Minnesota Grouse Hunting

I am trying to get ahead of my schedule and plan a few fall trips, and I have some questions for those Grouse hunters in the area. I am a die hard pheasant hunter, but have never grouse hunted in my life and would like to spend a long day or quick weekend and drive 3-6ish hours north and try Grouse hunting once or twice this fall. I have been doing some research online through the DNR website, state and national forest sites, other forums, and old articles, but still have some questions I’d like to ask on here.

1. How far north do you have to go to have a decent grouse population to hunt? It looks like Mill Lacs area holds some, but I am going to assume that area gets hunted hard being it is somewhat close and easy drive from the metro.

2. How is hunting in the state or national forests? It looks like the Chippewa National Forest and a number of state forests hold birds and are huntable. The national forests have “hunter walking trails.” They sound like a great thing to hunt, but with them being advertised, are they overhunted? Use the walking trails to get off the beaten path and find your own trails? I do have places to stay in the Hackensack area, and it looks like there’s a lot of land from there to Walker and on north.

3. How far in do you have to go on some of these bigger forests? Start hunting the forest edges, trails, logging roads, etc right from the start? Or I’ve got a Polaris Ranger, take that in (where legal) a few miles and then start walking and hunting where they are less pressured? One thing I haven’t been able to get a clear research answer on is how much of the national forests are huntable? Would you be able to ride an ATV trail in, then come across an area that looks good and get out and start hunting that area?

4. What times of the day are generally best? I’m going to guess the times closest to sunrise and sunset best product, but get out when you can get out…

5. What time of year? I’m guessing early season the leaves are too thick to see much or get quality shots, early-mid October it might start getting better?

6. I have a lab that is a very good pheasant dog, I am hopeful that he can pick up on grouse hunting a little bit. At the least, it will be a nice walk in the woods.

I love grouse hunting, usually get out a couple times each year but would not consider myself an expert. I hunt Paul Bunyan State Forest by the Chip and the # of birds fluctuates a lot. Have had some great years and some where I don’t hear a flush. In general I don’t think there is much hunter pressure for grouse, especially in the Chippewa/Bunyan area (could be that it’s a combined 120k acres…). Finding recently logged areas are usually the best for holding grouse, and the AM is prime time as they usually come out of the woods to get some gravel. After right away in the morning you will need to go into the woods, and I like to hunt once the leaves have started falling at least. I hunt over a lab and she does well, but you will want your dog to stay a little closer than pheasant hunting imo.

1. do yourself a favor and get out to superior national forest if possible. Bird numbers are great out there and depending on the area you get up to almost zero pressure. further northeast you go from Duluth the better.
2. See number 1, I usually stick to trails that are already cut.
3. I usually just stick to mostly logging roads and trails I do not hunt with a dog though so i dont bother too much getting into the thick stuff. anything with gravel is a plus. they do plant clover in the middle of some of the trails as well which is a nice bonus.
4. You’re mainly right but you always want to be the first one down any road or trail on a given day. usually boots on the ground by 6-6:30 break for lunch and back at it again after. You will see birds through most of the day depending on weather/season.
5. Mid october-november is my favorite by far. a lot of the cover has fell but the birds still think they are pretty well blended in. easier to see and better shot chances. Granted grouse dont give any really easy shots ever…
6. Im not sure about the dog dont hunt over one sadly. but why not have a buddy with??
7. Damn you’re getting me excited and its still a few months out

My absolute favorite time to grouse hunt is at evening, and hour or so before close. I’ll usually find them right on or very near the trails…but I typically hunt off ATV’s. I love a very slow ride throw the woods grouse hunting once the leaves start to fall. For me, grouse hunting is all about mileage. I love the cook/tower area. Grab your ATV and go hit the trails!

I also love taking my dog but more so to see her work. Very rarely do I get birds hunting with my dog…it’s tough shooting a flushed bird. A pointer may be completely different and a lot of fun but my dogs a flusher so…hence the ATV hunting.

Trap load will do and skeet choke is great.

