Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, adventurous, peaceful and prosperous 2011!

Late October South Dakota Pheasant and Sharptail Hunt

My friend Dean, his excellent Vizsla Reuben, my GSP Bruno, and I enjoyed six days of fabulous pheasant and sharptailed grouse hunting in north-central/north-western SD. During our stay we encountered diverse weather conditions that ranged from sunny, sixty-degree days to snowy, bitter cold (temps in teens, sub-zero wind chills), windy (45-55 mph) conditions that created hip-deep snow drifts along the fence and hedge rows. Not surprisingly, the best hunting we experienced occurred on days that had the harshest weather conditions. Both Reuben and Bruno made remarkable 200+ yard long retrieves on roosters that were flying dead and fell football fields away. In all, we shot our limit of roosters and sharpies nearly every day up to our permitted possession limit. One of the roosters I shot was a true trophy that had over 30-inch- long tail feathers and wild-turkey-sized spurs. Needless to say, that bird is presently being mounted by a SD taxidermist. This was my first pheasant-hunting trip to SD, and I must say that the pheasant and sharpie numbers, the hunting conditions, and the hospitality of the South Dakotans surpassed all of my pre-trip high expectations. In the coming years, Bruno and I plan to return to SD to experience their spectacular pheasant and sharptail hunting. Seeing 200+ birds/day with many within shot range is a mind-boggling experience for this Northern Michigan bird hunter. Looking very much forward to going again in 2011!

To view my entire photo album of this hunt (several of the photos were taken by my friend Dean), click on the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154628id=1212368337&1=361a88a329 .

Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock Hunting in Northern Michigan

En route to our late October South Dakota pheasant hunt, my buddy Dean, his awesome Vizsla Reuben, my GSP wonderdog Bruno, and I stopped to hunt ruffed grouse and woodcock just north of Rapid River in Michigan's Upper Peninsula paradise. We left Traverse City in the morning and just east of town purchased bags of fresh honey crisp apples at a favorite orchard to hand out as gifts to the SD farmers and ranchers who would allow us to hunt rooster pheasants and sharp-tailed grouse on their properties. After crossing the five-mile-long Big Mac Bridge, we drove a short ways westward on US 2 and stopped to purchase and eat four very tasty pasties at a road-side pasty house. My, oh, my, were they good! So good, in fact, we turned my truck around and drove back to purchase four more to eat when we reached our hunting lodge destination in South Dakota.

In early afternoon, we pulled my 4x4 Tacoma truck into the same grouse and woodcock habitat north of Rapid River that my friend Dave from Dallas and I had hunted in late September. As we got out of my truck to run our dogs, we noticed that a light rain had begun to fall as did also the temperature. The morning weather had started out beautifully sunny and warm in Traverse City, but by that time we had arrived in Rapid River, the skies became heavily overcast and a northwesterly breeze brought with it Canadian chill. As I surveyed our surroundings, I was amazed by how many leaves had fallen from the trees since my last visit here. "If the rain remains light, we should have a good hunt," I thought to myself as Dean and I equipped ourselves and our dogs truckside for our hunt.

Almost immediately, not fifty yards from my truck, Reuben flashed fixedly on point. "Steady," I whispered encouragingly to my backing Bruno as Dean and I positioned ourselves around Reuben and a large red pine tree for possible clear shots at whatever gamebird or gamebirds were hiding in the ruff before Reuben. But
before we could get ourselves into position, up from the ground whirled a woodcock perfectly from behind the pine and skeedaddled to safety. We both shot once and missed, scratched our heads in bewilderment at our misses, and decided not to pursue the one that got away. Instead, we proceeded to search for fresh birds.

"Well, the woodcock are finally here!" I announced to Dean and explained to him their scarcity in this same habitat that Dave and I had experienced during our late September hunt. The forest soil and leaf litter had dried remarkably since that time. "Let's find some more!"

