Hunting Solana State Forest tommorrow

[gspman]

I'm going to hit Solana tommorrow just to get the poochie out and hopefully to take a poke at a grouse or 2. I won't get to pheasant hunt until MEA weekend at the earliest so this'll have to do for a while. Never been in Solana before so I'm excited to explore some new ground and bust some cover.

Is there anything I should look out for or avoid in Solana?

Do you suppose the leaves will be down for the most part in that area or do I need to go further North?

Sounds like the ticks are bad again this year. I treated my dog with frontline yesterday and I'll spray up with OFF to keep the ticks away.

Anyways it'll be great to carry the gun, hear the dog bell jingle and hopefully hear the whirrrrr of a grouse exploding from the ground.

gspman

[metrojoe]

I almost forgot the Frontline. Good thing the vet opens early in the morning. I had to stop and pick some up on the way out. Too excited to think straight I guess.

Wish I could help you out. I've been out once just east of there and only saw one grouse. I had gotten into some real nasty stuff and heard the bird get up but never saw until it flew out of the tree it was in. It was hot and thick. The leaves should be dropping soon.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[gspman]

Yours truly got out on Sat am. The dog found and pointed a grouse. The unfortunate part (not for the grouse though) is that in my hurry to get out of the house I forgot to bring a shotgun with. So I flushed the bird and continued on. So it was basically a dog training day in the woods. I think I heard one other bird flush in addition to the one that was pointed. Solana got a little busy after about 10:30. Every good looking spot had a car or truck parked by it. It'd be a good place for a weekday trip. The trail I hunted had good cover patches (young aspen) with good green ground cover, mixed with marginal cover (mature hardwoods). The leaves on the aspen are mostly down in Solana while the hardwoods still have their leaves. It was a good walk, the dog handled okay, and the scenery was gorgeous. Next time I'll bring a &$%^$ shotgun!

gspman

[leechlake]

gsp you're a true sportsman! I bet without the gun that grouse got up in a nice clear spot where you could watch it fly for 100 yards. Surprised you didn't see more, especially without the gun.

[OUTDOORNUT]

gspman,

I think I've got an old sling shot, I could send it to you! Stash it under the seat for future brain farts! ha ha

[gspman]

O-nut, a slingshot??? Yeah! That's the ticket!

Leech, that bird was either last year's bird and/or had been shot at this year. It was fairly expert at putting the cover between me and it. I was on the trail and it flushed away from the dog flying to the trail to my left. I expected it to cross the trail in front of me which would have been an "easy" shot. Instead, as soon as it cleared the cover and got to the trail, it banked right and turned on the afterburners and flew parallel to the trail. It would have been a tough but makeable shot. An impossible shot with a slingshot though.

gspman