Lake Winnibigoshish ( Winnie ) MN Grouse Hunt

Saturday October 3  2011

Tony and Quetico with Lake Winnie Grouse and Woodcock

We had been having decent luck with the Hunter Walking Trails so we decided to try a larger one just a little ways from Lake Winnibigoshish ( Winnie ).  I thought that since this area is even a little bit farther from the Mpls area that we would see even fewer hunters.  After seeing trucks at the first two areas that we had planned to hunt it was clear that I wasn’t even close to being right.  

We decided to just drive while the Garmin pointed us to where it said that there were some clear cuts to hunt.  (  I purchased the maps and data files from http://www.northwindenterprises.us/habitat-maps-listing.html ).  

The first spot Tony decided to hunt it with his two dogs.  He wanted them to get a chance to focus on birds and not other hunters and dogs.  He ended up taking two birds from this spot.  The first trail that Mark and I tried ended at a beaver pond so we made a quick trip farther up the road to another trail.  After about 5 minutes on this trail Tina got birdy.  Two birds got up from the left side of the trails.  Mark shot left and I shot right.  Neither one of us connected.  We worked the trail a bit longer and then made our way back to meet up with Tony.

The next area Mark went with Tony as he had had some luck and we had hunted together earlier in the week before Tony arrived.  Marge and I went down another trail that looked promising.  We made it all the way through and area of good looking cover without any action.  I was starting to daydream as we went through and area of older habitat when Marge locked up in the middle of the trail.  I started to scan the area for the most likely location and settled on some scruffy looking cover to the right when out of the more open older area to the left a bird came up.  I was able to connect on a straight up shot and as I fired a second bird launched and I was able to bring that bird down also.  A third bird also flushed but I was making sure I had the first two marked so I didn’t take another shot.  We continued on the trail and didn’t see any other birds.  When I connected with Mark and Tony I found out that they had not any any more success.

The third area we decided to work it together.  A short distance down the trail Quetico went on point and Tony connected on a woodcock.  Quetico had to chase down the bird as it wasn’t too well hit.  He made short work of the chase and soon the bird was in Tony’s game bag.  This woodcock proved to be the trickiest woodcock we’d ever come across as he got out Tony’s game bag two times before Tony decided to finish it off.

A short while later the dogs started to get birdy as we approached a grassy area.  Two birds took off.  The first went up the trail and then banked left no one connected on this bird.  The second bird went to the right and back towards us.  Tony and I both emptied our guns and I saw the bird go down after my third shot.  We marked the bird down and made our way towards it.  I called Tina over and Tony brought Quetico and Stone over.  We looked for a good period of time and I couldn’t find it but Quetico kept working the area and finally found it buried underneath some brush.  Tony said the bird was hard to pull from the brush as it was biting on a stick at the bottom of the pile.  We decided that it was Quetico’s bird since we wouldn’t have recovered it without him.  We worked our way back to the truck without any more action.

Once back at the cabin I prepared a shore lunch style dinner of crappies and walleye that my dad had caught earlier this summer.

15 yr old Marge and I With Her Winnie Grouse Double

Mixed Bag Hunting Tips For Grouse & Woodcock

by Brad Eden


During the overlap of the ruffed grouse and woodcock seasons, upland hunters get a unique opportunity to hunt both game birds at the same time. Here are some hunting tips for grouse and woodcock and how you can prepare yourself for a mixed-bag hunt.

RECOGNIZING COVERS THAT HOLD BOTH GROUSE AND WOODCOCK
Grouse and woodcock prefer young woods in regrowth — what is known as successional habitat — to woods that are middle age or approaching senior citizenship. Successional habitats are thick with aspens,  birches, maples, hemlock, spruce and brushy scrub.

During the early season it’s the feeding areas that hunters need to key on. Opening a grouse crop reveals they aren’t picky, but during the fall they are likely feasting mainly on berries and fruit such as high bush cranberry, feral apples, and wild grapes.

Woodcock, on the other hand, feed almost exclusively on earthworms in the soft soil of young clearcuts, abandoned farmland and areas near or in wetlands.

The overlap of areas that appeal to both grouse and woodcock — or what I call combo cover — is so prevalent that the chances of encountering both species in one hunt is a forgone conclusion.
With that said, grouse and woodcock are “where you find them.” I have flushed grouse from the middle of open fields and woodcock on dry hillsides under towering white pines. You need to be ready for anything.

READ YOUR BIRD DOG FOR A SUCCESSFUL HUNT
It’s well known that a bird hunter can put a fair amount of ballast in his game pouch hunting ruffed grouse without a dog. But that hunter wont be spicing up many grouse dinners with woodcock appetizers. Like many grouse hunters I started out without a dog. I learned where they spent early mornings and mid days and where they went to roost in late afternoon –and, most important, the escape routes they used in a particular cover. On those dog-less grouse hunts I would occasionally kick up a woodcock by nearly stepping on them. One woodcock means there are likely more in the general area and you can wander around aimlessly, or even do a grid pattern and move birds.

