Jackman, Maine grouse hunting

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jsd245
Rank: Junior Hunter
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Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:07 am

Jackman, Maine grouse hunting

Post by jsd245 » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:12 pm

Well I booked the cabin for our October trip to Maine. Anyone ever hunt around Jackman, Maine? We've heard there is some good grouse cover up there and lots of birds. This will be my first hunting season with my shorthair and I'm pretty excited. If everything goes as planned we'll be doing some Hare hunting as well with my Dad's beagle.

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Vonrommel
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Location: East Tennessee

Re: Jackman, Maine grouse hunting

Post by Vonrommel » Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:43 pm

We hunted a little East of there in the Moosehead Lake area a few years back. You will find plenty of birds in Jackman. One of the best tips I can give you is to get out right at daybreak and ride the roads. You'll see the birds out getting grit on the road sides and can choose where to hunt based on quantity of birds. Just hunt along the roadsides spreading out 20 or so yards between hunters and parrallel the road. I like to go deeper into the woods but 50 to 60 yards either side of the gravel roads will yield grouse.

Another thing to mention is that you should know the difference between the female spruce grouse and the ruffed grouse. If you've never seen a female spruce grouse they can look a lot like the ruffed in flight. You'll find several of the spruce grouse, both male and female, in that area. It's easy to tell the males apart, the male spruce grouse are almost black, the females however are a lot like the ruffed grouse. The dogs can get some good work on the young and female spruce though. It's a lot of fun.

One other thing, check the Maine DNR site for information about the moose season. Those guys ride the roads looking for moose in a parade of vehicles, usually at least three or four vehicles per group and there's a lot of them opening weekend. They will also shoot the grouse from the roadside, and if you're at the edges of the roads hunting, you'll be in direct fire, so be sure to wear plenty of orange if your trip is during that time frame. Have fun up there!

Jeff Guy

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jsd245
Rank: Junior Hunter
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Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:07 am

Re: Jackman, Maine grouse hunting

Post by jsd245 » Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:21 am

I already checked out the Maine DEC website, I have never seen a spruce grouse, but it seems that it would be fairly easy to tell them apart sitting on the ground, but flying? I don't know. We're going up before deer season and Moose won't be open while we'll be there so we should be good.

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