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rszkutak

12A Turkey & and some grouse hunting

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Howdy, I got a leftover tag for turkey in the bab starting Oct 5.  as we know turkey up there are like shooting fish in a barrel, I don't want to count my egg's before they hatch but i'm reasonably confident in tagging a turkey up there.  

I'm going to hunt some squirrel and grouse while I'm up there, I have little desire to purposely hunt chukkar but if i see one I will shoot it.  I haven't seen too much info out there in regards to what kind of terrain to hunt grouse in, but based on some limited knowledge I believe that I'm going to want to hunt the pine's for them.  We know the bab east and west is a pretty big area so i'd like to narrow it down just a bit to focus on some select area's.  I have heard a few things from people that said they have seen them over by the park boundaries, but the people I talked to really don't know as that's not their focus when they are in the bab.

Do you have any tips on where to look and or area's to look at for grouse?

Is anyone else going up there for turkey and doesn't have a partner to hunt with, i'm going to possibly be solo for the weekend.

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I have only encounter the chucked in the low lands in the prairie grass, your right about the turkey. Much easier to find and hunt in the fall over spring, good luck and have a blast..

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What G&F says is good advice.  Look for berries.  You may find them at first light along the dirt roads getting water from puddles.  The fires this summer may have affected the 610 road

Areas: Concentrate your efforts on the southeast side of the Plateau in sub-unit 12AE. Areas around Crystal Springs, Sourdough Well, and along the 610 rd near the National Park Boundary provide the best opportunity for finding the often secretive Blue Grouse. Look for areas with mixed conifer, aspens, and berry bushes in close proximity. Grouse, like squirrels, appear to be most active early in the morning but walking throughout the day can result in flushed birds.

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1 hour ago, Red Rabbit said:

What G&F says is good advice.  Look for berries.  You may find them at first light along the dirt roads getting water from puddles.  The fires this summer may have affected the 610 road

Areas: Concentrate your efforts on the southeast side of the Plateau in sub-unit 12AE. Areas around Crystal Springs, Sourdough Well, and along the 610 rd near the National Park Boundary provide the best opportunity for finding the often secretive Blue Grouse. Look for areas with mixed conifer, aspens, and berry bushes in close proximity. Grouse, like squirrels, appear to be most active early in the morning but walking throughout the day can result in flushed birds.

Thanks, yea i was pretty much thinking the same thing for the grouse based on AZGFD.  I have heard from Dwayne Adams that the tanks in the bab are pretty much overflowing this year which is a great thing, so water will be plentiful that's for sure.  As he focus's his hunts on deer I figured he might have run across a few grouse in his time up there, but talking to him he can't really remember seeing any substantial numbers of them.

When I hunted east last year for the grey ghost I never ran across any of them, but i was also in the burn area and north of that never having ventured south of the burn / FR241.  I also don't think i ever really went over 8,000', maybe a small bit but never substantial as the burn is a bit higher in elevation compared to the northern side of the unit.  I know the southern part by the canyon goes up a bit beyond 9,000 so I think I'm going to focus down that way which is right in the area around Crystal Springs (but i don't see sourdough well on google maps, frankly don't expect them to list everything but I'll refer to my trusty flatline map of 12AE).

I'm sure I'm going to be doing quite a bit of walking to find these elusive critters.

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