Author Brad Eden with his springer spaniel Jake and a mixed bag of grouse and woodcock. Photo by Brad Eden.

But for mixed-bag grouse and woodcock hunting at its best, a close-working flushing dog or a staunch pointing dog is the ticket in the thicket.

I can tell when my flushing spaniel is tracking woodcock scent. Woodcock bop and weave around the forest floor like a wind up toy while feeding or moving about a cover. A flushing dog will twist and turn  itself into a pretzel when on that ground scent. When I see this I get ready because a flush is imminent.

Not all dogs will share exactly the same body language, but you can become good at reading your dog. My current springer spaniel has a unique behavior that gives me an extra second or two to prepare for the  flush. When approaching the feathered source of that scent trail he will suddenly stop and look up into the air to watch the bird flush — as it inevitably does. Although under most hunting situations a hard flush is expected of a spaniel, I have come to rather appreciate this unique “heads up” for woodcock.

Pointing dogs and woodcock go together like birds and flying. The woodcock often sits patiently under the pointing dog’s nose, allowing ample opportunity for the gunner to approach, look around for shooting lanes, and close in for the flush. That’s the perfect scenario and happens enough to be typical.

But woodcock aren’t slouches and will sometimes walk out from a point and flush wild like a grouse. Be  prepared to be surprised.

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Grouse Hunting With The Boys Bigfork and Deer River MN

Friday October 7th 2011

Tina With Deer River, Mn Grouse and Woodcock

We got a bit of a late start as we decided to make breakfast and eat at the cabin.  We decided to start with an area near Bigfork, MN.  When we arrived at the location there was a pop-up camper parked by the forest road.  This area receives a fair number of hunters but has been decent in the past even when there were other hunters.  Tony unloaded his two GSPs.  Quetico was starting his second hunting season and Stone is now 12 years old.  I started out with Tina.  As we worked down the trail a little Brit came shooting out of the woods.  It’s owner wasn’t too far down the trail, in shorts and a short sleeve shirt.  We guessed he wasn’t doing too much off trail hunting...  He told us that his buddy was by a beaver pond working a one year old GSP.  We later heard a dog yelping quite loudly.  It sounded like the owner had just figured out how to work an ecollar.  From the dog’s response he was creating a future client for an actual dog trainer...

We hit the turnaround with only moving one bird.  This same weekend last year we were moving 20+ birds in the same amount of time on the same trail.  We started to hear some rumbling off in the distance.  We picked up the pace on the way back to the trucks and didn’t move any birds.  We made it to the vehicles just as the rain started.  After lunch and rest at a bar/grill in Big Fork we started to work to the west and south.

We ended up just north of Deer River at an area that I had tried a few times in the past.  With three hunters and three dogs it was clear that we weren’t going to sneak up on any birds.  A short way down the trail Tina started to get birdy and locked up.  I swung up the trail and moved in towards her.  She stayed staunch.  I could see her eyes looking just off to her left and I moved that way.  Up came a woodcock and I decided to try take it as a reward for her hard work.  I missed, but saw where it landed and released Tina and made our way in that direction.  She made another nice point and I didn’t miss this time.

We made it to an area with some younger pine trees and Tina started to work off the trail so I decided to bushwhack it a bit.  Tina was working to the trail and then off to my side.  She started to slow and was getting ready to point when I heard a flush at the same time Mark called out.  The grouse came my way and I was able to connect on a going away shot.  Tina made a nice retrieve.

We ended up back at the truck without moving any more birds.  We decided a totally new area ( new to us anyway ) was in order for the following day.

On the way back Tina either bit her tongue or it got poked by a stick and was bleeding all over her front.  She looked a mess but I think was mostly tired.

Tina All Bloody

After riding home and getting washed up in the lake she was all set for her dinner and some sleep before the next day.

Open Season: Tough to beat a Minnesota ruffed grouse hunt

By: Tyler Shoberg, West Fargo Pioneer

 As my dog and I rounded the bend, the birch-laded woods appeared to part like intricately painted cardboard props in a Shakespearian play. A stick- and leaf-strewn path popped into view that almost looked too perfect; too serene.

Late afternoon sunlight filtered through yellow leaves to cast a daylily glow under the pockmarked canopy. The ground mirrored that which hung overhead, as I crunched through a growing carpet of golden leaf litter.

Up ahead, my German wirehaired pointer, Remy, paused his search to sniff the base of a tree. Clad in a blaze-orange skid plate to protect his susceptible underside, the gray-ticked and roan dog perked up suddenly as if remembering what he was out in the woods to do, and raced back into the brush in pursuit of our prey.

I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs to capacity with the damp, piney, saturating scent of northern Minnesota. With each breath, it was as if I was cleansing myself with a cedar-lined, wood-stoked sauna for the soul.

This was why I was here – this was what fall was all about.


