Ruffed Grouse Hunting

[Jim Cloninger]

For you Ruffed Grouse hunters: Does having a bell on your dog alert the birds so you do not get close shots?
Jim

[DSizemore]

Boy Jim, there's a question with varying opinions for sure. When, where, and why a grouse flushes is unknown to me, and most experienced grouse hunters will tell you the same thing. I've run a bell for many years, while others I know use beepers, and still others prefer the stealth approach. In my opinion, it's more about how secure the bird feels as to whether he chooses to sit tight, run, or flush. How much predator contact a bird has seen probably contributes more to his actions than anything else. That's why I don't subscribe to the stealth method. Predators in the wild certainly aren't carrying bells and alerting everything as to their intent, therefore I feel the stealth approach more closely mimics a natural threat, thus causing the bird to flush more quickly. Who knows what's going through a bird's mind though. If you ever run across someone that's figured it out, please pass it along.

[GrousenFool]

I use a bell. I don't think it costs me birds but I'll probably really never know. Some of the stuff we hunt is pretty thick and being able to tell where the dog is gives me peace of mind. If I ever lose the dog I might as well not go home. I am not about to tell my wife the dog is lost!

[dragon]

my dad used to think that on early season grouse the younger birds held tighter when using a bell.he said thought that they were courious as to what that sound was. i do not use a bell and i probly miss as many grouse as the next guy!

[mike campbell]

The long standing joke about grouse is how they tend to flush when you pause for nature's call. Point being, they seem content to hold tight as long as you (and the dog) are moving about, making noise, letting them know exactly where you are. When you pause (go silent) for a couple minutes, they get nervous and flush. Bottom line for me; I hunt with 2 cockers wearing bells and we get ample flushes inside 25 yds. I've had 10 years to take the bells off if I thought they were a hindrance...I haven't.

[GrousenFool]

Mike, I use the same stop & go routine. Works great! Dog stops, you stop, bird gets nervous - GAME ON! And if there is more than one bird the first nervous flush triggers the rest. Happy hunter, happy dog!

[3birddogs]

I do not think a bell, or beeper for that matter affects the timing of the grouse flush. How you move in and the steadiness of the dog does. I always use a bell( how else would you keep track of your dog in thick cover). I also generally use a beeper on point signal only if I am hunting with more than 1 dog or another person. Probably going to get one of the Tritronics collars that can turn the beeper on remotely .

[6pt-sika]

Back 20 years or so ago when I still pursued King Ruff I kept a beeper colar on all my dogs and I never noticed any extra early flushes .

[birddog]

Hey guys I'm looking to do some grouse hunt next year can anyone tell me some good places to go in New Hampshire I'm in New York and want to
hunt Mr. Grouse with my Sterlingworth.

[Sporrns]

Hunting for 7-8 years with a beeper collar on my great English setter 'Smoke' taught me that the carelessly slammed truck door along with loud human voices did more to alert the birds than any of the tones emitted from the electronic collar. On several occasions, it took 5-10 minutes to locate and get to the dog on point, and when walking in the grouse was there an flushed, obviously having sat there through the pulsed tones of the collar.