my favorite hunts. They are a grand, underappreciated game bird. Hunting sharptails in Eastern Idaho during October, the very height of creation, is also good for the soul. E. Donnall Thomas, Jr. didn’t call them “Soul Chickens” for nothing.
Blue grouse in September are hard to beat.
Tommy and Brandy with our first sharptail of 2011.
I must admit, however, that my preferences have changed over the years. I have always loved the ruffed grouse, but they were never the first on my list, or even second for that matter. But now, suddenly, I prefer to hunt ruffies over all else. In “The Education of Ruff” Ted Trueblood described his own similar experience in this regard:
Occasionally a single, or even a covey of blue grouse, wanders down into the ruffed grouse covers in the river bottom or along little streams. When this occurs, we welcome the opportunity to collect some of the larger birds. The time was when we gave them preference, but now we seldom climb the long slopes to find them. We tell ourselves Ruff gives us more sporty shooting in his heavy covers–which is surely true–but maybe we are getting older, too!
So now the confession: I unabashedly admit that I love ruffed grouse and ruffed grouse hunting. I love their habitat, the secret coverts in which they reside. I love their skill on the wing and agree with Corey Ford that they are “the Trickiest Thing in Feathers.” I love snap-shooting in thick cover. I love their tasty flesh.
I love the rich history and literature of ruffed grouse hunting. This bird has inspired some of the greatest outdoor writers of all times, Burton Spiller, George King, Corey Ford, Grandpa Grouse, William Harnden Foster, Bill Tapply, George Bird Evans, Ted Trueblood, Mark Volk, Ted Nelson Lundrigan, Steve Mulak, Harold P. Sheldon, and so many others.
The pursuit of this bird has produced some of the most beautiful outdoor artwork ever. Think of Ogden Pleissner, Eldridge Hardie, Lynn Bogue Hunt, Aiden Lassell Ripley, Ross Young, Bob White, William Harnden Foster, and many, many more. What’s not to love?
Old Gates Ruff by Ross Young is one of my favorite paintings which hangs on my wall beside my bed.
While I love and appreciate all upland game birds and my Falls are much richer because of them, there is only one “King of the Uplands” for me . . . Ol’ Ruff! Such is the progression of this hunter.
A gray-phased ruffed grouse.
