[msturm]

After work today I took the dog for a stroll. It is not getting dark now till around 9 so the dog and I have lots of time to bop around in the woods. Well the snow was slushy and waist deep in places which made moving in the open a bit difficult, so we stuck to the trees. It was a fairly steep hill covered in spruce and birch when I heard the flutter of grouse wings and the dog yip with excitement. We both went in search of the bird, Salty Dog looking low and I looking high.

About a half hour later I slowly came around a tree and the bird was perfectly silhouetted against the snow, sitting on a near naked branch with nothing to bounce a ball off of on the way there. He was facing directly away from me. Those of you who hunt grouse in AK know that this is a rare occurrence. As soon as I got into range he tucked his head and hunkered down.

He knew I was there. I knew he was there. My dog knew I could see something and froze, staring in the direction I was looking. Five long minutes passed by before he lifted his head to crane his neck around to look at me. I got to full draw and froze. He ruffled his feathers and turned his head farther to the left trying to see what I was doing.

I released. I knew the noise it would make before it even left the pouch. Sometimes you can feel a great shot.

Thwack!

Right in the base of the skull, dead bird. The grouse toppled out of the tree and the dog pinned him down in the hollow under the blowdown near the base of his roost.

I was in knee deep slushy snow so my closing the 16 yards was slow. Salty didn't chew him up, He just plucked his belly.

We walked for a couple more hours enjoying the spring heat (38 degrees Fahrenheit ABOVE!) and the sunshine. We made a fire and ate our hard earned meal. I ate the breasts and salty at the gizzard and heart.

Catch and cook video to follow.

Pics for now!

 

[flipgun]

Nice story! I could see it.

 

[Royleonard]

Loved it felt I was there,I want a photo of salty posted to complete the vision sounds like a good dog.keep up the stories us older folk love em!

 

[Island made]

Awesome post! Thanks for sharing. And nice shooting as always. And yes, a pic of salty would be awesome.

 

[Covert5]

Awesome shot and good eats! Sling'n does a body good!

 

[andypandy1]

Dang man you’re on a roll with all these grouse

 

[Ibojoe]

I love reading your stories! It's like I'm right there with ya. You should write articles for Fur, Fish, and Game magazine.
Keep em coming my friend.
Beautiful flip btw!!

 

[BushpotChef]

That was a very nice read my friend, very immersive I thoroughly enjoyed it. You've got talent as a hunter & an author - a regular Steve Rinella haha!

Keep it up mate love to read of your pursuits.

 

[msturm]

And here is Salty! He is an odd mix of a border collie father and a newfie mother. He is 108 lbs of 2-year old goofball. He is getting to be a pretty decent bird dog for both upland fowl and waterfowl. He is also my skijoring buddy for my 9 mile trapline (though that is shut down now).

 

[msturm]

It is a long catch and cook vid, but you can't leave the house anyway. Enjoy!

 

[figjeti]

Look really good! Those forks look are kinda wide, how do you like them?

 

[wll]

Wow ---- a great story and a great shot .. I wish that I shoot like that... man alive, that is awesome !

wll

 

[msturm]

Look really good! Those forks look are kinda wide, how do you like them?

Long answer: I have played around with a bunch of different fork dimensions. 4 inches outside to outside seems to be the winning combo for my aiming style. So every slingshot I make is 4 inches outside fork to outside fork. The inside gap does not make much difference. With this outside of fork to outside of fork dimension I can aim down my band at full anchor and use the tip of my fork as my aiming point with a very reliable level of accuracy. Enough anyway to head shoot grouse at 20 yards. I do miss but that has to do with nerves, adrenaline and footing more than any mechanical issue.

Short answer. I am not sure if 4 inches is kinda wide, (same as a Scout) but I love it. It is that way on all my hunting flips.

 

[msturm]

Wow ---- a great story and a great shot .. I wish that I shoot like that... man alive, that is awesome !

wll

Thanks!

