Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Since it was nice today I decided to take my shotgun for a walk in the woods and see if we could scare up a few grouse in the process. I headed out to the GWNF west of 81 and got there around first light. It was a little chilly until the sun started to get over the mountain to the east and warm things ups. That and walking up the mountain will put some sweat on you. I did manage to flush 3 birds today but never got a shot off. By the time I got the gun up and swung on them they were gone. They are a tough bird to hunt and love to hang out in old cutovers.  I walked up on a guy and his son (maybe 12) out squirrel hunting.  They scared me half to death. They were dressed from head to toe in camo (including face masks) with not a speck of orange on them. I was maybe 20 yards away before I noticed the two tree warts. Normally when I am on public lands, I whistle at other hunters when I first see them so I a) do not get shot by accident or b) they don't mess up where I am hunting.  Once I spotted them I just waved, broke by shotgun and turned away. The thing that really got me is if a bird had flushed between us before that moment, I would have never seen them. So throw a little orange on while out there on public lands and give the other hunters a whistle when you see them.