We all know some animals hibernate while others sleep at least part of the winter away. But how do the active winter animals survive the cold temperatures? There are many ingenious habits and adaptations that animals use to cope with the cold.
Many animals grow a winter coat, which is not only thicker than their summer coat, but may also be a different color. The weasels that make their homes at Woodland Dunes turn white in winter.
Birds also grow thicker "coats" of feathers for the winter season. Studies of house sparrows show the number of feathers increases 11.5 percent from summer to winter. Even with these thick, insulating coats, active wildlife must find extra protection from the elements.
Deer are well known for their winter "yards" or gatherings. If the winter is harsh, the herd will spend the majority of the winter in one area that provides food and shelter. They are reluctant to venture very far through the deep snow.
Other animals also gather for warmth and protection. As many as 15 flying squirrels — those nocturnal gliders — have been found in hollow trees during the frigid winter months. Raccoons and skunks may also den up with several partners.
Some creatures get right into the spirit of things and use the snow to ward off low temperatures and nasty winds. Ruffed grouse are definite snow fanciers. They often spend the night snug and secure beneath the snow. Come morning, the birds explode from this bedroom, leaving a hole and wing prints in the snow to delight a curious hiker or skier.
The ruffed grouse has another interesting adaptation to cold, snowy weather. It grows "snowshoes" on its toes. The small, comblike projections help the bird walk in deep snow and are shed at the end of the season when no longer needed.
Read the rest of the htrnews article
Top Secret MN Grouse Hunting Spot Revealed - Grand Rapids Area
Thursday 10 / 20 / 11
45 degs and Sunny.
I am lucky enough to have a job where I can occasionally skip out for an afternoon and make up my time in the evening. I decided that today was one of those days as it was cool and sunny. It has been gray and windy the past few days and I’ve had good luck a few times when I was able to hunt the first sunny day after a few crappy days.
Tina and I started out at a small area that we have seen birds at each time that we have hunted it this year. We have never gotten a bird here though. In fact the last time we hunted this spot, three of us moved 4 birds and didn’t put one in the bag.
When we pulled in I could tell that the area had been hit fairly hard in the days since we had last hunted it. The grass on the trail was much more beat down by people driving in. We worked the trail out and bushwhacked through the clearcut on the way back and didn’t move a bird.
Off to the second area. I marked this area “ Don’t Hunt “ as it is mostly older growth and we have only seen one bird there. I decided to give it a shot again though as it was on the way to the third area and the trails were easy walking for 15 yr old Marge. After about going 100 yards down the trail she locked up solid. I started to look around and just as I looked to the right into some saplings the grouse came up and with the shot the grouse came down. I’m always excited when one of the dogs has a nice point that produces a bird but I am even more so when one of the old timers can have it happen. We worked the trail for another 40 minutes but didn’t move another bird. After putting Marge back into her travel kennel I got out Fergie and we went for a stroll. Even though she is totally blind she still loves to get out and smell the air. We did a short walk and then returned to the truck.
Our next spot was a MN Hunter Walking Trail. These trails are well publicized by the state so they aren’t any big secret but this one has decent habitat diversity and we have seen birds here before. The hunt started well with Tina going on point less than 100 yards from the truck and and easy straight away shot put the bird into the bag. The next bird was luckier as Tina had a good point on a corner and it broke down the side of the trail that I hadn’t gotten to yet and I didn’t even get off a shot.
We had started to hunt an area of the trail system that I hadn’t been able to cover yet and I could hear Tina working off to the side in an area of thick pine trees. I was starting to get a bit impatient as she didn’t really seem to be working the type of cover that had been producing birds when her beeper collar indicated that she was on point. I made my way into the pine trees but couldn’t see where she was when I heard a flush and saw just a flicker of the bird. I still couldn’t see or hear Tina when I heard a second flush and was able to get off a snap shot. I couldn’t see if I had hit the bird or not but I heard a thud letting me know that I had connected. A third bird flushed but I passed on the shot as I wanted to make sure I had correctly marked down the bird. As I made my way to the bird I could see Tina holding her point downwind of where the birds had flushed.
As we made our way back to the truck another wild flush from the opposite side of the trail that Tina was working caught me by surprise and I wasn’t able to get off a shot. I was feeling pretty good about getting three birds already and was daydreaming a bit...
About 25 yards from the truck is an area where two of the trails come together and create a choke point and Tina started to get really birdy but I figured “ how could there be any this close to the truck “. I was about to find out as she locked on point and I moved up the trail to cut them off by the edge of the trail intersection. A flush and a hurried shot saw the bird fly off unharmed but the shot sent another bird up and this one wasn’t as lucky and became bird number four in the bag.
