Behold the tranquility. Like Huckleberry Finn along the Mississippi, I strolled along a dirt trail into the ruffed grouse woods of Auld Reekie Lodge in Gowganda. The sun is blazing and the late September foliage is a kaleidoscope of colours. A wisp of a breeze carries the aroma of ripened berries. In place of Huck’s sack, a shotgun rests on my shoulder.

Tale feathers
The timing is perfect, as the early season bear hunters are gone and the moose hunters have yet to arrive. I’m here with friend Steve Dickinson, brother-in-law Gary Brabaw, and son-in-law Troy McAdams. This is our time to spot and stalk ruffed grouse.

We choose an abandoned logging road, park our vehicle, and walk the open spaces that cut through standing timber. Glancing ahead, I see birds on the trail. They merely saunter back into cover as we approach. A quick heads up to my companions and we spread out, creeping toward the last known position of one of the birds. As I close in, I see movement on the ground followed by a sudden flush of wings that beat through the tight spaces of dense poplar. A shot rings out to my left. It’s Dickinson. His shot is followed by another from Brabaw.

Although I can’t see the action, I hear jeers and cheers as McAdams moves in to retrieve the grouse.

Shooting grouse on the wing in the thick woods of northern Ontario can be challenging. It doesn’t take a lot of shot to put grouse in the game pouch, but it does take a quick mount and fast shot. That’s why I adore my 28 gauge over-and-under shotgun; the fast-swinging, short-barrelled firearm is also easy on my old shoulder.

Our daily take is enough for supper, and we cheerily make our way to the lodge.

The digs
With half a dozen birds in hand, we arrive back at Auld Reekie Lodge on Gowganda Lake. Auld Reekie is a slang name given to olden day Edinburgh, Scotland. The original owners emigrated from there and pasted the name on this classy northern hostel.

Current owner Urs Brunner is delighted at our success. “Take them around back and I will have my young lad clean them up for your supper,” he said with a smile.

These are just about the best words a group of “Sawyers and Finns” can hear at the end of a long day of trail walking. We retreat to the hot shower, fresh coffee, satellite television, and Wi-Fi convenience of our modern 3-bedroom cottage before making our way to the supper lounge in the main lodge, where Urs and his wife, Dianne, serve plates of oven-baked ruffed grouse with biscuits and gravy.

Bonus fish fry
After a few days of walking, shooting, and over-eating, we take up Brunner on his offer to fish his favourite walleye lake. “And we can have a big fish fry afterwards,” he said. A jarring ATV drive down an old washed out road ends at a secluded backwoods lake. There are no signs of human habitation along the wooded shoreline and we troll in solitude, quickly catching enough 2-pound walleye for a feast.

Back at the lodge, the entire Brunner clan has a hand in preparing the birds and fish for yet another feast to be shared by all Auld Reekie guests. As the fish is deep fried over an open outdoor fire pit, ruffed grouse “Waldorf” salad is prepared and brought to the outdoor buffet tables. We eat and exchange stories as the sun slips below the horizon.

In addition to the choice walleye, bass, pike, and lake trout fishing available in 9-kilometre long Gowganda Lake and numerous area back lakes, this region also offers prime ruffed grouse territory. Brunner says there are pockets of spruce grouse, but the habitat favours ruffs.

“I have guests come in every fall just to train their young dogs,” he said. “With 15 or 20 flushes a day, a bird dog can be well educated in a few days.”

Even without dogs, the area offers plenty of quality grouse hunting. In fact, I don’t even worry about walking past a motionless grouse as I drift into the serenity that accompanies the autumn woods of Gowganda.

Originally published in the Ontario OUT OF DOORS 2014 Hunting Annual.