Showing posts with label grouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grouse. Show all posts

Grouse & Woodcock Hunting at the Hungry Trout Resort | Video

 

Bird Dogs Afield visits Hungry Trout Resort in Wilmington, NY for early season grouse and woodcock hunting. This is Episode 1 of 2 episodes.

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Ruffed Grouse Society Announces 2013 Wisconsin Drummer Fund Projects

Record  15 Projects Approved For Funding
Coraopolis, PA – The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) has selected 15 projects to receive over $58,000 during 2013 through its Wisconsin Drummer Fund program.  The projects are designed to benefit habitat for ruffed grouse, American woodcock and other wildlife species that rely upon young forests for survival.  Partners receiving RGS funding for projects in Wisconsin in 2013 include county forestry departments in Douglas, Florence, Marathon, Oconto, Washburn, Wood, and Vilas Counties, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  Other partners providing support for these projects include the American Bird Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

According to John Eichinger, RGS President and CEO, “2013 is a record year for the Wisconsin Drummer Fund with the most funds being distributed to the highest number of projects that RGS has ever supported in Wisconsin. Our ability to fund these important projects is highly dependent on the dedicated efforts of the volunteer members of our local RGS chapters in Wisconsin.”

The Wisconsin Drummer Fund was initiated in 2010 and is the direct result of funds being raised specifically at Wisconsin RGS chapter fund raising events and through direct member donations.  Since its inception, nearly $157,000 has been made available through the Wisconsin Drummer Fund to support 40 Wisconsin grouse and woodcock projects.  These funds have been matched by other agencies and organizations and have resulted in over $350,000 worth of projects being funded in Wisconsin since 2010.

Wisconsin Drummer Fund Projects approved for 2013 include:
  • Big Roche A Cri Alder Regeneration/Adams and Waushara Counties – Wisconsin DNR
  • Clam Lake Wildlife Area Alder Regeneration/Burnett County – Wisconsin DNR
  • Colburn Wildlife Area Alder Regeneration/Adams County– Wisconsin DNR
  • Douglas County Alder Regeneration – Wisconsin DNR and Douglas County Forestry Department
  • Hall’s Creek Hunting Trail Expansion/Florence County – Florence County Forestry Department
  • Kubisiak Ruffed Grouse Management Area Aspen Regeneration/Wood County – Wisconsin DNR and Wood County Forestry Department
  • Marathon County Alder Regeneration – Wisconsin DNR and Marathon County Forestry Department
  • Oconto County Grouse Hunting Trail Development – Wisconsin DNR and Oconto County Forestry Department
  • Parker Creek Alder Regeneration/Polk County – Wisconsin DNR
  • Peshtigo Harbor Woodcock Habitat Restoration/Marinette County – Wisconsin DNR
  • Vilas County Hunting Trail Rehabilitation - Vilas County Forestry Department
  • Washburn County Wildlife Openings – Washburn County Forestry Department
  • Woodcock Management Video Development – Wisconsin DNR
  • Wood County Buckthorn Treatment – Wisconsin DNR and Wood County Forestry Department
  • Young Forest Private Landowner Outreach – Wisconsin DNR

Tower MN Ruffed Grouse Hunt - 9/22/2012


Tina With Her First Two Grouse For 2012 - Tower MN

















I arrived home from my work trip at 10pm on Friday night and was on the road by 7am Saturday so that I could pick up Tina at the trainer.  She had been at the kennel for a month so that they could road her while I was gone.  Having your dog not get any exercise for three weeks right before the start of the season is not the best way to set yourself up for success.  She was lean and mean.  She had lost four lbs overall.  I’m sure she lost more fat than that and put on some muscle as she was looking ripped.  They shaved her so that helped the look also.

I picked up my dad in Ely and dropped back down to the Tower area.  We have hunted a few spots in this area on and off for 10 years.  We started at a set of trails that has gone from being prime cover to being on the old side of productive.  There has been some new clear cutting in the area so hopefully we will see a rebound in the future.  Tina and I started on a trail that heads downhill to some low areas.  With it being so dry this year I thought that the birds might be lower where there might be some dampness.  About 5 minutes into the trail we came across some blowdowns which isn’t all that unusual in the area except that there usually is a group of deer hunters that have stands at the bottom of the trail and they tend to keep the trails open.  Perhaps they have given up on the area.  I’ve been seeing fewer deer and more wolves each year...  

