You worked hard for that grouse limit. Your dog worked even harder. It's a shame that when you asked your buddy to take a photo to commemorate the moment, his shadow obscured the dog, the top of your head got cut off and the grouse were so blurry they looked like an impressionist painting of cockatiel.

      Another disappointment – you brought your young Lab all the way to South Dakota for the pheasant opener. Just 10 months old, he marked your first downed bird and made a stunning retrieve. Delighted, you grabbed your pocket camera to be ready for the next retrieve. When he trotted back proud as could be with that big ol’ rooster in his mouth, you snapped away. Too bad you forgot to zoom in. The little black speck in the bottom corner must be him, right?

      You don’t have to pay for a photo class or scrutinize photo magazines to take good shots with a digital camera. Whether you use a pocket-sized point-and-shoot or a full-size digital SLR, the camera does half the work. Use the auto settings, and you need not worry about things like metering, aperture, f-stops or white balance. Your half of the work comes in picking a few basic settings and thinking about what's going on in front of the lens.

Eight Simple Tips for Better Photos During and After the Hunt:

      The photos that illustrate these tips were taken during actual hunts with the terrific pointers and Labs of High Lonesome Ranch in De Beque, Colorado. High Lonesome features an exciting wing shooting program with wild and early release pheasants, chukar, huns and quail. The canyon landscape is spectacular and shooting opportunities abound. Nevertheless, enough variables were present to challenge any field photographer: rain squalls, flat midday light, wheatgrass as tall as the dogs and supersonic flushes. The photos were taken either with a full-size digital SLR (Canon EOS 40D) or with a "bridge" camera – bigger than a point-and-shoot with many more features, but small enough to fit in the front pocket of a game vest (Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8). No special equipment like a tripod, hoods or reflectors were used. The only post-processing done on computer after the hunt was adjusting the brightness and contrast.

Tip 1: Set your camera to take large JPEG files. The larger the file is, the better the resolution. Sacrifice the number of shots to improve quality. Camera disks are now available with a lot of memory. Set to take large/fine files, a 4 GB Compact Flash card gives you about 877 photos, each being about a 3.5 MB JPEG file. Small/normal files would allow over 1,000 photos (each only a .7 MB JPEG) on the same card. Even though those small files look great popped in an email, they won't enlarge or print without getting pixilated and fuzzy.

      Two other basic settings to attend to via the camera's menu are “red eye” (keep it on to automatically fix those glowing demon orbs) and “shoot without card” (keep it off because it's very disheartening to hit the playback button and discover those awesome shots of Drahthaar Gus bounding through the snow-dusted prairie never happened – and that’s a true story).

Tip 2: Look at what you've got. Think of this as a "watch list." Watch the background, making sure there are no tree branches or telephone poles growing out of anyone's head. Watch your shadow, making sure it isn't crawling up the bottom of the picture. Watch the faces of your subjects – human and canine – to make sure their eyes aren't shadowed by hat brims or other objects near you. Finally, watch the details. I blew an otherwise great shot once by not noticing that the hunter was walking up on a dog on point with his finger inside the trigger guard.

Tip 3: Think about composition. Most of the time, 1/2 and 1/2 is visually boring. Go for 1/3 and 2/3 when you set up a shot – sky vs. land, water vs. trees, bright areas vs. dark areas. Also remember that odd numbers are more interesting than even. Try to compose the shot with an odd number of animals, hunters or objects, and try to keep their sizes varied. Use sightlines: Try to arrange the image so lines draw the eye toward the subject. Tree branches, guns, rods, ledges – anything that moves the eye along an edge can work like an arrow toward the subject. To unite the elements in a photo, repeat colors and shapes. Find a way to repeat a strong color, such as a blaze orange vest, elsewhere in the picture. Likewise, an eye-catching shape like the fork of an antler, repeated elsewhere in a tree branch or fence post, perhaps, sets up a rhythm that unites the visual components of the picture.

Tip 4: Avoid earthquakes and pancakes. In panorama shots or landscapes, check that the horizon line is level, not tipping or tilting. Then give a thought to depth. Early and late shooting will help with shadows that keep the scene from looking flat. If the light is washing things out evenly, say in a midday photo with mountains or broad water, include a foreground object like a tree or cabin to add depth and show scale.

Tip 5: See the light. Early and late in the day, when the sun is at an angle, give the most dramatic lighting by creating highlights and shadows. The old rule of putting the sun at your back guarantees your subjects' faces or the action will be best lit, but it's not an absolute rule. Light coming from the side might help avoid squinting. Light from behind – backlighting – can result in exciting artistic effects such as silhouettes against a sky or the shimmer of sun through spread wings.

