Ruffed
grouse hunters are a peculiar lot and walk with an unusual gait. This extraordinary stride carries them over
irregular ground, past nasty thickets of twisted tangles, and transports them
for hours on end across countless miles without hardly a stumble.
It
takes years of practice, and possibly no one really masters it unless they
start to develop the skill as a child. The
pace is rather rolling and loose, fluid, almost floating through the forest
rather than pushing into it. Grouse and
woodcock cover is often thick and tangled, not to be traveled without due deliberation,
so this skill is worth developing if at all possible.
 |
| Where's our truck? |
As
one walks their eyes should constantly scan ahead for the easiest course
through the forest maze, but it must be done at an almost subconscious level or
it would sidetrack the hunting experience.
Zigzagging around obstacles requires far less energy than wading through
even the smallest thicket, and bending to walk like a crab under low limbs
tires back muscles and thighs as well as creating a stance from which it is
impossible to shoot.
Of
course, until it is truly subconscious, this struggle for surrounding-awareness
is distracting, particularly if you are trying to keep track of your dog, the
hunting partner that you started the day with, and where on the earth you actually
are. Keep practicing until you can do it
at an intuitive level while doing other things, like trying to figure out why
the batteries in your GPS didn’t last as long as you thought they should.
This
brings up topography management, or, in layman’s terms, keeping track of where
your feet are landing. Again, it should
all be with the same subliminal level of thought that you pick a path through
the trees with. Using your lower
peripheral vision, watch for obstacles such as fallen limbs, mud holes, and interwoven
weeds. When you step in a hole and mud
goes up to your knee, you will know there is still work to be done.
Stride
control is another critical skill, particularly if one wants to avoid flopping
down on your face regularly. A foot
should never be lifted off the ground until the other is firmly planted, and
when it is lifted it should be brought well up so as not to catch on low
branches, interwoven grasses, or twisted vines.
Each leg should be straightened for an instant as it carries the torso
forward, which gives it a momentary chance to rest, albeit a short one, and as
each foot rocks forward the hunter should ride it up onto the ball of the foot
to stretch the step as far as possible.
A hurried pace will frequently land you horizontal and embarrassed,
while a slower steady pace will carry a hunter upright for hours.
 |
| Where are we? |
Falling
is an art in itself. Every grouse hunter
trips or steps in a hole occasionally, and, unless it is a frequent occurrence,
it should not be cause for concern.
Landing is the part to fret about.
At all cost, one’s gun should be held upward and off the ground. Never use the gun’s stock to break the fall,
which could have disastrous results directly proportional to the beauty and
value of the walnut in the stock. If the
muzzle comes anywhere near the ground be sure to check for blockage, as
ruptured barrels destroy a gun’s value, as well as fingers, and possibly eyes.
An
experienced faller drops loosely to the ground and sort of rolls to one side on
landing, while all the time holding his shotgun upward. Cussing is allowed. Fortunately our dogs never report our
clumsiness or even seem to notice it.
Remember, a broken arm will mend, but a broken stock never will.
Stamina
comes easily for twenty year old athletes, but older hunters require a routine
of regular walking to prepare for the fall season. We are fortunate to live where there are
areas of ample waist-high brush that one can push through to strengthen legs. If a hunter is unable to locate similar
terrain near his home there are alternatives.
A favorite is to fill two burlap bags each with about twenty pounds of
sand and then tie a six foot length of rope to each. Next, tie the free end of each rope around an
ankle. Walk around the backyard while
dragging the bags of sand and soon the leg muscles will be firmed up and ready
for the fall, and as a bonus the cardio vascular system will also be brought up
to speed.
If
neighbors cannot see you exercising, carry your heaviest target gun with you to
gain upper body strength, but if you live in a suburban area and are visible to
strangers it is best to carry small dumbbells in your hands to avoid a visit by
the local SWAT team.
To
test your newly developed woods walking skills take your dog to favorite cover
and let him loose. Put on a broad
brimmed hat and start to follow, just as you would on a typical bird hunt. At the start of this trek though look at your
watch, and then keep count of how many times your hat is knocked off as you
follow the dog. When you’ve had all that
you can stand, and are hopefully are back at your vehicle, look at your watch
again to see how many minutes you’ve been in the woods. Then divide that number into how often you
had to pick up your hat. For every fall
you took where a knee actually hit the ground subtract fifteen, and if you
flopped out flat subtract twenty, unless you refrained from cursing, then only
subtract nineteen. If you stepped in a
mud hole that went over your boot-top, subtract twenty-seven, but if you never
lost track of your dog during the entire walk add thirty two. If at any time a stick poked you in an eye so
that the eye actually watered, take away another forty-one, but if you wore
shooting glassed and they were only knocked off ad five. The resulting number is your wood walking
quotient.
Any
number below twenty-three means there is still work to be done.
 |
| Finally easy walking. |
This piece of wisdom first appeared in RGS magazine. Please support that wonderful organization. http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/