As we got to the fist set of blowdowns Tina was working off to the left and her bell went silent and the beeper came on.  Once I got an approximate location I turned off the beeper and headed into the woods.  Not much of the cover had come down yet so it was tough to get to her point and the grouse didn’t stick around for me.  Still, getting the first flush 10 min into the hunt isn’t too bad.

We continued down the trail and in just a few minutes Tina went back on point.  She was pointing right in the middle of the trail.  As I approached two birds flushed too low to get off a safe shot and by the time they rose they were headed into the cover.  While I enjoy seeing birds it is nice to be able to reward the dog and myself by getting to take a shot once in a while.  Luckily the next bird wasn’t quite as skilled with its escape.  Tina made a nice point and the grouse held its spot long enough for me to make a decent approach and was able to finish the job with a single shot.  At the shot another grouse got up a bit deeper into the cover but I was unable to get off a shot.

A bit farther down the trail a grouse got me in the classic I’ll wait until he is climbing over the blowdown before I flush maneuver.  Tina held point but the bird was trickier than either of us.
We made it to the end of the trail but didn’t end up seeing any birds in the damper areas like I thought we would.

On the way back to the truck Tina made a wide cast and I was day dreaming when a grouse flushed as I walked past it on the trail.  The flush gave my heart a jump start but I was able to swing around and get off three shots.  This ended up being one of the very few times that I have hit a bird after the second shot.  Usually the third shot just ends up being a wasted shot but this time I think it took me until the third shot to collect myself and actually concentrate on the shot.

In under two hours we saw seven birds and got two.  One advantage to having the blowdowns is that a fair number of hunters used to road hunt that small stretch and now it isn’t getting as much pressure.
We loaded up and headed to another spot.  We hunted this spot right before Christmas last year and about five minutes into our hunt a wolf came right up the trail towards us.  I shouted at it and it left the trail but I thought it best to pull the plug on hunting that spot for that day.

We ended up only getting one point along this trail but a bow hunter that we saw said that he had been seeing grouse in the area so I’m sure we will continue to try it.

Bigfork - Deer River MN Grouse and Woodcock Hunt

10/6/2012

Tony, Quetico and a Bigfork MN Grouse


















The weather in the Grand Rapids, Mn area was supposed to be wet snow on Friday so I decided to head up early on Saturday morning.  I met my buddy Tony and his dog Quetico in Deer River and we decided to head up to Bigfork to try an area that we’ve had good luck with in the past.  This area can be entered from two different roads so we thought that we’d try parking one vehicle and then driving to the other side and hunting our way back to the first vehicle.  This way if we got into birds we could always hunt out and back and if the birds were scarce we could bail at the first vehicle, swing back to the second and then head to a new spot.
We put the two dogs on the ground and started down the trail.  It looked to be a good morning for a hunt as there were still spots of snow on the ground.  Within the first 5 minutes we got a wild flush and didn’t get a shot off.  The trail comes to an intersection with two side trails and if you go forward you hit a clear cut that has started to have islands of growth.  It the past few years these islands and the edges of the field have held good numbers of birds.  We worked the area pretty thoroughly and did not move a bird so we headed down one of the side trails towards the parked car.

As we hit the main loop on the lower portion of the trail the dogs started to get more excited.  They started to work an area of newer growth when you could hear them slow their search.  Tony went into the area to check on the search when a grouse got up in front of Quetico ( Tony’s GSP ) and he was able to drop the bird.  We kept moving along the trail to an area that was an awesome hotspot in 2009 and 2010.  There is a large beaver pond along one side and a small pond on the other.  In ’09 and ’10 I’m certain I moved multiple birds in this small area every time that I hit it.  Tina started to get excited first as I’m guessing that she remembered all of the birds that we had seen there in the past.  We were close to the end of this area when the dogs started to tighten up their casts and narrowed their search to some softer ground.  A lone woodcock decided to make its escape and I was able to bring it down and put it into the game bag.

We finished up this trail and decided it wasn’t worth hunting our way back so we loaded up the one vehicle, swung back for Tony’s truck and decided to head to an area close to Deer River that I had excellent hunting a number of times last year.