The dogs quickly obliged and both simultaneously staunchly set on point just fifty yards down the trail. The set up here was nearly identical to our first encounter, only this time when a woodcock lifted from the forest floor, we both were uncertain whether our shots had hit their mark for the bird's escape route passed deeply into the cedars. We released our dogs to search for a possible downed woodcock. After a fifteen-minute unsuccessful search, we departed from the cedars and moved to the more open cover of the mixed oaks and aspens.

Here the intensity of the falling rain increased significantly, and we knew that we would be thoroughly soaked in no time. So we split up and hurried our paces to cover more ground before returning to my truck. "Boom! Boom!" I heard Dean's shotgun blaze. "Did you get any?" I inquired. "Nope. I missed a grouse," Dean replied.

Soon, I heard Dean fire a single shot. "Missed another grouse," he shouted.

We then reached my truck, quickly dried ourselves, dogs, and equipment, plopped into my truck and quickly turned on the heater and finished drying ourselves and hunting clothes.

"Four birds in 45 minutes--not a bad flush rate," I commented.
"Yes, good hunting but poor shooting," Dean replied. "Let's hope we shoot better in South Dakota."

We then headed west toward our South Dakota pheasant quest.

Late September Upper Peninsula Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock Hunt

Greetings from Rapid River, the Land of Hiawatha, on the north shores of Little Bay de Noc, in Michigan's magnificently beautiful Upper Peninsula! My friend Dave from Dallas (pictured here holding ruffed grouse in these photos), my German Shorthaired Pointer Bruno--the Wonderdog, and I were here to enjoy a combination five-day bear and upland game bird hunt. This blog entry reports only our bird-hunting adventures with my GSP woodcock-banding partner Bruno in the state and national forests north of spectacularly scenic Little Bay de Noc, northeast of Escanaba.

Dave, a former USMC officer and helicopter pilot, is an avid and highly-skilled archer and waterfowl hunter, but he had never hunted bear or upland game birds. While preparing for our trip, I convinced Dave to bring his shotgun so that we could enjoy bird hunting with Bruno for an hour or two each day before going to our tree stands in the mid-afternoons to hunt black bear until darkness arrived in the nearby thick cedar swamps.

For at least a week before our arrival, Rapid River's weather had been violently rainy. The currents in all the local rivers were near spring melt-off intensity, and their water levels were wickedly near flood stage. It was little wonder to us why the place was named "Rapid River". The cedar and alder swamps that lined the local rivers' banks were frequently too flooded to access let alone to hunt in, but weather and wetness be damned, we were here to hunt grouse and woodcock, so we chose to hunt in similar habitats farther away from the rivers that were in higher grounds and fortunately not as wet.

Late Sunday morning, September 26, we did a quick drive along the forest trails north of Rapid River to scout these accessible, not-as-wet-yet-promising-looking grouse and woodcock habitats. Not 15 minutes into our drive, we spotted four ruffed grouse as they flew across the forest trail before us. Bruno, as always, was seated on the back seat of my four-door Tacoma 4x4 TRD, Off-Road pickup truck, and his excited reaction informed us that he, too, had spotted them (naturally, he's a bird dog, what else would you expect?). So I slowly drove fifty yards past their entry point into the cedar swamp into which they had newly flown and parked the truck on the south side of the trail. There we rapidly rigged up and walked back to their swamp entry area. Not twenty-five steps into the thick swamp, Bruno froze rigidly on point. Using hand signals, I silently directed Dave to position himself into the only thin shooting lane available on his side. I then walked slowly around and ahead seven yards of my still staunchly-pointing Bruno. As I carefully placed my last boot step on the mossy, wintergreen-covered cedar swamp floor in my attempt to secure a winning-shot opportunity on these grouse, a thunderous explosion of grouse wings erupted! Dave and I stood shotlessly, stupidly silent, while Bruno remained smartly still, as three grouse launched from different ground loci before us. As so often times the case is while upland bird hunting, the cover in the cedar swamp was too thick to clearly see and cleanly shoot at the escaping grouse.

