Wing & Fly Company

11/01/2024

10/30/24 Finally pulled off the NW Minnesota slam in a single walk: American woodc**k, sharp-tailed grouse, and a ruffed grouse. Unfortunately, our client had to scratch the day due to to a dog issue requiring vet care. With the extra free scouting time and no goal responsibilities, I headed farther west to a few unknown WMA's. It was a long 2 hour walk that required a unplanned marsh crossing and we had two of the three after 60 minutes. We actually flew 5 sharpies and still had not flown a ruffed grouse as we neared the end of public ground. Just after turning the last corner, R***r (English setter) cut into the edge and rolled into a hard point. I made it across the ditch and lost hope when I kicked the brush less than 50 feet in front of the dog. As soon as I stepped right to go deeper, a hen grouse exploded at me and I was able to wheel around with a shot dropping her in on her other side of the trail. R***r rushed in to make the easy find and I broke open the old Savage Fox 20 as we began the mile walk on state road back to the rig.

10/05/2024

Making the most out of after-school time, JP helped me catch a few birds to help with steadiness on Jazz. Took Lulu out to look for the birds released the day before and here's a photo of her locked up like a rock on what turned out to be a pair. Sure going to cherish every point over the next few months....probably her last season. T-10 days before we launch north.

08/27/2024

Amp up on preseason bird dog training or go wet a fly line? It's always a tough call this time of year.

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04/26/2024

Tough sit-down conversation with the dogs this week. The news of the destination change for our annual fall pilgrimage caused a lot of whining and barking. Jazz is excited, but keeps asking if Minnesota grouse smell different than Michigan birds.

11/10/2023

A nice shot taken by one of our 1st group clients up in UP Michigan. L-R: dropper, English setter, GSP. And it worked! The other client successfully bagged his first MI grouse off this point.

10/23/2023

WFC proudly introduces the newest trainee to the team. 4 months ago, Jazz was laid up with a broken hip due to a vehicle encounter. She has fully recovered and had her first woodc**k point in addition to an assist on a ruffed grouse today.

10/13/2023

A little personal vacation stream time in the eastern Sierras before Michigan grouse guiding season. This 11 inch "shadow" rainbow took a big ol' #12 golden stone and the most memorable 8" brookie grabbed a #10 parachute madam x. One of the steepest sections I have fished in a while.

08/15/2023

"It's all wrapped up", said one Michigan pitcher plant to another as it swallowed a fly. We're also saying it because the last open date for our annual Michigan grouse hunt is now booked. 60% return guests this year. Can't wait to make some more memories with everyone this season. Remember to start pre-season conditioning with some long walks!

08/06/2023

The pallette of a wild brown trout seems to always conjure up the feeling of a warm fall day - drips of coffee, pumpkins pie, curing to***co, and persimmons. This one was was tricked by a #12 battle-worn yellow humpy dry fly. Congrats to Amanda B. from Minnesota on her achievement of an "Appalachian Slam" on Friday in this headwater stream in Virginia.

07/01/2023

Sometimes a setter just wants a juicy treat. R***r shows us how to beat those "dog" days of summer with ripe blackberries.

06/03/2023

Welcome to June, when wet-wading is comfortable and wild fish love dry flies. This little fighter wasn't the biggest of the day, but he put up an impressive battle trying to get under a downed tree. The stream was less than 20 minutes from a very busy downtown area in GSMNP.

12/09/2022

11/26/22: Our statistics were completely messed up by this hunt, but the outcome was definitely positive! The general rule with ruffed grouse is that out of 4 birds flushed: 1 won't be seen, 1 will only be seen for a moment with no shot opportunity, 1 will offer a tough shot, and 1 will give you a decent presentation. Exactly 4 birds were seen, the first being a "road bird" seen through the windshield about 1/2 a mile from our parking spot. We never found her again (located in some of the nastiest laurel cover I've ever attempted). The other 3 birds each showed themselves well and 2 were pointed birds with easy shot opportunities. In a rare instance, I was carrying my Fox 20ga and was able to assist in dropping this nice red-phase hen, which was pointed by R***r (English setter) and backed by my client's young Drahthaar. After all the retrieve commotion was over, R***r pointed again in the exact same spot from a different position. Much to our surprise, the big c**k bird rocketed up through the open canopy and gave Steve an agonizingly superb opportunity.......to miss. Might have made my list of "Top 5 Easy to shoot Appalachian Grouse" that I've witnessed. The rest of the hunt went normally with lots of hard miles, several unproductive points and the slow healing process knowing that the bird tally wasn't going to change before sundown. Despite the heartache and sore muscles, Steve put his name on the list for February. prompting me to joke "Oh, so you want to do this later in the season when there are fewer birds?" He said yes, which begs the question: do grouse hunters need mental help?

11/10/2021

CAN YOU FIND IT? Woodc**k can sometimes be very tolerant to pressure on the ground.....which can offer some good photo opportunities. Lulu (11yo Setter/Pointer dropper) is shown here pointing a timberdoodle within 5 feet in the Upper Peninsula of MI. On this day, we were focused solely on ruffed grouse, so this one was allowed to continue with migration plans.

11/01/2021

Our first snow for the year at our rental cabin in the Upper Peninsula.

11/05/2020

2020 UP Michigan Hunt Summary: Plenty of birds. High diversity of snow... crunchy, soft, powdery, blowing sideways, melting, little flakes, big flakes, snow with rain, snow with sleet, intermittent snow. Bird behavior was predictable 74.6% of the time. Unfortunately, that equated to grouse being typically found underneath heavy conifer cover which was either too dense to shoot in or too deep to get through before the grouse ran to the other side and flushed. The phrase "That's why they call it hunting.... "was heard approximately 41 times over a 22 day period. Weirdest items found in grouse crops: a) 1 entire acorn (minus husk) and b) 13 wood boring beetles.

07/28/2020

Two bookings rescheduled for late October, so we now have a few openings for our annual guided UP Michigan grouse hunt, as follows:
Oct. 9th-12th: 2-3 hunt spots open (1 or 2 groups)
Oct. 12th-14th: 1-2 spots open (single group)
Oct. 17th-20th: 1-2 spots open (1 or 2 groups)
Call 336-430-256(2) for more info.

12/23/2019

Not everything you need to know, but a good start.

Watch and see what you need to know to put more birds in the bag ...

12/16/2019

One flushless day followed by sleet, incessant rain, and progressively deeper creek crossings while scouting. It all came together on Saturday for two Winston-Salem clients. 9 points, 4 flushes and 2 shooting opportunities. Flush #2 was within 10 yards of the gun, one sassafras sapling KIA. As always, the number of miles greatly exceeded the number of grouse, but my hunters devotedly approached every point like it might be the last one of the day. It doesn't seem to matter how bad your feet hurt or how wet your shirt is, it's worth every step when you round the bend and see an experienced grouse dog locked up. The KING lives on!