The dogs worked the cover well but we only moved on woodcock and we didn’t take a shot at it.  I found it odd that we didn’t move any other birds from this area.  As we were leaving I did notice that the cabin across the road had 3 or 4 trucks at it with lots of guys wearing blaze orange and I don’t recall seeing any vehicles at it last year.

Even though we didn’t move a lot of birds it was still a great day to be in the woods with the dogs.

Tina and I with our Bigfork MN Woodcock

Ruffed Grouse Hunt - Deer River, MN Day 2

Tina and Her Deer River Mn Grouse



















October 2nd, 2011

Saturday night was a long night as the dogs had drank so much water during the day that they kept having to go outside.  They woke me up at 11:30, 12:45, 1:30, and 4:30.  After the 4:30 wake up I put their training collars on them and they stayed quite.  Too quite it turned out as I ended up sleeping until 9 am.  That ruled out the longer drive to try some new areas that I had mapped out as it was already starting to get warm out.  so I decided to retry some of the areas from the day before to see if they still looked good.

The first spot that we went to was the walking trail area.  Tina and I started by walking a different section of the trail system.  After 30 minutes she hadn’t really gotten birdy at all we turned around and headed back to the section that we walked on Saturday.  Within 10 minutes she locked up solid and I was able to connect on a nice crossing shot.  We walked a while longer and didn’t move any other birds.

Next it was Marge’s turn to see if the forest road with the older growth would produce another bird.  We worked the trail a fair amount and while she did get a little birdy in a few spots we didn’t have any success actually moving one.  After getting back to the truck I got out Fergie and took her for a walk.  She can’t see but she still loves getting out in the woods and sniffing the air.

Tina and I then took a chance on the first spot that we had hunted yesterday.  The temperature was over 70 so it was a good last spot to try.  We went down the trail next to the clear cut and it still looked promising but it was just so dry it was hard to know if the scenting was decent at all.  We ended up going through the new growth to get back to the truck and she did make a nice point but it was so thick I couldn’t get into a good shooting position when I did flush the grouse.

Even though we cut the day short we did put one bird in the bag, confirmed that two spots were still a good bet, and ruled out another.

Ruffed Grouse Hunt Deer River, MN Day One

Saturday October 1 2011


Typical Cover For The Deer River MN Area




















We left Mpls / St. Paul in the morning and made the three hour drive north.  After stopping at our rented cabin to drop off some gear and supplies we headed to the woods.  I decided to start out by trying some brand new areas to hunt.  I had purchased some maps that were created using Google Earth to show clear cuts and trails.  I loaded the gps info into the Garmin and we were on our way to just north of Deer River, MN.  The first area was two sets of small clear cuts with a small foot trail along one side of them.  As we worked the trail we came to some older growth and moved just a little ways into the new growth and turned back towards the vehicle.  About half way back we got a wild flush and moved towards where it looked like it set down.  Tina was working the scent but we did not make contact again.  It looked like a good enough area and with moving a bird in the 30 minute walk it has made the list to try again.


Spot number two ended up being a forest road that bordered an area that looked to be an older cut over area.  I was skeptical of it’s bird potential but we were there and it looked like easy enough walking for the 15 year old setter Marge.  This turned into and out and back affair but on the way back Marge made a nice point on a young bird and I was able to drop it.  Another 30 minute walk and another bird moved.  This area looked older than I would like but since we got a bird I added it to the try again list. 


Area number three turned out to be a MN Hunter Walking Trail.  There were no other vehicles there and with it hitting 60 degrees we decided to give it a chance.  There ended up being a number of different trails within the system.  We took the trail that looked like it went through the younger looking area.  It was hot and dusty.  The Northern MN area has been pretty dry after a wet and cool spring.  Tina was working a good pattern through the cover and after about 20 minutes and a few non-productive points she had one nailed and I got off a decent shot and connected.  We were able to repeat the pattern on the back side of the loop and collected another one for the game bag.


We made a stab at a fourth new area that also looked good but didn’t move a bird.  It was getting a bit later in the day so we went to our old standby in the Big Fork area.  In the first 40 minutes we moved 10 birds, got off 2 shots and didn’t connect on anything.  In the last 90 minutes we only moved one bird.


All in all it was a good start to the day with three birds in the bag and four new areas to try again.