"Whew-wee (that's Texan for "WOW!" y'all)--they're fast! Like lightning!" whistled Dave. "There's one more somewhere close by," I whispered to Dave as I hand-signaled to Dave and Bruno to proceed slowly ahead. After creeping softly ahead another 15 yards, Bruno pointed again, only this time less solidly while searchingly and inquiringly looking upward into the cedars before us. I hand-motioned to Dave to look for grouse in the cedars just ahead, and just as I finished signaling that message, the fourth grouse catapulted from ten-feet up in the cedar branches 10-15 yards before us and escaped towards a two-track trail we had walked past when we first pursued the grouse into this swamp. No chance getting a clear shot at that rocket.

So we returned to the main trail on which I had parked my truck, quietly searched for birds on the side of the trail from whence these grouse had originated, and after finding none, proceeded to walk down the two-track trail toward which the last grouse had flown. Swiftly, within fifty yards, Bruno became birdy, then froze on point along the right edge of the two-track. I silently positioned Dave into a clear shooting lane. I then quickly and quietly moved ahead on the two-track towards Bruno, and as I approached him, a single grouse launched straight-away down the right edge of the two-track. Being a Northern Michigan good sport and host, I let my guest Dave fire first. Dave missed! A surprisingly unexpected event for Dave is a very good shot. Not wanting to let this excellent shooting opportunity be wasted, I took a single shot, which sent grouse feathers flying and dropped the grouse thirty yards away just inside the swamp's edge.

"Nice shot! Dave cried.

"Thanks, but from my perspective, it was a gimme," I replied. "Fetch!" I commanded the still statuesque Bruno. Both Dave and I saw where the grouse had fallen but were surprised when we discovered that the bird hadn't dropped dead as it appeared it had to us. Instead, the hearty bird had enough life energy to scramble unseen another 15 yards to hide under the thick bottom branches of a white spruce. Didn't matter, though; my Bruno, who's a retrieving machine, quickly found and retrieved the grouse back to me and placed it gently, still alive, in my hand.

"Awesome!" Dave said after he watched Bruno complete his bird-dog magic. "I want one of his pups!"

"Sure, Dave, but really, this is no big deal for a well-trained bird dog. It is, however, a big deal for us bird hunters. We wouldn't have recovered this downed bird ourselves or have likely found these birds in the first place had we not had my buddy Bruno here to work his wonders for us."

Five ruffed grouse flushes and one bird in the bag in our first hour of bird hunting (no double counting of birds in this tally)--not a bad start to our upland bird hunting adventures in the Great Lake state's Upper Peninsula! Great Lakes, Great Hunts! (Great fishing, too.)

So here you have it--another example for why I think my buddy Bruno is a bird-hunting Wonderdog! Thanks, pal.

Monday morning, September 27, Dave, Bruno, and I spent the morning mostly scouting for more good grouse and woodcock habitats along the state and national forest trails north of Rapid River. We did, however, decide to give one particularly promising-looking place a quick try, which our bear guide recommended (he also guides grouse and woodcock hunters after the bear season ends in late September and more leaves have fallen from the trees in October). So, upon arrival to the place, we equipped ourselves with our shotguns, vests, and shells and Bruno with his Dogtra 2500 T&B e-collar. I'm a certified Michigan woodcock bander (one of roughly 75 in the state) and a Michigan DNRE ruffed grouse and woodcock cooperator (one of approximately 185-190 in the state), so I spend 100+ hours/season in the fields and forests with my GSPs banding woodcock, field training, and hunting upland birds; the Dogtra 2500 T&B e-collar is a great e-collar--I've never had one fail me at any time, and I highly recommend them!

