Features: Blue grouse are large in comparison to most other grouse species. The females are mottled brown, tan, and gray. The males are similar, but with solid blue-gray on the underside and bright orange-yellow combs over the eyes.

Habitat: Blue grouse occupy the coniferous forests of western Oregon, the eastern slopes of the Cascades, the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon, and the Klamath Basin and south Warner Mountains. Preferred habitat includes timber edges, open timbered slopes, mountain meadows adjacent to springs or other sources of water, and near berry producing areas such as chokecherry thickets.

Technique: Effective hunting techniques involve walking ridges and the edges of timber patches. While generally a forestland species, blue grouse may sometimes be found on open slopes near timber if there is food (like grasshoppers) that attracts them. Morning and evening hours are usually best as blue grouse often tend to loaf high off the ground in trees during midday.