MN & WI Ruffed grouse counts still high - Up from 2010


Minnesota’s ruffed grouse spring drumming counts were higher than last year across most of the bird’s range, according to a report released by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
“The grouse population is probably still near the high end of the 10-year cycle because drumming counts this spring were between the values observed during 2009 and 2010,” said Mike Larson, DNR research scientist and grouse biologist. “Drum counts from the last three years haven’t followed the same smooth pattern as during the previous two peaks in the cycle, but relatively small changes in the index may be due to factors other than the density of grouse.”
The averages, however, increased 18 percent in the northeast survey region, the core and bulk of grouse range in Minnesota, to 1.9 drums per stop. They also increased 16 percent to 2.1 drums per stop in the northwest and 32 percent to 0.4 drums per stop in the southeast.



Wisconsin

MADISON – There is good news for ruffed grouse hunters coming from 2011 spring drumming counts. Department of Natural Resources wildlife officials report that Wisconsin’s ruffed gouse population appears to have increased from last year, according to data collected by wildlife staff, foresters, wardens, and countless volunteers.
“Statewide, the ruffed grouse population increased about 38 percent between 2010 and 2011,” said Scott Walter, DNR upland wildlife ecologist.
“The southwest study region showed the greatest increase in drumming activity over the last year with a 118 percent increase, with all routes either increasing or remaining stable,” said Walter. “The central and northern regions both showed healthy increases of 31 percent and 43 percent, respectively.” No drumming grouse were heard on transects run in the southeast region, which contains the least amount of grouse cover in the state.

The Making Of A Champion Grouse Dog

Professional trainer, Dave Hughes and Long Gone Kennel owner Lloyd Murray discuss the bright future of two-year old Long Gone Buckwheat. Buckwheat already has a champion title.






Snakefoot
The Making of a Champion

Nemadji State Forest Grouse

Thursday October 21st



















Finishing Up After Dark



I was able to make it up to Nemadji State Forest after work in time to get a couple of hours of grouse hunting in.  I hadn’t hunted these trails in over 5 years but had good luck in years past and was anxious to give it a try.


My initial impression was not favorable as my little backwoods trails are now ATV trails.  Makes for easy walking but with how close this area is to two metro areas I know how much pressure these trails get and the grouse get pushed further back into the cover.  Tina and I walked for about 30 minutes on the ATV trail before we could get to a non-motorized trail.  10 minutes down the trail she went on point.  I missed the first bird but fortunately I connected on a second bird.  This trail died out a short distance later so we turned around and headed back to the main trail.  The trail went through some good looking cover but we weren’t seeing any birds.  We approached an area that bordered some lower wet sections and Tina was going on and off point so I moved in front of her to try to block off the bird.  She continued to work the area but we didn’t find anything.  As I walked back up to the trail a bird got up, two shots, another bird, two more shots, reload another and another bird..... eventually 7 or 8 birds got up and I took 6 or 7 shots and totally missed on them and two of the shots were nice straight away trap style shots.. I was ticked... Tina was wondering what happened as there were no birds on the ground for her to find.  We continued down the trail to where it came out on the main forest road in.

After a short break we started back towards our parking area.  When we got to the spot where I had missed all of the birds we bushwhacked around the area and Tina pointed one on the side of a small hill and this time I was able to complete the task at hand.  After continuing back on the trail without anymore action I knew we were getting to within 5 to 10 minutes of where we had parked and Tina started to get birdy.  I worked my way into the woods to help her out and she get relocating off to my left so I stopped to watch her and I could hear a bird moving to my right.  I could tell that Tina could hear it also as she was looking in the direction of the sound.  I took one step and the bird got up and came back down with one shot.  In about 3 hours of afterwork walking on highly traveled public land we were able to put three birds in the bag.

Saturday October 9th Grand Rapids Area Grouse Hunt






















Tony, Mark, and Quetico with our bounty.