Dave and I decided that we would hunt together but on opposite sides of the trail on which we drove in. Within five minutes, Bruno snapped firmly on point in a small aspen and pine stand on Dave's side of the trail. I instructed Dave to position himself slightly to the side and behind Bruno in a clear shooting lane, while I approached from the opposite side of the trail and from a direction opposite that Bruno was facing still firmly on point. As I entered the aspen stand 20 yards in front of Bruno, a single grouse apparently got nervous that Bruno the Beast was starring it down and flew at head level through the leafed aspen branches directly at my head. It obviously hadn't see me. Instinctively, I ducked. If I hadn't, the grouse would have certainly smacked me in my face. Fortunately, Dave refrained from shooting; through the aspen foliage he had seen my hunter-orange hat and shooting vest that I was wearing. I laughed at our missed opportunity at that fine grouse and told Dave that I should have raised my shotgun stock's butt six inches above my head and clobbered the fleeing grouse as he cruised directly overhead. The grouse had flown so close he actually winged my cap with his wing tips! In all my forty years of bird hunting, I've winged many grouse, but never before has a grouse winged me.

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, September 28-29, we were determined to find some woodcock. Dave has never seen or hunted woodcock, and we surprisingly hadn't encountered one yet on this bird hunt, despite the several awesome-looking habitats we discovered and hunted. So, on Tuesday morning, we went bird hunting for 1.5 hours, during which Dave made a very fine shot to kill his first ruffed grouse ever. Dave's a fast learner, and he was getting this grouse hunting down fast. He was on the score board now, and his confidence was building.

Bruno pointed six grouse this morning, and Dave scored on one of them. I concentrated on getting Dave as many good shots as possible and finding some woodcock these last two days of his first hunting trip to the U.P.'s Big Woods.

On Wednesday morning we awoke at 6 a.m. Sunrise promised that it would be a brilliantly bright, blue-skied autumnal day. During breakfast in our rented cabin, I asked Dave whether he wanted to pursue more bird hunting or concentrate on getting a bear. During the first four days we had spent nearly twenty-five hours on stand, but we hadn't seen a single bear at our baited tree stand sites. Not surprisingly, Dave said that he really enjoyed bird hunting with Bruno and would prefer going bird hunting rather than bear hunting today, the last day of our hunting trip.

"Let's go!" I agreed. I like bear hunting because black bear meat is really delicious to eat when it's properly dressed, butchered, and cooked, but bird hunting is infinitely more fun, especially with a well-trained dog like Bruno and good friends like Dave. Whereas bear hunting is usually a solo activity, bird hunting is usually a social one.

We hopped in my truck and while driving decided to give the habitats a try on the eastern side of the loop we had been scouting north of Rapid River. Oh, my, that proved to be a fortunate decision! We encountered more logging operations and traffic here, but we found some great aspen stands to try. The first one we visited produced birds immediately and repeatedly! Bruno pointed extremely staunchly with head lowered and leveled just inches above the forest floor. I mentioned to Dave that Bruno's point made me believe he'd found woodcock. I told Dave to stand five yards behind Bruno as I stepped in front and to the side of Bruno to flush any hidden birds. Sure enough, I was right: "Tweedle! Tweedle!" two timberdoodles cried as they cork-screwed upwards through the aspen boughs. "Easy shots," I thought to myself from my perspective. I held my fire and waited for Dave to shoot, but he didn't fire. I turned back to Dave for an explanation and asked, "What's up?"

"I saw them fly up but lost them quickly in the foliage. Fast little buggers, aren't they?"

"Yes, and evasive, too. Welcome to woodcock hunting," I smiled.

As we continued onward through the aspens another ten minutes, I separated briefly from Dave and Bruno to let them hunt together, while I scouted bird-worthy habitat on the other side of a trail that was several hundred yards away from their location. While away scouting, I heard Bruno's e-collar signal that he was on point and had discovered more birds. Before I could return within visual and shooting range, Dave had pushed up birds that were hiding in front of Bruno. I heard Dave fire twice.

"Did you get one?" I inquired as I approached them.

"I don't know. There were two grouse. I shot at one, and I'm not certain if I hit it."

"Did you see it fall or any feathers fly?"

"No..., but I didn't see it continue flying either."

"Well, let's go check." I asked Dave to direct me and Bruno along his line of fire. He was uncertain exactly where he had stood when he fired. We searched in the thick aspens a good 15 minutes but didn't locate any downed bird.

