I’m not much for slams or bucket lists. But I like to hunt new places a different upland bird species. Wyoming was a new place and sage grouse a new species of upland bird for me a s well as my young gsp.

The summer before the season started I did what I call the dirt work. Contacting biologists, hours at the computer studying satellite imagery, and marking waterholes on my maps. The day before the season opener my pup and I arrived at our hunting area wanting to get our bearings and see if any the the water holes actually held any water. The most offered tip from the biologists I talked to was to hunt with in a mile of water.

I stopped to talk with some sheep herders. To my surprise they didn’t speak English but eagerly accepted a cold bottle of water. I did my best to ask if they had seen any sage grouse by flapping my arms and saying repeatedly “big bird” and pointing at the sage. They reply with “se” and pointed out toward a flat of sage that went on for miles. It was enough for me to investigate and I parked the car and cut my gsp loose to search the sage. It didn’t take long to find tracks and some scat. Then my pup pointed the first sage grouse either of us had ever seen. We quickly returned to the car without disturbing any more birds.

Opening morning found us at the spot we had scouted. We had our limit in a less than 2 hours and a few miles of walking. Over the next few days we hunted new spots sometimes returning to the honey hole to pick up another bird if we needed it. Each evening I prepared our birds using the same recipes I use for sharp-tailed grouse. My favorite was grilled, then dipped in a spicy jelly my wife makes.