Saturday was going to be another warm one and this time there would be three of us along with three dogs.  We met for breakfast and hit the woods around 8. The three of us started down the trail and moved a bird or two.  We came to a fork in the trail and I told the tow of them that I’d go into the cut and then work back towards them and try to push a few birds from the thick cover to the trail.  As Tina and I moved back towards the trail she went on point and I was able to harvest the bird and in the process won our $1 pool on the first bird harvested.  After hunting the area for a bit more we started to head back to the truck on the same trail that we headed in on.  Even though we had just worked the trail about an hour earlier we were able to move a few birds and took another one.  As we got about 50 yards from the trucks the dogs started to get birdy and we followed them into the thick cover.  At about 10 yards from the truck and just off the trail we got a nice flush and I was in a position to collect the bird.  The thermometers on the trucks were reading 70 degrees so we decided to take a lunch break.
After lunch we decided to try a different trail.  I left Tina in the truck to rest and recover a bit.  The trail had a lot of nice cover along the sides and we had a few wild flushes.  We were hunting with two GSP’s.  Stone who is 12 mostly stayed on the trail but would venture out into the cover when the scent got strong.  Quetico, who is about 9 months old and just complete is Natural Ability Test with a perfect score, was full of energy and leading the way.  About 2/3 of the way down the trail Tony was able to connect on a bird.   At the end of the trail is a clearing with about 5 island of clutter and trees from when they cleared out the area.  As we worked our way around the area Mark connected on a couple of fast flushers.  I told him earlier in the hunt that he wasn’t doing his share to stimulate the economy by being stingy with his shell usage.  He took the advice to heart and was now shooting and connecting.  After returning to the truck we decided to go back to our original spot and rework it for the evening shoot.  About 15 min into the hunt Tina went on a solid point, I walked in, the bird flushed, and I connect with one shot.  Mark commented “ that is the way it is supposed to work.”  It is nice when it does all come together.  I do like putting birds in the bag as much as the next guy but the real joy comes in watching it all come together for the dogs.  On the way out Tony and Mark were each able to bring in another bird.
It was well into the 70’s during the day and we moved over 30 birds.  Not bad for three people and up to three dogs moving through the woods on public land.

Grand Rapids MN Grouse Hunting - 10/8/2010





























Tina and Her Three Birds


Friday was going to be a warm one, it was already 50 degrees by the time I started hunting at 8.  This is the third day that we have hunted this area this season and Tina has started to get a feel for the hotspots.  As we walked in I saw a van parked just a bit farther up the trail from where I parked so I was worried about someone hunting right in front of me. Once I got 10 min up the trail I saw a hunter walking out, he was without a dog so I felt a bit better about our chances. We started to get into birds almost right away. Unfortunately I wasn't able to connect on any of the birds.  This was going to be a theme for the morning. 

We hit all of the usual spots and even a few offshoots from the trail that we normally passed on and continued to see birds and I continued to miss my shots. By the time we walked out three and a half hours later we had moved over 25 birds but hadn't put any into the game bag. 

We took a long lunch and did some driving on some of the local roads to try to find a few more spots to hunt. At about 3:30 we headed back into the woods. It was over 70 degrees by now and I was a bit nervous about hunting Tina in this heat but the hunting area has a lot of mud holes and small ponds that she could keep herself cool. In fact it was one of these small ponds that Tina made the best retrieve that she has made for me. She made a nice point along an edge of small pine trees, I hit the bird and saw it drop but I could also hear it moving. I moved towards the sound as Tina was looking for the downed bird and I could hear the bird reflush across a small pond. Tina saw the bird take off and went after it through the pond and into the cover on the other side. I had given up hope that we would retrieve the bird but as I was about to give up I saw Tina bringing the bird back to me. She brought it back through the pond and right back to me.   I was so excited for her.  We were able to get two more birds that evening and called it a day well before it was too dark to hunt. 

MN Grouse 2010 opener pt 2

Sept 19 MN Grouse Opener - Ely MN



















Sunday looked to be another day of nice hunting conditions.  It wasn’t quite as sunny as Saturday but still looked good.

I went straight to the newer spot to give it a shot right off the bat.  I lucked out and no one was parked on the way in yet.  Tina and I started out down the main trail.  Tina went on a nice point within a few minutes and the grouse presented me with an easy shot but I choked and blew it.  Not too far up the trail I has another chance.  This time the point was along the edge of a clear cut.  Three birds got up together and I connected on one that swung to my right.  It took me two shots to bring it down.  I focused on making sure where it went down so I didn’t get any shots off at the other birds.  On the rest of the way out on the trail we didn’t see any other birds but on the way back we were fortunate enough to get another point along some younger cover and I was able to connect through the leaves.