There was still and good 90 minutes of daylight left and Tina was still showing good energy so I decided to take a look at the other trail that starts at the parking area. It started out by going through an area of younger growth but soon changed to older cover. The trail split and we took the fork to the right after a short time it hit and area of blow down and Tina started to get birdy again. She was a decent distance through the blowdown and off to my left when the beeper signaled point. I wasn’t too excited about making my way through all of the logs to get to where she was but she had been pretty good with her points as of late so I thought it would be worth it. As I started to approach her I was off her right side and could see that the cover was much thinner past where she was pointing. As I passed her I could see that it was actually the other fork of the trail and as I stepped onto the trail a bird got up from in front of her and I again missed and again I was lucky enough to have a second bird get up and even luckier when I was able to connect and drop it just a little distance up the trail to make for an easy retrieve for Tina.
All five of our birds came from public land and four out of the five came from a well marked Hunter Walking Trail in the Grand Rapids, Mn area.
The Garmin Astro said that Tina covered 7.9 miles in 2 hrs and 17 minutes
If You Want To Hunt It Helps To Bring The F'n Guns... Deer River MN Grouse Hunt
Thursday 10/27/11
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| Tina With Her Deer River MN Woodcock and Grouse |
When going grouse hunting it usually helps if you bring the f’n guns with. I had planned on trying out two new ( new to me ) Hunter Walking Trails in the Bowstring area but as I was 40 minutes into our 45 minute drive I realized that I had forgotten to put any guns into the Trailblazer. I turned around and went back to the cabin, grabbed a gun, and headed out back to hunt. Since I had lost 90 minutes of hunting time I decided to head back to my new old reliable walking trail.
Tina got the call as usual. We made our way past the the first blow down without moving any birds but she started to get real birdy as we approached an area that is blowdowns and a few pine trees mixed in. She went on point about 20 yards into the blow down and as I tried to pick out a good spot to move towards her a grouse took off another 10 yards past her. I wasn’t quick enough to get off a shot.
After another 15 minutes of walking we came to an area that was a bit lower and wetter than the surrounding terrain and Tina started to tighten up her range. She tightened it up to a nice solid point. I made my way further up the trail and started to cut back to her in hopes of trapping the bird between us. I got closer and closer and no flush but also no movement from Tina. I got close enough to start to check out the cover right in front of her and was able to spot the woodcock right in front of her. One more step and the bird came up. I held off on the shot as I’m not that big on eating woodcock. As the day progressed we moved a total of seven woodcock and I ended up taking one to reward Tina for all of her hard work.
Towards the end of the trail we took a smaller trail that loops through a newer area of clear cut as we got to the transition area Tina locked up and was looking off to her left. I was looking for a way in when the grouse made its escape from behind a pine tree. Two steps either direction and I would have had a clear shot but as it was I could only just watch it fly off.
The next bird wasn’t so lucky. We had turned around and were headed back through a section of small pines when Tina started to move into the cover. I could hear her making her way through some of the thicker area and then I didn’t hear her moving any longer. Her point was confirmed by her beeper going off. I continued up the trail a short distance until I could find a good entry point. I made it about 15 yards into the cover before I could see that she was still in full point mode. Just as I pulled even with her the grouse flushed and gave me a right to left passing shot. I connected but it wasn’t a fatal blow. Tina gave chase and brought the bird to me. She doesn’t always do a full retrieve so that fact that she did made it extra special.
On the rest of the walk back to the truck we moved three more grouse and I wasn’t able to connect with any of the birds. As usual the problem was between the gun and the boots.
Considering that the day started with me making a major blunder I was happy to have moved six grouse and seven woodcock while collecting one of each.
Grouse Ecology - Species & Ecosystem Science
Ruffed Grouse Ecology
Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) are widely distributed in North America. In many states they are the only species of grouse present and are popular among sportsman. Within Washington, they are found in forests where hardwoods are present. They are generally not found in the sagebrush and grassland habitats of the basin or the dense conifer habitats of the Cascades. Although they appear to prefer mixed or solid aspen forests and woodlands in eastern Washington, they are somewhat ‘flexible’ in that they can use other types of forests, particularly in western Washington. Male ruffed grouse are well-known for their ‘drumming’ breeding display. The male usually stands on a ‘drumming’ log and beats his wings about 50 times in 8 to 11 seconds with increasing speed to produce a loud ‘drumming’ sound.
Current Research
Selected Publications
- Harvest management of forest grouse in Washington, with a focus in north-central Washington
- Ruffed grouse
- Grouse of the Lewis and Clark expedition, 1803-1806
- Grouse of the Lewis & Clark expedition
Other Links and Resources
Lake Winnibigoshish ( Winnie ) MN Grouse Hunt
Saturday October 3 2011
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| 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.
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| 15 yr old Marge and I With Her Winnie Grouse Double |
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