Tip 6: Move it and zoom it. To capture action, use the “sport” setting, the one with the symbol that looks like a tiny runner on an angle. This setting is the continuous or “burst” mode that lets the camera take several shots while you hold down the shutter button. The number of shots and the speed at which they occur depends on the camera. Expect a lot of blurry shots. A dog running at you while you hold down the shutter might result in a series of six shots that look blurry, blurry, blurry, clear, semi-clear, blurry. The camera has to select a focal point and adjust the focus to it very quickly, which it often can’t do fast enough for the continuous shutter release. But that one clear shot will be worth it. If you’re trying to capture your dock dog launching into the pond, start the burst when he’s running, ahead of his jump, then pan along with him until he hits the water.



      If your retriever is running toward you, don’t forget to zoom out as he comes. Similarly, if you’re trying to get a shot of that woodcock spinning away from the apex of its flight, remember to zoom in as its distance increases. Keep in mind that optical zooms are the real deal; they physically use the camera’s optics, the lens, to bring the image closer to you. Digital zooms electronically crop the image and enlarge it, similar to what you can do with photo software on your computer. In that case, however, the resolution will degrade because the camera has to add pixels to fill up the space between them when the picture is blown up. Translation: Optical zooms are preferable. If your camera has a digital zoom, remember that the more you zoom, the weaker the quality of the photo may be.

Tip 7: Think like a dog. To take good dog shots, get down to their level. Sit or kneel, so your photo will be straight on. Photos taken from above result in a Pudelpointer shaped like an inverted pyramid. The emotion of the image will be in the eyes, a rigid tail, energetic ears aloft, a rippling of muscles. Swimming shots? Lay on the ground at water level. If you’re not in a mud wallowing mood, put your canine subject on the tailgate of your truck or a training table and ask the good doggie to hold the bird for a trophy shot. To get an alert expression, try throwing your hat in the air. Quack like a duck, give commands such as “mark!” or bark, squeak like a rabbit and generally act foolish; the more you embarrass yourself, the more likely it is your dog will enthusiastically pay attention.

Tip 8: Remember hunting ethics. Although it’s tricky to do when the action is hot, try to remember the little details that will create the kind of images we hunters want to portray. Check muzzle direction for pictures that show safe gun handling. Make sure your subjects are wearing some blaze orange. To show respect for the game, wipe visible blood off the bird before photographing it and smooth its feathers and wings.

      One of the best things you can do to get better hunt photos is to think outside the box. Look for shots that convey the moods of a hunt rather than visual clichés. Skip the shot of the standard gun leaning on the fence with the birds hanging next to it or the typical pile of dead bird bodies with hunters kneeling behind. Take a peek into your mind’s eye. There, you will find lingering impressions of your favorite hunts. Those are the type of images that truly tell the story.

     I consider upland sporting life akin to a three legged stool. First is the challenge of grouse and woodcock shooting itself – comprised of action in the field with guns, dogs and the attending camaraderie with fellow hunters. This experience can be significantly enhanced with two other additions – the first of which is a well-rounded upland gunning library. Reading these books will allow a hunter to appreciate the romance, character, and ethics that defined our sport yesterday and continue to influence it today.

      The final piece is fine artwork – the addition of which completes the trio of aspects required for total immersion in the sporting life. Whether they are oils, watercolors, pen and ink drawings, magnificent prints or calendars – gunners from all walks of life should consider obtaining and appreciating some wonderful images inspired by the sport of upland hunting.

Foster painted many stunning dog portraits, like this one of Sports Peerless Pride, winner of the National Field Trial Championship in 1939 and elected to the Field Trial Hall of Fame in 1962. (Courtesy of Art Wheaton)

      Whether your chosen art is a special scene, meaningful portrait, or likeness of your favorite bird dog, it will be a constant reminder of days afield last fall, last year, or years long past. Art provides us with a daily memory and deep personal connection to our chosen passion. Just a few selections on the walls of your home can serve as visible tokens of the legend and lore of the upland shooting world. One artist for whom I have a special regard is William Harnden Foster.

      William Harnden Foster’s posthumously published book “New England Grouse Shooting” has become a must-have for every grouse and woodcock hunter. It is a classic, a primer, and a benchmark of sorts. The simple straightforward prose captures the character of the New England Yankee and is a pleasure to read. The accompanying pen and ink illustrations depict characters of his time and the finest grouse hunting action scenes to be found. A wonderful edition was printed by Willow Creek Press a number of years ago, and was signed by Foster’s son, Bill, in a limited edition. A copy is well worth perusing on a cold winter evening beside a crackling fire and a single malt scotch. Foster is primarily remembered for his book, but copies of his artwork – any of the variety of action shots in the field or grouse sketches – are well worth owning.