"Ah, I must have missed it," he conceded hesitantly.

We then proceeded across the trail to hunt in the larger expanse of aspen that I had just scouted before Dave fired minutes earlier. Therein we found five more grouse with which we failed to connect. The aspen foliage was still thick here, and, as every good grouse and woodcock hunter knows, grouse and woodcocks' best friends are the thick covers offered by young forests.

As we walked back to the trail, Dave quipped, "You know, I can't stop thinking how I missed that first grouse. I keep playing events over and over in my mind, and I'm now confident I hit that bird."

"Hmmm...Dave's quickly becoming a grouse hunter," I thought to myself. "Okay, let's go and check again," I told him. "Been there, done that several times myself," I thought.

We returned to the aspen stand where Dave had fired twice at one of two grouse that he and Bruno had discovered together. This time, I drilled Dave as to the exact location from which he fired, the direction of his line of fire, and the approximate distance from his point of fire to the point at which he could no longer see the grouse. The information Dave provided was different than that which he offered during our first search, but it helped me successfully direct Bruno to search in previously unchecked aspen where Bruno soon pointed the grouse lying beautifully spread-winged on the leaf-littered forest floor 15 yards from his statuesque stance and 15 yards further from where Dave had last glimpsed the fleeing grouse.

"Here she is!" I cried joyfully. Bruno was still pointing the fallen bird as Dave approached, and as soon as Dave saw this fallen beaut and queen of upland game birds, he beamed a smile as large as Gitche-Gumee. I commanded Bruno to retrieve the bird, and he swiftly complied and returned it gently to Dave's hand. And with that gesture, Bruno signaled to Dave that they were now friends for life forever!

In summary, Dave and I hunted birds in the region north of Rapid River 6.5 hours. Bruno pointed 20 ruffed grouse (no double-counting of birds in this tally), of which we shot three--both respectable achievements. Surprisingly, we found only two woodcock--a dismally low number. Did the weather negatively influence the number of woodcock we encountered? Were we hunting in the region's best woodcock habitats? (Please recall that I had written that the region's tag alder swamps that lined the river banks were inaccessible and flooded.) Stay tuned; Bruno's next blog entry offers possible answers to these questions.

Video--Woodcock Banding, Spring 2010

My wife and camera/videowoman Christine, my GSP Bruno, and I went woodcock banding in Presque Isle County in NE Lower Michigan for only one hour this morning. Our banding adventure this warm, bright, beautiful, sunny morning was shortened due to a severely torn claw and pad that Bruno sustained to his front right paw. His injury required a visit to veterinarian Walter Bungard at the Atlanta Veterinary Clinic and a few days rest for recovery. The doc fixed Bruno up fine. But during that single hour aforest, we encountered one adult woodcock (likely a male) with no chicks and a woodcock hen and her brood of three flying fledglings. With the assistance of a tag alder branch that blocked the fledgling's attempted escape flight, I was fortunate to safely net the last of the fleeing hen's flying brood of three chicks (the second time I've had such an experience capturing a flying woodcock chick, the first time being in spring 2009 about one mile from our present banding site). Enjoy the video, which tells the rest of the story.

Video--Woodcock Banding, Spring 2010

In this photo my GSP Bruno is pointing a woodcock hen in Presque Isle County in NE Lower Michigan. I captured and banded the hen's two chicks, whose bills each measured 26 mm on May 10, 2010. The chicks'average bill length indicates that they are six days old here in this photo.

The very next day, Bruno and I encountered the same hen and chicks more than a quarter mile away from this location where we captured and banded them today. This video shows Bruno's long, staunch points as we search to discover their hiding spot.

Woodcock Banding, Spring 2010

I took this photo of my GSP Bruno from his perspective pointing a nesting woodcock hen that was located approximately seven yards from the tip of his nose. Click on the photo to expand the view.

