nwsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2019 Northwest Sportsman 159
S
potted my
first grouse of
the year on a
wood-cutting trek
up the Snoqualmie
River’s Middle Fork
in mid-May, and
the experience
reminded me just how this bird got the
nickname “fool hen.”
I drove up to it, passed it and
proceeded about 50 yards and slowed
to a stop. That knucklehead of a bird just
kept wandering along the road shoulder,
pecking at pea gravel or maybe picking
up a bug here and there, pretending to
be oblivious to my presence. Finally, my
attention to him probably convinced
that boomer to trot off into the roadside
brush, but this is what has landed many
grouse into empty skillets or pots.
The season opens Sept. 1 in
Washington and Oregon, as does
mourning dove hunting. We’ll begin with
some tips for the former species.
IN HIGHER ELEVATIONS, you will find
the larger specimens generically called
blue grouse. However, they are actually
either “dusky” or “sooty” grouse, and they
have much the same habits. They eat
seeds, insects, berries; I’ve opened them
up to see what they’ve consumed and
typically find a salad with pieces of leaf,
huckleberries and bugs. In the winter
they are needle eaters, so the later in
the season you get one, the quicker you
should dress the bird to avoid fouling the
meat with digestive juices.
Brought To You By: KICK-EEZ
®
COLUMNON TARGET
By Dave Workman6 Things You Need To
Know About Grouse
(And A Few On Dove)
Author Dave Workman shows off a “fool
hen,” in this case a blue, or dusky, grouse
taken with a 20-gauge in the East-central
Cascades of Washington. Sept. 1 marks
the start of season. (DAVE WORKMAN)