Foster’s hunting scenes, like Grouse Shooting in New England, are characterized by their accuracy and reveal his intimate knowledge of the subjects.

      Avid skeet shooters consider William Harden Foster the inventor of the sport. He was the first president of the National Skeet Association and the first inductee into the Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame. Born in Tewksbury, Massachusetts he hunted grouse around Andover, and characterized New England coverts with skillfully worded descriptions of abandoned farms, apple orchards, birch knolls and alder runs. After reading Foster, these coverts will always serve as a vivid reminder of ages past for the avid grouse and woodcock hunter.

      Very little has been written about Foster – who was not only a pioneer advocate of game restoration, writer, and editor of the National Sportsman and Fishing & Hunting (1921-1936) – but an illustrator of over 250 covers of sporting magazines, “Parker” gun man, field trial judge and handler of bird dogs.

      Though he has not received the prolific acclaim as have some of his contemporaries, like Frank Stick, Philip Goodwin or Frank Schoonover, his varied work, accomplishments and contributions to the shooting life are just starting to be appreciated. His oil paintings, when occasionally discovered, have become prizes for sporting art collectors. Foster, who signed his work with “W. H. Foster” or sometimes simply “F”, studied his subjects in minute detail. When he picked up the brush, his strokes carried the authority of a student well-trained of his subjects. He attended the Pyle school of art in the Brandywine valley near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.

      Some of my favorite works are his bird dogs, like those he painted for the Gallery of National Champions for Dupont. He also painted locomotives, motorboats, and many other touching scenes that included his relatives and friends, in a manner analogous to Norman Rockwell.

      The New England Bird Dog Championship started as a grouse trial in 1927, but in 1933 the stake was taken over by the Association of New England Trial Clubs. Foster was very involved with the founding of this latter association. The final heats were run on W. Lee White’s preserve in Scotland, Connecticut and continued there until 1950 – when it was again relocated to the Harold Parker Forest in Andover, Massachusetts. On October 30, during the 1941 final heats Foster was a part of the gallery and passed away suddenly from a heart attack.

      Foster had a long association as a writer in his National Sportsman magazine, with Associate Editor Henry Davis (an author and dog man himself and later Public Relations Manager for Remington Arms Co. Inc.) and many sporting friends like Nash Buckingham. Foster’s dogs, Dapple Joes Ben, Along Came Ruth, and Ding’s Palmetto Kent to name a few, were handled by Foster himself and clearly reflected his deep personal attachment and love of bird dogs.

An avid dog trainer and grouse hunter as well as an artist, Foster spent many days afield training his own bird dogs.

      Foster’s painting style illustrates the warm feelings he held for his subjects and his intimacy with the outdoor sport. He was a perfectionist. He captured great detail of his friends and neighbors as he drew and painted them. I consider him a yet undiscovered talent among collectors and his work undervalued. In the golden age of illustration – when magazine ads, covers and stories all used original paintings or drawings rather than photography – thousands of great original works were created. Today they are being recognized as masterpieces, when only a few short years ago they were recklessly discarded.

      Having examined several of his original pen and inks, charcoal drawings and oil paintings, my respect for Foster has grown immensely. Sports Peerless Pride, a painting I am proud to display in my personal collection of sporting art, is among my favorites. A close examination of any of Foster’s work can’t help but result in a newfound attachment and respect for both the man and his work


Art Wheaton has pursued grouse and woodcock for over 40 years and missed his fair share. He can be reached at art.wheaton@gmail.com.

In order to a be consistently successful grouse hunter you need three things: competent shooting skills, a good dog that works within range if it’s a flusher, or is staunch if it’s a pointer and, lastly, a thorough knowledge of the bird. Of these three, I believe knowledge of the bird is the most important.


I am fascinated by anything you can do with a shotgun. Shooting targets, hunting birds or just admiring the craftsmanship of a well-made double gun – if it has to do with a shotgun I’m up for it. If I had to pick just one thing to do though, it would be hunting grouse. I’ve gunned every different kind of game bird the US has to offer, yet nothing thrills me as much as watching a grouse fold at my shot.

      In my early years of bird hunting in New York, decent duck and goose hunting existed, but the bird of choice was the ruffed grouse. Woodcock were a nice addition because they cooperated well for a pointing dog, and they dramatically increased your bird contact. In those days we would often move only three grouse in a day, so the 20 to 40 woodcock that we came into contact with would really spice up the experience.

