9/21/22:
Lexi and I hunted all day under clear skies, light winds, and temps around 70 degrees in an area about 10 miles west of Lowville, NY. Overall, there are tons of covers one can scotch-hop.
Essentially, the state forests are a haphazard patchwork totaling around 70,000 acres. While there's a great deal of farmland in the area, I didn't find any SFs that were clearly abandoned farms. In general, they are woods with lots and lots of swamps.
9 Partridge flushes:
- 4 heard, not seen
- 2 repeat flushes of same birds
- 3 shooting opportunities: 1 miss, 2 failures to turn safety off
- We also saw a partridge by the road so I let Lexi out to see if she could pick up the scent where it ran into the woods. She wound up flushing that one and another I had not seen. Wasn't in a SF, just a training experience to acquaint her with partridge scent.
3 Woodcock flushes:
- 1 bird flushed twice, 2nd time was heard not seen
- 2 shooting opportunities - missed both
Tug Hill State Forest 12,242 acres
- Patchwork would be an understatement. Must have been a series of opportunistic acquisitions vs. one big purchase. If any of this was ever farmland, it must have been many generations ago. Nonetheless, there are hundreds of wild covers to explore.
Tug Hill Wildlife Management Area 5,100 acres
- Largely, a disappointment. The cuts they've been making won't be productive for another 5 years IMO. Some big stretches of genuinely old growth forest. Many swamps and therefore, covers that border them might very well hold grouse and woodcock not to mention ducks and geese. Numerous designated parking areas show this is meant for hunters.
Lookout State Forest 39, 215 acres
- Some cuts that are 4+ years old look good but ground is dominated by briars and some raspberries. I did find some apple trees in one spot and superb woodcock cover in others. Extremely tough going in the grassy areas bordering streams. Some sort of vines are mixed in with normal ground cover making every step a battle. Briars are pretty mild by Connecticut standards. Dozens of promising covers in this area.
Grant Powell State Forest 8,077 acres
- I camped for free on Bee Tree Rd thanks to a permit from rangers. Near a large swamp, parts of it had been selectively cut decades ago and slash (i.e. branches left on the ground) is not a problem. Some smallish cuts were probably done just this summer and are completely cluttered with slash. Wont' be ready for at 5 years minimum.
Sears Pond State Forest 5,648 acres
- Numerous snowmobile trails are maintained in the Barnes Corners area and afford a grouse hunter readymade walking trails deep into state forest lands. Lexi flushed a pair of grouse in thick cover near a stream that we happened upon while following one of the snowmobile trails. Flushed them a second time, one coming up from heavy ground cover just 20 ft away from me. It flew right in front of me but I fumbled with the safety and it was gone. One of the best looks I've ever had at a ruffed grouse.
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