During a person’s lifetime, his or her brain processes, sorts and files seemingly countless moments; from the most finite and simplistic to the long-term and ornate.

Since returning from my most recent trip to Minnesota’s ruffed grouse capitol, I’ve tried desperately to mentally replay the four-day stretch in an effort to keep each and every memory, no matter how obscure, as crisp and clear as when it was made.

But even though it’s been just a few weeks, I can feel the edges blur; the colors fade. Little things, like what I ate for breakfast or how many trails we walked one morning, already are tough to recall.
Other aspects, however, remain crystal clear.

Like the first grouse of the trip; that was a surprise – which, come to think of it, really wasn’t all that surprising.

Read The Rest Of The West Fargo Pioneer Article

Average Grouse Hunting Expected Over Most Of Pennsylvania

Average Grouse Hunting Expected Over Most Of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA --(Ammoland.com)- This year’s erratic weather patterns may have created a mixed bag for nesting and brood-rearing grouse, and Pennsylvania Game Commission biologists expect ruffed grouse hunting to be average to slightly below average for the nearly 100,000 hunters who annually pursue these challenging game birds.

“Cool wet springtime conditions tend to decrease early brood survival for grouse, while hot dry summer conditions are generally beneficial,” said Lisa Williams, Game Commission grouse and woodcock biologist.
“With Pennsylvania experiencing both of those extremes in 2011, it’s hard to predict how this year’s weather might impact grouse populations in your favorite coverts. While Game Commission field staff report fewer summer grouse sightings than last year at a statewide level, they saw fantastic grouse numbers in areas of good habitat.”

The opening day of the state’s three-part grouse season is Saturday, Oct. 15, and runs through Nov. 26. The season reopens Dec. 12 to 23, and then again from Dec. 26 to Jan. 28. Participating hunters must have a valid Pennsylvania hunting license and follow the regulations that govern this rugged sport of brush-busting and mountain-scampering. Wherever you hunt grouse, there is ample reason to carve out some time afield this season. Just be sure to take time to locate high-quality coverts that provide a good mix of food and cover.

“Losses of young forest habitat over the last several decades have been bad news for grouse, woodcock, and other species that rely on these habitats. Our forests are getting older, and that’s a negative for grouse,” said Ian Gregg, Game Commission Game Bird Section supervisor. “The good news is that the Game Commission is taking an active approach to improving the situation for grouse and other species that rely on young forests. We now have in place both Grouse and Woodcock Management Plans that call for aggressive management of young forest habitats. This work will benefit multiple species and the Plans have received an overwhelmingly positive response from the public and our conservation partners. They will serve as the roadmaps as we set out to improve the situation for these popular game birds.”

Pennsylvania’s state bird is holding its own in areas of suitable habitat, and in some areas, thriving. Statewide, cooperating hunters flushed an average rate of 1.32 flushes per hour during the 2010-11 season. This was a decrease from the 2009-10 rate of 1.4 flushes per hour and the long term (45-year) average of 1.41 flushes per hour. Embedded in those statewide averages, however, are some truly-impressive hunting experiences. One hunter looking back on 2010-11 stated, “This is the season we’ll be talking about twenty years from now – 20 flushes in 61 minutes on one day!”
Williams noted that Pennsylvania consistently maintains the highest flush rates among nearby states such as Kentucky, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia.

“Grouse flush trends in 2010-11 in most of our neighboring states mirrored those in Pennsylvania; stable to slightly lower,” Williams said. “And, for the sixth year in a row, Pennsylvania flush rates have exceeded those of all neighboring states. This marks the 13th time in the last 16 years that Pennsylvania has had the highest flush rates among all central Appalachian states.”

Grouse hunting remains a popular fall pursuit in Pennsylvania. According to the agency’s Game Take Survey, an estimated 91,000 hunters took 66,000 grouse during the 2010-11 seasons, during 414,500 hunting days. Though fewer than in the past, grouse hunters remain passionate about their quarry, and the grouse remains the second-most popular game bird in the Commonwealth – behind the wild turkey – in terms of numbers of hunters. Yet grouse hunter numbers remain well below those of the mid-1980s when Pennsylvania had more than 400,000 hunters pursuing the thunderbird.

“Several hunters have told me that they can hunt all day and not see another grouse hunter,” says Williams. “For sportsmen and women seeking a season with a little more ‘elbow room’ yet plenty of challenge, you might want to consider grouse hunting.”

The Game Commission conducts a Summer Sighting Survey in which Game Commission foresters and surveyors record numbers of broods and individual grouse seen while working in the woods during June, July and August. Trends in hunters’ fall flush rates follow those of the summer survey about 80 percent of the time, so this information is used to develop the season forecast.

“Sightings during the summer of 2011 were down about seven percent from last year and brood sightings were particularly ‘off’ this year compared to last year, so I’m forecasting an average to slightly below average grouse season in 2010-11,” Williams said. “This makes it particularly important to understand the characteristics of good grouse habitat, locate high-quality coverts, and focus your efforts there.”

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