      Ruffed grouse season in New York runs from October 1 to February 28, and with a season that long you have ample opportunity to learn some things about the bird.

      My hunting partners – my father Bud, Uncle John and his son Johnny – and I had a rule: when we flushed a grouse we would follow it in order to get another shot, but if the bird eluded us three times we would leave it and find another. This gave us an opportunity to study the way birds responded to pressure, and in particular how the same bird reacted to it over and over. The birds we encountered repeatedly and were unable to harvest we called “PhD birds”, because they had a doctorate in eluding the bird hunter.

      I remember one bird that lived in a cover that was part of the local pheasant club. Stocked pheasants were the primary target of visiting hunters, but if their dogs worked a grouse they would surely have a go at it. Overtime this bird became so wary that if you slammed the truck door in his vicinity, you would hear him flush into a thick stand of pines where even dynamite wouldn’t have dislodged him.

With 22 years of competitive shooting under his belt, Andy Duffy has collected numerous national and international shooting titles. His conviction that “perfect practice makes perfect” has paid off, and in addition to shooting competitively Duffy is an expert shooting instructor and avid grouse hunter. To find out more visit www.andyduffy.com.

      One day I decided to sneak into the cover from the backside, placing myself between the bird and his security cover. I got into position as quietly as possible, and at a pre-arranged time my cousin drove into the parking lot and slammed the truck door. The grouse flushed straight over my head and I folded it just as it entered the pines. I must admit I felt a little remorse about defeating such a worthy opponent. After all, it took two of us outsmart a creature with a brain the size of pecan.

      Experiences like this were the start of a pattern of behavior that I have used ever since to hunt grouse – in a word – strategy. In order to  be a consistently successful grouse hunter you need three things: competent shooting skills, a good dog that works within range if it’s a flusher, or is staunch if it’s a pointer and, lastly, a thorough knowledge of the bird. Of these three, I believe knowledge of the bird is the most important.

Growing Grouse Savvy

      In the course of 35 years spent chasing grouse, I’ve had thousands of contacts with the king. What I’ve learned has only increased my admiration of the wily bird, so we’ll examine a few of the things I’ve learned about the bird first.

      Every predator in the woods loves to eat grouse, but the most efficient predators are hawks and owls. Grouse that develop anti-avian predator behavior survive longer than their fellows. How many times have you heard a grouse flush and when you looked for the bird all you could see were two wingtips on either side of a tree trunk? A grouse will always try to put an obstacle between itself and what it determines to be a danger. Even just a split second head start can mean life or death to a grouse – especially if the predator is a goshawk.

      Goshawks are accipiters – they can accelerate and overtake a grouse in flight on a horizontal flight path. Falcons, by comparison, require altitude from which they “dive” or “stoop” to catch their prey. Far and away the goshawk is the most effective predator of ruffed grouse, with the great horned owl a close second.

      A grouse in flight is vulnerable, so their first line of defense when feeling threatened is to hunker down and hide. A grouse that hears a hunter approaching will most often do just that – and if the hunter keeps moving, the bird will let him walk right by.

      A lone hunter without a dog can improve his flush rate if he walks erratically and stops often in likely-looking cover. The grouse hears the hunter stop, thinks it has been spotted and will often flush in order to escape the perceived danger. This is also why you hear about someone stopping to cross a fence and after unloading the gun and placing it safely on the other side of the fence, the bird blows out in the open and is perfectly within range. This has happened to me so many times I’m convinced grouse know what they are doing when they see a hunter halfway over a barbwire fence.

      Knowing the preferences of the bird will help you to organize the most advantageous approach to different hunting scenarios – ones that will result in the best possible chance for success. One such consideration is that grouse will only fly across an open field if they have no alternative path. If you find a grouse out on a peninsula of cover, it will try to fly back past you unless there are multiple hunters (including the dog) or there is more cover a very short distance away.

      Another technique you can try is to look for different types of food sources. Different times of the year grouse will use covers based on food availability and proximity to secure cover. Later in the season look for open water, like a small stream, as this becomes an important component.

      Yet another consideration when hunting grouse are the conditions. I call this the “sphere of influence.” It’s a term I first heard about when reading a book on human body language. The author said a person requires a zone of about 18", outside of which lies the normal area of social interaction. If in the course of the day a stranger enters into your 18" space, the initial reaction is to take a step back.

