10 cool Canadian birds that belong that belong on every wingshooter’s bucket list

#1  BLUE GROUSE

Admittedly, I’m showing my age here. Up until 2006, we had an upland game bird of the mountains called the blue grouse. That year, however, the American Ornithological Society split the blue into two distinct species—the dusky grouse, largely found on the drier eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, and the sooty grouse of the moist, western side of the Pacific Coast Ranges. Although the two species are similar in appearance—the hens are nearly identical, while the males have minor physical differences—DNA analysis was the determining factor in the split. Greater sage grouse and reintroduced wild turkeys aside, they are the largest of Canada’s native upland birds.

Irrespective of whether you’re a lumper or a splitter, not many of us have successfully hunted these birds, given their preference for high-altitude mountainous habitat (often higher than 8,500 feet above sea level), and their limited distribution. I know I haven’t. The challenge is exacerbated as autumn progresses and the birds migrate to increasingly higher elevations. Experienced blue grouse hunters tell me there’s no great mystery to the endeavour; you just have to be tougher than the birds. Of course, that’s easier said than done in their home of steep slopes, dense cover and shin-shattering deadfall.

I have a horseback hunt into the high country planned for this fall, and our primary objective is dusky grouse. I’m eagerly anticipating the opportunity to cross this most unique of Canada’s upland game birds off my bucket list.