Yampa – The mere fact that Bastiaan Cornelissen was in the midst of his sixth blue grouse hunt of a young season tells all one needs to know about his passion for a bird that remains an enigma to most other upland game enthusiasts. It also explains why the Morrison resident is on a quest to correct what he considers a terrible wrong in the way the bird is regarded in Colorado’s hunting regulations. Cornelissen objects to a decades-old rule that allows blue grouse to be pursued during the big-game season, with tacit approval that they be blasted with a big-game rifle.
“My attitude is that this breeds a disrespectful attitude toward wildlife,” he said recently on a glorious see-forever autumn day in the Flat Tops.
Trailing behind two eager black Labrador retrievers, Cornelissen wandered over hill and dale, always in the middle of a picture postcard splashed with blue sky and golden aspen leaves.
In the course of a day’s hike, Cornelissen and crew jumped 20 or more blue grouse from transitional cover, where they were feeding on currant berries and green leaves of low shrubs.
“If I could do only one form of hunting in Colorado, this would be it,” he declared.
Little wonder the specter of one of his beloved birds blown apart by a 30.06 slug provides sufficient impetus to challenge the regulation. Cornelissen plans to petition the Wildlife Commission to change a decades-old regimen he believes not only archaic, but in the disinterest of grouse and big-game hunters alike.
Cornelissen refutes the long-held notion of grouse as essential camp meat for those who pursue deer and elk. Considering most big-game enthusiasts now haul the equivalent of a small supermarket into the woods, this part of his argument seems on target.
He also raises a safety issue over hunters firing rifles or even small-caliber pistols at birds perched in trees, the equivalent of shooting at sky-lined game, a practice discouraged in hunter safety classes.
“I can’t imagine anyone would advocate allowing the taking of pheasants with big-game rifles during the plains deer season,” Cornelissen said. “I don’t see why grouse should be treated any differently.”
As a practical matter, he suggests the noise of someone popping away at grouse, whatever the weapon, acts as a disruption to big-game success.
“Besides, this sort of thing is just shooting, not hunting,” he said.
Thus far, Cornelissen’s proposal hasn’t rung the bell at the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
“I can see restricting the caliber used to shoot grouse, but we run into difficulty when we try to legislate ethics,” said Tom Remington, DOW terrestrial wildlife chief. “It’s a slippery slope.”
Remington is an avid upland hunter who wrote his doctoral dissertation on blue grouse. Scientist and hunter, he perhaps knows more about the bird than anyone.
“We’re better off if we stick to biology,” Remington says of an issue that doesn’t impact grouse populations. Perhaps the most underutilized hunting resource in the state, grouse receive little pressure during the regular bird hunt or the big-
game season extension, a span that this season runs from Sept. 1 to Nov. 17. “Most blue grouse live and die without ever seeing a hunter,” Remington said. “I personally don’t see the need to make changes.”
Cornelissen chooses to make his case looking forward rather than back.
“If this rule allowing big-game rifles didn’t already exist, there’s no way it would be considered today,” he argued.
Cornelissen, who grew up in Holland, realizes he faces an uphill battle persuading the Wildlife Commission without the backing of DOW professionals. “Perhaps it’s appropriate that I be tilting at windmills over this,” he said.
Grouse/recipe
Grouse enthusiast Bastiaan Cornelissen offers this recipe for making the hunt complete:
* Soak grouse breasts and legs in salt water for 24 hours
* Cut breasts in-plane to half-thickness
* Immerse in milk, coat with a mixture of flour, salt and pepper
* In a skillet, brown both sides in oil
* In a baking dish, keep browned pieces warm in the oven
* Combine one cup red currant jelly, grated rind from orange and lemon, juice from lemon and lime and one teaspoon dry mustard
* Bring mixture to boil and serve over grouse
Listen to Charlie Meyers at 9 a.m. each Saturday on “The Fan Outdoors,” KKFN 950 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
