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We are having a regular Fall season this year, some warm days and some cooler. Despite the ridiculously wet spring the grouse are numerous. I finally got out the last week to shoot a few, took a rod along too to shore fish. my son took his Hunter’s and Firearms course this spring and we got out for the first time yesterday. He’s a very good fisherman but just not really into it, he loves hunting though. He’s using a .22 I got for him for his Birthday, neither of us are used to it yet, and while we managed 5 shots at birds yesterday we alas ended up birdless, but he loved it and is pumped to go again. Can’t wait for him to get his first bird!

Headed north with my brother for some birds. The weather was less than ideal but wasn't terrible either.

If I've hunted the grouse opening day up north it was 20-25 years ago but it's unlikely that I ever did. I avoided it because it's too thick, too green and I had a flexible schedule. I didn't hunt much in September period, but now with young kids and busy sports schedules the number of chances are limited, so for the last few years an early trip north on the first Friday after the opener has been the norm. This year, Friday was the opener for the first time in 11 years. There were a lot more atv's and hunters than I'd noticed in the past. The first week in September had been promising with a few frost warnings and some cool nights but as we know the weather was hot this week. The alarm went off at 2am, the gear was loaded and the wheels were rolling by 3am. The trail we like to walk is narrow and overgrown so we don't usually see atv's on it, we just hoped that any other walkers weren't there before us. When we pulled up there was no sign of other hunters and we prepped and were off on the first hunt of the season. By 8am we each had bird and then I got lucky when I went exploring off trail and had 3 more grouse by 9:30am. And that was it. We didn't see/hear another bird. We got back to the vehicle by 11am and actually got in and ran the A/C. I was considering a nap while letting the engine run but had visions of a 8 hour snooze running the engine dry. While eating our sandwiches we discussed our options and decided to drive out and try another area. This would keep us cool and kill some time while we figured the birds were lying low due the heat. On the drive out we were stopped by the OPP. They checked to see that the guns were unloaded and asked to see our hunting licences and we were on our way after a couple of minutes tops. The drive to the second spot produced zero birds but did put us an hour closer to home. We had 5 birds and didn't die from the heat or mosquitoes so another season has started. Bring on the frost.

Hi all, headed up to Lac Seul on Friday to shoot some birds and catch some fish. The grouse were playing shy but I got lucky on the way out when I spotted 3 right at the landing, did not see another single grouse apart from those. I wanted to target bass and they did not disappoint. I also target some walleye which were less enthusiastic than the bass but abundant none the less. The Bass were shallow, the walleye deep and the grouse DELICIOUS!

Hi all, Have a stack of videos from last year to catch up on, my computer has been messing up since last summer and finally got round to fixing it, new SSD and upgraded to 24GB Ram....it screams now. So....here is a video from last fall, out for grouse and walleye at Lac Seul with my best pal Roloff.

Not much fishing lately but my brother joined me for a grouse hunt. It was his 3rd day out of 4 hitting the woods for birds (lucky son of a gun). There was more snow on the ground than we expected (3-4 inches). I like a dusting of snow sometimes because I can see what stories have played put in the snow but I was a little disheartened to see that much. We were parked just after sunrise and maybe a hundred metres down the trial a bird flushed unseen form the left. It sounded like it only went up into a nearby tree. As I was trying to work my way through some think stuff I heard it flush again. I brought my gun up but never saw it. Right then a second unknown bird flushed from the ground and I hit it with the bottom barrel. This was after the 1st bird went down. My brother wanted me to pose, I just wanted to get it and find another. Walked a ways and followed a few grouse tracks that crossed the trail but didn't see/hear another for a bit. Second bird was off the trail a ways. I swung on it, used the wrong trigger, but still dropped the second grouse of the day in less than an hour. On the way back we both missed birds that went straight down the trail. A photo of the 2 back at the vehicle. Grey and brown. We drove a short ways and hit another trail. My brother got one but we couldn't find it. With the snow we thought it should have been easy but the wasn't a sign of it, not a feather. Finally I found a fresh track and then a single feather, more tracks and some more feathers, and finally the bird. During the search I flushed a bird but was so focused on looking for the downed bird that I didn't have a chance. I went bushwacking for a bit but didn't see anything. Drove a bit to walk another trail. Another single flush that alerted me and the 2nd bird went down. Photo back at the truck. It was about this point that we realized that just about all the birds had been in pairs. The second bird was S.O.L. after the first alerted us. We saw one more bird, a single of course. It turned out to be Usian Bolt and ran as fast and as long as I've ever seen a healthy grouse go. My brother followed the trail in the snow but it finally flushed and he didn't get a shot. A good day in the bush.

Long road trip for a day of birds with my brother. Didn't see anyone else the whole day. My brother got 3 and I never pulled the trigger. That's grouse hunting. Spruce grouse hen in his right hand. Me just walkin' through the woods. Last bird of the day while I was trying my luck off-trail. That's the smirk of a little brother who has 3 birds to zero and got the last one whilst I was slugging through the think stuff.

Busy times lately but I made it out Friday for a hunt. Saw more and flushed more driving than I did walking but did manage 2 birds. My brother went out earlier in the week before the storm and got his limit for the first time in at least 15 years he figures. Numbers seem to be up this year.

Made it out for some fish today. It appeared that many other fishermen also had the same idea. My choice would have been to go hunting but Ryan asked to go fishing since he gets to more actively participate. Most of the areas we wanted to try already had someone else and I'd rather try a new water rather than crowd another boat. We bounced around looking for some topwater fish and only had few hits and a couple of hook-ups, but only a single bass in the boat. Made it home before the end of the Jay's game. Did get a bird the other day as well. I was really hoping to have some fish to go with it.

My brother and I were on the road extra early and made the drive north for some birds. All along it was likely going to be too hot, too green and too thick, but a day off is a day off and this way if the trip was a bust we had 3 easy excuses. The area we tried first is closed to all vehicles which is great... later in the year when much of the growth has died back, but this early it was silly with growth over our heads in many spots. It was a tough go and really hot. We weren't seeing or hearing any birds. The decision to head back was made and maybe take a chance on one of the atv trails instead. On the way back I did get a single and maybe things would get better. Back at the truck while we had our lunch the weather started to cool a little. Off to another trail and we're having an easier go of things but still not seeing any birds. Then, the day changed in a wingbeat. We are surrounded by birds and they are flying everywhere. We get some, miss some, find some more, get some more, miss some more and after it's all over we had five birds, I've got one shell left and we're not sure how many birds there were in total. Back at the truck for more shells and to put the birds on ice. We'd used up all of our luck as the last 3 birds we see are still in the woods and only one of them even heard a shot and a jack pine was the only thing hit. Great start to the season and the hunger has been satiated for now but the colours will come, the air will turn cold and I will hear the frost under my boots.

With apologies to The Gruffalo: All was quite in the deep dark wood. A hunter, and his son, shot a grouse.... ... and it was good. Soon to be 6, he's made a few trips last year and a few more this year but this was the first time I've got a bird while he has been with me. My oversized hunting coat barely fit afterward.

I got out a few times this year and after a few bird less days I hit one on each of my last two outings. A patch of tamaracks starting to turn. The photo doesn't do it justice of course.