Back at the truck I put Marge on the ground and we set out to try a smaller trail in the area that we hadn’t hunted yet.  The trail wasn’t as well defined so I was hoping that not as many people had hit it yet.  About 15 minutes into the hunt Marge went on point towards a drop off and as I walked in two birds got up and one fell to the shot.  It took a while to find it as it had dropped into a low area that was still well covered by leaves.  Three more birds got up while we found the hit bird.  We continued along the trail and didn’t see any more birds but did push up a nice looking buck.

After a Dew and some Mini-Snickers it was time to get Fergie out and let her stretch her legs.  Being blind and 12 she often gets the short end of the stick when it comes to hunting time.  Another nice feature of this trail is that she will walk on the gravel portion and if she starts to go off course and hit the heavier cover on the side she will move back to the middle.  One of the nice thing about early hunts is that there are still birds around that haven’t been pressured yet and this time it worked well for Fergie.  About 10 minutes into her walk we went around a corner and she locked up and there was one about 5 yards off the trail.  The grouse gods smiled on us and I was able to reward her efforts with a bird.  After heading back to the truck we drove around the area scouting some some and found a spot that looked good but already had two trucks at it so we moved on.  After driving around for a bit more we swung by the new honey hole and there was a truck there so he decided to call it a weekend and head back into town for a late lunch before driving back to St. Paul.

2010 MN Grouse Opener





























Sept 18 MN Grouse Opener - Ely MN
Normally I don’t hunt the opening of grouse hunting as the cover is too thick and usually it is too warm but this year it looked like it was going to be a nice cool weekend so I decided to give it a try and head north to Ely.

Saturday started out nice and cool and the leaves seemed to be down more than usual for mid-sept.  As I was pulling into my first spot a pickup was already pulling out.  They said they had seen a couple of batches of up to 6 grouse still bunched up.  Tina ( English Setter ) and I started down the trail to some lower areas that we’ve had good luck with in the past and sure enough it didn’t take Tina long to get birdy.  Within a short period she had two nice points but the birds did their usual flush behind the trees maneuvers and I wasn’t able to get off a shot.  After working the area for a good period of time we started to head back to the truck and not more than 50 yards from it did Tina lock up solid.  The bird flushed towards an open area and I was able to connect with it.  When I picked it up I was amazed at how small it was.  I put Tina in the truck and we started to drive to the next spot and along the side of the trail I saw another bird.  I threw  the truck into reverse and backed up far enough to get Marge out and give her a chance at it.  Marge made a nice point and I got lucky with another nice flush and we had two in the bag.

Marge and I continued into the back portion of this area and while walking down the trail  as we rounded a corner she locked on point and another easy shot and another young bird was in the game bag.  I was quickly becoming a fan of opening weekend.  We worked this area for another half an hour and had a missed shot and a wild flush.  It was time to move to area number two.

Area number two is just a couple of miles away but I had never hunted it before last year but I had good enough luck to make it worth revisiting.  It was a good choice.  We saw a number of birds and I missed a couple of easy shots but ended up connecting on the last two that it took to fill out our limit.  The last bird was a far out crossing shot which I was happy to successfully complete as I have been missing those shots at the gun range all summer long.

We were able to finish up our hunt by about 1 o’clock.  We then drove along looking for some new coverts.  We didn’t find any useable sites but will continue to look as you can never have too many good spots and the new one that we found last fall worked out well for us on this trip.

Minnesota Ruffed grouse counts down after 2009 peak

Minnesota’s ruffed grouse spring drumming counts were significantly lower than last year across most of their range, according to a report released by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

