At 09:58 PM 10/20/98 -0700, Nancy Taylor wrote:

>I guess I was among one of the luck ones--for once! On Sept. 27 I saw my
>"lifer" SPGR at Meadows Campground, at approx. 7000", near Slate Peak,
>Okanogan Co., WA. During an early morning walk around the campground I
>flushed 3 SPGR that were near the road, one adult male, and two others,
This bird would be easy to catch
>with your hands, much less to shoot.
>
The first weekend in October, 1991, I saw my "lifer" spruce grouse on the
Blue Lake Trail near Washington Pass, not that far from Slate Peak, Meadows
CG, etc. The sad part of this story is that a guy coming down the trail as
we walked up told us that a guy with a handgun had shot a grouse at close
range and threw it in the lake. The guy we talked to retrieved it and put
it on the ground so that at least something could eat it.
My friend and I photographed golden larches and then started back down.
Lagging behind, probably because I was packing both medium format and 35 mm
camera systems, I watched two spruce grouse walk onto the trail right in
front of me. I was able to sit down (whew!) and take notes, but they walked
into the bushes when I tried to get out the camera(s). One(another?)
reappeared about 50 feet down the trail. It seemed oblivious to me except
when I tried to touch it; then it managed to stay about two feet ahead of
me, until it tired of me and walked into the bushes.

Ruth Taylor
Seattle
rutht at seanet.com