Site: NE Lower Michigan, Presque Isle County

Guiding RGS Supporters on a Woodcock Banding Excursion Spring 2010

For five hours today, I guided Jackie and Jim, a married couple from Grand Traverse County, who made a very generous winning bid at the Ruffed Grouse Society Le Grand Traverse Chapter Fall 2009 Fund-Raising Banquet's Live Auction to accompany my German Shorthaired Pointer Bruno and me on a woodcock banding excursion in northern Michigan during spring 2010.

I originally had planned to take Jackie and Jim woodcock banding locally in NW Lower Michigan, but after my efforts last week scouting for hens and nests in customarily good woodcock mating-and-nesting habitats and finding none at all most likely due to the unseasonably dry weather conditions and forests we've had this spring, I decided to expand my woodcock scouting efforts to NE Lower Michigan, an area where my cabin is located and with which I have been familiar for decades.

On Monday, April 26th, Bruno and I succeeded in locating a hen woodcock and banding three very-well hidden chicks in Otsego County. I was encouraged by Monday's success and thought that the moist forest and soil conditions in north-central and northeastern lower Michigan were more favorable for woodcock to mate and for hens to nest and rear their young than in the drier forests of Benzie, Leelanau, and Grand Traverse counties. Monday evening, I returned to our home in NW Lower Michigan and reported via email to Jackie and Jim the day's banding successes along with a photo of one of the well-hidden chicks I had banded. I then proposed going to NE Lower Michigan for our banding excursion to which they happily agreed.

Precisely on time Thursday morning Bruno and I met Jackie and Jim in Traverse City at the Burger King along Grand View Boulevard. We exchanged greetings and then piled into my Tacoma 4-door 4x4 pickup truck. Our first stop was at the young aspen and tag alder habitat in Otsego County, where on Monday I had banded three woodcock chicks. I wanted to see if I could locate them again and perhaps capture and band the hen and possibly a fourth chick that I may have missed on Monday. We searched for an hour without any success and just as we were returning to my truck, Bruno snapped firmly on point just yards from the two-track trail off of which I had parked my truck.

I approached Bruno slowly, and from five yards behind him I followed his line of sight and scent to observe a nesting woodcock hen hidden superbly ten yards away beneath a small red pine tree. She was barely visible even to my well-trained eye. I motioned for Jackie and Jim to approach my position slowly and pointed where the nesting hen lay. Jim said that he thought he could discern the hen on her nest, but Jackie could not see the hen. She was definitely difficult to see. We left the hen undisturbed; I would return in a few days to check if her chicks had hatched.

I then drove Jackie and Jim to Montmorency County, where we checked a wet aspen stand and tag alder swamp which in years past had consistently produced woodcock hens and chicks. There we searched for an hour but surprisingly found no birds. Everyone was hungry after this search, so we went into the village of Atlanta and enjoyed some delicious soup and sandwiches at the Thunderbay Deli on North M-33.

After feasting on that refreshing lunch, I drove to another favorite woodcock banding area, but this one was farther north in Presque Isle County. Here we succeeded in locating two adult woodcock birds (very likely males), which Bruno pointed superbly. Unfortunately, they did not act as woodcock hens when flushed and despite our diligent searches we found no chicks. It was now late afternoon, and up to this point of our woodcock banding excursion we had encountered four adults woodcock with no birds and one nesting hen, which we made no attempt to capture and did not wish to disturb. Nonetheless, I was determined, with Bruno's assistance, to find and band a least one brood of woodcock chicks so that Jackie and Jim could experience an event that so few outdoors people ever have the opportunity to witness.