“It looks like 2009 was probably the peak in the 10-year population cycle,” said Mike Larson, DNR research scientist and grouse biologist. “Drumming counts this spring, however, were still closer to those at the high rather than low end of the cycle.”
Ruffed grouse populations, which tend to rise and fall on a 10-year cycle, are surveyed by counting the number of male ruffed grouse heard drumming on established routes throughout the state’s forested regions. This year observers recorded 1.5 drums per stop statewide. Last year’s average was 2.0 drums per stop. Counts vary from about 0.8 drums per stop during years of low grouse abundance to about 1.9 during years of high abundance.
Drumming counts decreased 31 percent compared to those during 2009 in the northeast survey region, the core and bulk of grouse range in Minnesota, to 1.6 drums per stop. Grouse counts decreased 29 percent in the southeast region, from 0.5 to 0.3 drums per stop, but the difference was not statistically significant. Counts of 1.8 drums per stop in the northwest and 1.0 drums per stop in the central hardwoods were similar to last year’s counts.
Minnesota frequently is the nation’s top ruffed grouse producer. On average, 115,000 hunters harvest 545,000 ruffed grouse in Minnesota each year, also making it the state’s most popular game bird. During the peak years of 1971 and 1989, hunters harvested more than 1 million ruffed grouse. Michigan and Wisconsin, which frequently field more hunters than Minnesota, round out the top three states in ruffed grouse harvest.
One reason for the Minnesota’s status as a top grouse producer is an abundance of aspen and other ruffed grouse habitat, much of it located on county, state and national forests, where public hunting is allowed. An estimated 11.5 million of the state’s 16.3 million acres of forest are grouse habitat.
For the past 60 years, DNR biologists have monitored ruffed grouse populations. This year,
DNR staff and cooperators from 15 organizations surveyed 125 routes across the state.
Sharp-tailed counts dOWN slightly
Sharp-tailed grouse counts in the northwest survey region decreased approximately 5 percent between 2009 and 2010, Larson said. Counts in the east-central region declined approximately 1 percent. Observers look for male sharptails displaying on traditional mating areas, called leks or dancing grounds. This year’s statewide average of 10.7 grouse counted per dancing ground was similar to counts during 2003 to 2007 and the long-term average since 1980. Last year’s average of 13.6 was as high as during any year since 1980. During the past 25 years, the sharp-tailed grouse index has been as low as seven birds counted per dancing ground.
Overall, sharptail populations appear to have declined over the long term as a result of habitat deterioration. In recent years, the DNR has increased prescribed burning and shearing that keep trees from overtaking the open brush lands that sharp-tailed grouse need to thrive.
The DNR’s 2010 grouse survey report, which contains information on ruffed grouse and sharp-tailed grouse, will be available soon online at www.mndnr.gov/hunting/grouse.

Ely MN Grouse Hunt Sept 2009


This past weekend I was able to go up to Ely MN to grouse hunt. I've been going up there for the 2nd weekend of grouse hunting for the past 10 years.

One of the challenges is that we've been hunting the same areas for 10 years now. The spots that were hot 10 years ago are now about 10 years past peak.

On Friday we got out at about 1:30 and it was 70 degrees, sunny, and not much of a breeze. We hit our usual spot. I ended up seeing/hearing 6 birds - shot at 3 and ended up missing all three shots. The cover was thick and I didn't really feel like any of the shots were that doable but I've made tougher. We ended up quiting at about six as the dogs were hot and tired.

Saturday we got out at about 11 am. Cooler at 60 degrees but more humid as the weather was changing. We went back to the old reliable spot one more time. Saw 3 more, shot and missed one more time. As we were pulling out 2 1/2 hours later we saw two separate trucks pulling.

I decided to drive down the main road a little bit further. I ended up seeing a nice looking fire road and decided to try it out. I unloaded Tina, my seven year old English Setter, and started to walk. After walking about 100 yards I could hear a chainsaw just up the trail. We went back loaded up and drove up to the chainsaw area. I stopped and spoke with the two guys cutting wood and they said the trail went a bit farther up and that they had seen some grouse now and then. Drove another 100 yards parked and unloaded Tina again. We went a little ways and got a nice point and proceeded to miss another shot. Five more minutes of walking and another point. Finally I connected. 10 minutes another connection and a miss. We worked out way back to the truck and took turns working Marge and Fergie. Marge had a nice point on a ridge but the bird went straight out in front of her so I didn't get a shot off.

Took a bit of a break for a Snickers and a Dew. Unloaded Tina again and decided to rework the original portion of the trail that we had gotten our birds on. We got another point after a short while and I was able to connect on a double so I felt pretty good about myself. I ended up taking 4 out of the last 5 birds that I shot at. We didn't see any more birds and called it a day at about 6:30.

I think we saw/heard about 16 birds on Saturday between the two spots. I think the numbers are up from last year but not to the crazy numbers that I'd seen 8-10 years ago.