Story Fair 2023

Written By: Steve Sorenson. Holland, MI This was my 50th season hunting Woodcock, (28 years without a dog) and over that time I’ve had several occasions when it was evident that I had found a resting cover for migrating birds.   If you’ve never had that experience, it’s magical.  Dogs going point to point, sometimes with birds as close as 10 yards apart!  I’ve gotten so moved by the experience that I simply stop shooting and just take it in. It’s been quite a few years since I last found flight birds so as my shorthair hit 9 and I...

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Written by: Stephen Faust. Union Grove, NC A first Grouse story Growing up through the 70s and 80s hunting quail and Woodcock all across eastern North Carolina, I don’t remember my first birds. Dad was, and at 84 still is, a dog man. I got lucky growing up with someone that wanted to hunt and fish every day of the week. And we did a lot of it. Early on my favorite was the bird dogs, and seeing them point was my version of buck fever. I shot my first Grouse sometime in the late 80s while in college...

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Written by: Jesse Rock. Duane, NY. For me, growing up, “pá-tridge” hunting was something you did in the coldest days of winter at the hopes of staving off cabin fever in a desperate attempt to get back in the woods after deer and ducks were no longer on the table. I have fond memories of trudging through the snow of an open field, nostrils froze with the sting of cold and eyes watering in cutting wind as I headed off to find the thickest conifers in the old pastures and hedgerows across the family farm. It was there that...

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Written by: Glen Blackwood. Rockford, MI The RGS & AWS community is filled will folks from all walks of life. Their common thread being volunteerism, generosity and the friendships that develop through healthy forest management, the wildlife that prosper in properly managed environs, as well as the canine companions that share our autumn jaunts. This story is just one example. Allow me to step back before going forward.  My summer training showed that my oldest Field Bred English Cocker, Bosco was beginning to show his nine years of hard charging. Like an aging running back he seemed to have lost a step,...

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Written By: Bill Stein. Lars Lake, MN Several years ago my sister came up to spend Thanksgiving Day with my wife and son, Ben. While the turkey was cooking Ben took off to our hunting land to bag a few grouse. Terry and my sister Gretchen and I decided to go for a walk. There was a new lake home under construction down the road and we decided to go in and take a look. When we came out we scared up a grouse who immediately flew into the window of the neighbor’s garage window by mistake and fell thrashing to...

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Written by: Pete Pointer. Wheaton, IL The ruffed grouse is found only in the heaviest habitat. When it takes off it does so at full speed (35 mph) and makes a lot of noise. You have approximately 1.5 seconds to hear it, spot it, raise your shotgun, take off the safety, aim and fire. My father, the most incredible shot I have ever known, said, as a general rule, for every 3 you hear you will see one, for every 3 you see you will get a shot at one and for every 3 you shoot at (if you...

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