Finally, as we were walking along a two-track heading back to my truck to leave for Traverse City, I noticed a draw that headed away from the two-track and back into the woods. I suggested that this be our last attempt to locate chicks, and Jackie and Jim agreed. Just twenty five yards into the draw, Bruno squared staunchly on point (see the above photo that Jackie snapped). I instructed Jackie and Jim to stand where I was standing fifteen feet behind Bruno while I looped ahead of Bruno fifteen yards and walked back slowly towards them to see if we could locate a hen and chicks. My plan worked! A hen lifted from the ground with feet dangling loosely from her body and fluttered twenty yards past me before landing and feigning injury to draw me away from her likely nearby chicks. This was classic woodcock hen behavior. "It's a hen!" I announced to Jackie and Jim. "There are chicks nearby, so watch where you place your feet and please walk slowly. We don't want to step on and injure any chicks." Bruno stayed staunchly in place, but as a precautionary measure I had Jim leash him up and tie him to a nearby sappling. Almost instantly, I found a chick, and as I gently placed my hat over it, three other chicks raced away chirping loudly in alarm with their wings outstretched. All three little critters were fleeing fast! I quickly instructed Jackie to watch the chick that was under my hat as Jim raced to capture one of the chicks and I raced after the other two who fled together up a hill in an opposite direction. Whew, the action was fast! As I captured and placed the two chicks that I had pursued into my zippered nylon mesh holding bag, Jackie cried for assistance, "Mine's getting away!"

Jim added, "I cannot see mine any more. I've lost him!"

I went to help Jackie first. She smiled and explained that the chick had crept from under my hat, darted across the top of her boot, and disappeared immediately into the nearby brush. She was truly thrilled to have had such an exciting close encounter with this little woodcock chick. We searched but couldn't find the chick. We both then went to help Jim, who said that his chick "disappeared like magic." All three of us couldn't find that chick after a quick search.

So I quickly drew my banding equipment from my vest and explained to Jackie and Jim the need to band the two that I had caught, measure their bill length from which we can determine their age in days, and release the chicks back to the mother hen as quickly as possible so that she can recover and shelter them before dusk. See the photo that Jackie took of me banding one of the chicks. Its bill length measured 30 mm, which meant that the chick was eight days old and hatched on April 21.

Our drive home that evening was filled with enthusiastic conversation about today's thrilling woodcock banding experience. Jackie and Jim told me later that they called their children immediately upon arriving home to tell them of their great woodcock-banding adventures with Bruno and me.

Thank you, Jackie and Jim, for your very generous support of the Ruffed Grouse Society and for young forest habitats in which ruffed grouse and woodcock (along with 70 other species of wildlife)reside. Your support for RGS, conservation causes, young forests, and these marvelous game birds as well as the memories we share from our woodcock banding adventure today are priceless!

Woodcock Banding, Spring 2010

Greetings from northern Michigan. After an unproductive week trying to locate woodcock in prime woodcock mating and nesting habitats in Benzie County, where the weather and ground conditions this spring have been unseasonably very dry, I've decided to abandon my woodcock banding efforts in NW Lower Michigan and search for woodcock near my cabin in NE Lower Michigan. For an entire week, Bruno and I searched outstanding woodcock mating and nesting habitats in Benzie and Leelanau Counties and despite locating scores of ruffed grouse, we alarmingly couldn't find a single woodcock anywhere! My decision to search for and band woodcock in NE Lower Michigan immediately paid off. En route to my cabin in northern Montmorency County, my GSP Bruno and I stopped to search for woodcock at one of our favorite woodcock banding and hunting locations in Otsego County. Within minutes, Bruno located a woodcock hen with chicks along a cedar-and-tag-alder swamp. We were unable to net the hen, but we did locate and band two woodcock chicks, both of which were amazingly well hidden (see above photo of one well-hidden chick--the woodcock chick is located among the leaves and ferns directly below the stick that is positioned from the upper left corner of the photo frame to the lower right corner--look for the chick's bill and right eye--do you see the chick now? For a clearer view of the chick, click on the photo to enlarge.). In my four years of banding woodcock in northern Michigan, I've never before seen woodcock chicks that have used the ground leaf litter and cover for concealment as well as these two chicks we banded today. Despite our serious efforts to locate additional chicks (normally a woodcock hen lays four eggs and rears four chicks every spring), we left wondering whether we had overlooked equally-as-well-hidden chicks as the two we found and banded today. We plan to stop back in a few days to see if we can locate chicks from this brood that we may have missed on this banding excursion.