 

[figjeti]

Look really good! Those forks look are kinda wide, how do you like them?

Long answer: I have played around with a bunch of different fork dimensions. 4 inches outside to outside seems to be the winning combo for my aiming style. So every slingshot I make is 4 inches outside fork to outside fork. The inside gap does not make much difference. With this outside of fork to outside of fork dimension I can aim down my band at full anchor and use the tip of my fork as my aiming point with a very reliable level of accuracy. Enough anyway to head shoot grouse at 20 yards. I do miss but that has to do with nerves, adrenaline and footing more than any mechanical issue.

Short answer. I am not sure if 4 inches is kinda wide, (same as a Scout) but I love it. It is that way on all my hunting flips.

Thanks for the response. Yeah I'm actually the same with the scout, Except it seems right on for me at around 10 yards, I think at 20 yards I'd have to have just a little hold over. Yeah I guess it just looked like more than 4 inches from the picture! Good shooting!

 

[Royleonard]

Thanks for the all around lessons,shooting,writing,and cooking.Honesty is pretty good too.

 

[msturm]

Look really good! Those forks look are kinda wide, how do you like them?

Long answer: I have played around with a bunch of different fork dimensions. 4 inches outside to outside seems to be the winning combo for my aiming style. So every slingshot I make is 4 inches outside fork to outside fork. The inside gap does not make much difference. With this outside of fork to outside of fork dimension I can aim down my band at full anchor and use the tip of my fork as my aiming point with a very reliable level of accuracy. Enough anyway to head shoot grouse at 20 yards. I do miss but that has to do with nerves, adrenaline and footing more than any mechanical issue.

Short answer. I am not sure if 4 inches is kinda wide, (same as a Scout) but I love it. It is that way on all my hunting flips.

Thanks for the response. Yeah I'm actually the same with the scout, Except it seems right on for me at around 10 yards, I think at 20 yards I'd have to have just a little hold over. Yeah I guess it just looked like more than 4 inches from the picture! Good shooting!

Hey no problem. The hold over is necessary at longer distances but it varies greatly with ammo and band choice. I get a flat trajectory with marbles but have to hold over with lead and steel.

 

[bingo]

Nice read awesome vid and shooting keep them coming ????

 

[SJAaz]

Look really good! Those forks look are kinda wide, how do you like them?

Long answer: I have played around with a bunch of different fork dimensions. 4 inches outside to outside seems to be the winning combo for my aiming style. So every slingshot I make is 4 inches outside fork to outside fork. The inside gap does not make much difference. With this outside of fork to outside of fork dimension I can aim down my band at full anchor and use the tip of my fork as my aiming point with a very reliable level of accuracy. Enough anyway to head shoot grouse at 20 yards. I do miss but that has to do with nerves, adrenaline and footing more than any mechanical issue.

Short answer. I am not sure if 4 inches is kinda wide, (same as a Scout) but I love it. It is that way on all my hunting flips.

That would make it pretty close to 3" C2C....Just asking for research.

 

[msturm]

Look really good! Those forks look are kinda wide, how do you like them?

Long answer: I have played around with a bunch of different fork dimensions. 4 inches outside to outside seems to be the winning combo for my aiming style. So every slingshot I make is 4 inches outside fork to outside fork. The inside gap does not make much difference. With this outside of fork to outside of fork dimension I can aim down my band at full anchor and use the tip of my fork as my aiming point with a very reliable level of accuracy. Enough anyway to head shoot grouse at 20 yards. I do miss but that has to do with nerves, adrenaline and footing more than any mechanical issue.

Short answer. I am not sure if 4 inches is kinda wide, (same as a Scout) but I love it. It is that way on all my hunting flips.

That would make it pretty close to 3" C2C....Just asking for research.

I am guessing that C2C means center of the fork tine to the center of the fork tine? If so all my hunting flips are right around 3.25inches C2C.