      The sphere of influence can vary depending on the environment. Consider a crowded elevator, by necessity the sphere of influence gets smaller due to the circumstances. The same thing happens with grouse. Anything that compromises the grouse’s main line of defense – eyes and ears – will increase the sphere of influence and make the bird nervous and jumpy. An example of these compromises is a windy day. The trees are moving around, and as they can’t hear as keenly they will become more nervous and blow out in a hurry. A dog that can handle a grouse on a windy day merits his own room in your house!

      The human voice will also result in a more agitated bird. If your hunting partner is constantly yelling at his dog, you are decreasing your grouse contacts dramatically. The bird will simply walk deeper into cover at the noise, and because it takes you longer to get to the point the bird is long gone by the time you get there.

      There are a lot of reasons why grouse don’t cooperate, but there are some conditions that work towards the hunter’s advantage.

      Damp conditions are generally the best. A slight misting rain has the dual advantage of quieting the woods and making grouse reluctant to move around anymore than necessary. It’s also the very best scenting conditions for your dog, with the added benefit of keeping him cool. The best thing to do is to look for a pattern of grouse behavior as you hunt – and make adjustments accordingly.

      I remember one hunt in late January, the first two days we hunted in rain and sleet with temperatures that hovered just above freezing. The morning of the third day dawned sunny and cold, with no wind. Grouse were everywhere! They emerged from the cover, fed, found a patch of sun and had no desire to leave it. The worst dog in the world would have looked like a hero that day. The point is conditions will change and influence how grouse will react on a given day, and you need to plan your strategy accordingly.

      The best thing to do is to look for a pattern as you hunt – and then adjust how you come into the dog on point, or how you work through a cover with your flusher.

Working with your Bird Dog

      Now we consider the dog aspect of the successful grouse hunting equation. I’ve observed that the majority of folks who hunt with pointing dogs generally go right to the dog on point. This is fine if you are hunting quail in Georgia – but it doesn’t work on grouse. A really good dog knows that grouse won’t tolerate a dog right on top of them, so they point at a distance. In addition grouse cover is generally so thick you won’t get a shot if you are right with the dog when the grouse flushes. When you have two hunters and a dog on point near the trail, one hunter should go deep into the cover and come to the point well in front of the dog, and begin moving toward the other hunter. Hopefully the bird flushes away from one hunter and gives the other a nice shot.

      Flushing dogs are both easier, and harder, to work with in the grouse woods. A pointing dog allows you to move leisurely down the trail until the dog goes on point – then it’s game time. With a flushing dog you have to be ready all the time, but with a dog that hunts close it’s easy to read when he gets birdy, and it can be some of the most exciting grouse hunting that exists.

      Sometimes even the best dogs look foolish when working grouse. It pays to remember that you’ve botched an easy straightaway shot now and then when you see him bumping a bird. A little forgiveness goes a long way toward a successful, rewarding hunt.

Better Gunning Tactics

      Finally we’re ready to discuss actually shooting a grouse. You may find this hard to believe, but they don’t travel at the speed of light. A ruffed grouse in flight is actually one of the slowest game birds in existence. The problem is  the habitat where you find them only gives you the barest glimpse of them. From this you have to judge their angle, speed and distance.

      The thing to know is your first glimpse of a flushing grouse is almost always followed up by a better look. If you make efficient use of the first look, your chances for success increase drastically. Get an impression of the direction of flight then look out ahead. Most often the bird will cross another opening and this is where you should make your move. Remember – they are slow. Swing your gun in from behind and get to the bird’s head or front edge.

      In all the years I have hunted grouse I have only seen a lead on one that resulted in success. It was a bird my cousin succeeded in knocking a cloud of feathers from at the top of a hill. Fortunately I was at the bottom of the hill and killed the bird at about 55 yards, and even then gap between the bird and the barrel were minimal.

      The most common error in shooting grouse is shooting too fast. How many times have you dumped both barrels only to watch the bird fly across an open trail? The best advice I ever received came from a 95-year-old ex-market hunter from Virginia. (He shot ruffed grouse for restaurants in Virginia.) He had his best results after leaving corn in the road and waiting for their heads to line up. Though he was only half-joking, the real trick is to try to see their eye. He said if you could see their eye, you will shoot them in the head.

      I only see the eye on about 5% of the grouse I bag – but I’m working on it! If I do see the eye when I make the shot, there are almost never pellets in the body. Aim small and miss small.

      When all the different aspects come together and you are able to put a grouse in the bag, it is one of the most rewarding experiences a gunner can have. Achieving it consistently takes a very real effort on many different levels. The best part is that just when you think you have ruffed grouse figured out, they do something you’ve never seen before.