12/06/2024
Thankful Thursday! People come and people go in our lives. I've been extremely fortunate enough to meet some amazing individuals in my life. A few years back, I met 2 guys, Tim and Ed. They booked Dirty Goose for a charter, and as luck would have it, I was requested by another group that day and never got to fish with them. Fast forward to this year. I got a call, and it was them again. We booked a date when I was available this time. On our charter, we talked about fishing, of course, but hunting as well. We had some great fishing both days ( good vibes, good fishing), and even better conversations. Tim bird hunts, and we chatted about birds. I dont know how i got this lucky, but he invited me to his property to chase one of my bucket list birds... The Blue Grouse. The season ended, and I made my annual plans to chase birds. The first stop was to hunt for a week in Canada for Ruffed and Spruce grouse. Then drive to South Dakotato hunt roosters, sharptail grouse, and Hungarian partridge with good buddies. I flew Elaine Supp out to South Dakota so she could experience pheasant hunting at it finest. Chad, if you read this, thank you for everything! She was able to shoot her first limit of roosters. It was awesome to watch her enjoy what I love to do. I wasn't sure if she'd like it or not, and honestly, I don't think she was either, but after this trip, I can now say she does! We leave South Dakota and head to Montana to see a small section of Yellowstone Park. It's closed this time of year except for the northern entrance. We toured the park and saw a variety of animals and some of the most amazing scenery. We leave there and head to our last stop of Oregon. Let me tell you, it's unbelievable how beautiful it is. We meet Tim and Ed and get ready for the next 5 days of hunting. We started with wild chukars. These birds are super hard to hunt. Steep inclines and great vision make it tough, but we were able to smack a few down. Every day on our way to where the grouse are, wed find some Hungarian grey partridge and California quail that wed end up flushing and knocking a few down each day. We hunted the next 2 days for blue grouse with no luck. These birds like elevations of 5-6000 feet amongst the pines and steep inclunes, making it tough to walk. Each day, we were hopeful, but we weren't finding them. We flushed a few ruffed grouse, which kept our hopes high. Finally, on day 3, we flushed 2 blue grouse. No shots were fired, but we were in the right area. Elaine and Ed had a good idea of where they went, and we worked that way. It was so thick I couldn't see a thing at times. All of a sudden, Elaine and Ed see one. They do their best to show me where it is, but I couldn't see it. These birds are masters at camouflage. I told Elaine to shoot it. She fought me on it, knowing how important this bird was to me, but I told her I'd be just as happy if she shot it. She made a perfect shot, and I finally got to see one of these amazing birds up close. I was super envious but super proud of her. After her shot, 4 others flushed right above us. I watched where they went, and when I got close enough, I took a shot. Well, blue grouse 1 Casey 0. I couldn't believe it, but i missed super disappointed but still super happy for Elaines bird. I must have looked at it 15 times in aww. The next day, we were chased off the blue grouse grounds by 40mph winds and snow. In my head, I was thinking there's always next year, but I wasn't giving up and was still hoping for a last day miracle. Last day.. We head up to grouse land. We work a close area to where we saw them days prior. Nothing.. beautiful snow scenery but no birds. We walked another spot, and nothing. Times winding down. Ed said, "Let's try this little spot." We walked an Elk trail through the pines. As we approached the end of them, where it opened up to a grassy bench, I caught movement and saw a grouse takeoff. Somehow, I make a shot through the pines and down goes the grouse. I squeezed off a 2nd shot at another but missed. The emotions that ran through me after that were unexplainable. I didn't love the shot on the bird. I knew it went down, but there were 4-6 inches of snow, and it was super thick. I worked around onto the grassy bench and then found my way into the pines and down to where I thought it went. Elaine worked her way down from where I shot. Steep hills and snow are tough walking, lol. I somehow ended up walking straight down to where it crashed, and I found my first blue grouse! Last day success! As I held this bird, i just smiled. Time stood still for me. I couldn't believe it. I can't thank Tim Ed and Elaine enough for never giving up and helping make this happen. I'm beyond thankful for you guys. I couldn't have done it without you all. We made of way back down to the ranch and called it a day after that. The next day, we'd pack up and make our way home. It's a super long drive, but man, was it worth it. Tim and Ed, you guys are 2 amazing friends. Guys like you aren't common, and Im proud to call you my friends and thank you for allowing us to see Oregon and everything it has to offer. I can't wait to get you guys back on Lake Ontario this year! Thanks again, this trip meant more to me than you'll ever know!
Enjoy the photos!!