Thanks for all the replies! Not looking for any honey holes, I know it all takes time and experience. Just a general starting point.. I know my 2 South Dakota hunting trips each year have all taken a lot of learning time and boots on the ground experience, but seem to get better and better each year. Hopefully this can be the same!

ClownColor wrote:

For me, grouse hunting is all about mileage. I love the cook/tower area. Grab your ATV and go hit the trails!
I also love taking my dog but more so to see her work. Very rarely do I get birds hunting with my dog…it’s tough shooting a flushed bird. A pointer may be completely different and a lot of fun but my dogs a flusher so…hence the ATV hunting.

Since it seems to be about miles, that’s why I was a bit curious about ATV’s. Wondering about following ATV trails with my Ranger, and dog kennel on the back, then coming across a good looking area and letting the dog work. I am pretty much in it only to watch the dog work.

We have family property around Hwy 210 (Cloquet to Aitkin) which is within 3 hrs that “generally” holds huntable birds. Definitely Hwy 2 area and into the Arrowhead.

The thing about grouse is they need a mosaic of aged timber. Vast stretches of forest that are the same age are not as good. In that case you may want to focus on the thicker cover edges (alder or balsam) within those areas or look for forest openings. If you end up in a mature stand that has choked off the understory you’re in the wrong cover. I would look for areas that have had active or recent logging where I could focus on timber edges. The general guideline for habitat management for 40 acres would be to log 10 acres every 10 years where you end up with 4 different age classes of timber within the 40. This would be repeated over a larger area. Forest openings within this type of habitat can be a very good magnet because of the availability of clovers, thorn apples, etc. Some of the best areas we’ve hunted over the years were either active or former cattle pasture areas due to the openings that had adjacent thick alder edges.

Morning and evenings are probably the best times. I commonly hear active grouse sitting on bow stands. Because I also bow hunt and end up hunting grouse mid day. Helps to know the area but we still flush birds without a dog.

Mnrabbit, as far as trying to get your pheasant dog to hunt grouse…I tried that a few years ago too. Unless you start getting into a consistent number of grouse really quickly, your dog won’t know what to look for. Eventually they might figure it out but don’t be surprised if it’s a failure. Grouse hunting is better suited for a well trained pointer IMO, because it allows you to get into a good shooting position. They’re a lot harder to bag than roosters if you ask me. I harvest dozens of roosters every fall and only a few grouse. It’s mostly because of the habitat they live in.

Id be really surprised if your lab didnt pick it up real fast. Pick up a few grouse wings and scent if you can. Either way just having a dog in the woods will get more birds up, just like having two guys in the woods is better than one even hunting shoulder to shoulder. Living in the Chequamegon forest in north central Wisconsin I am interested in the response’s as my Gsp and I are always willing to road trip! Year two for the young fellow starts in 5 weeks!

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mnrabbit wrote:

Thanks for all the replies! Not looking for any honey holes, I know it all takes time and experience. Just a general starting point.. I know my 2 South Dakota hunting trips each year have all taken a lot of learning time and boots on the ground experience, but seem to get better and better each year. Hopefully this can be the same!

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bob clowncolor wrote:</div>
For me, grouse hunting is all about mileage. I love the cook/tower area. Grab your ATV and go hit the trails!
I also love taking my dog but more so to see her work. Very rarely do I get birds hunting with my dog…it’s tough shooting a flushed bird. A pointer may be completely different and a lot of fun but my dogs a flusher so…hence the ATV hunting.

Since it seems to be about miles, that’s why I was a bit curious about ATV’s. Wondering about following ATV trails with my Ranger, and dog kennel on the back, then coming across a good looking area and letting the dog work. I am pretty much in it only to watch the dog work.

That would honestly be a great way to hunt. Road/trail hunt until you find a great area then let the pooch out and let her work.

I’d say get out this year and have at it. Numbers peaked in 2017 so we are still near the peak.

I agree mostly with Feathers. I’ve hunted grouse (since 1969) with and without dogs, ATVs, and currently ORV because of my health/age (73). We (wife and I) hunted many years with our Brittany Spanials, your dog will do just fine given time. We carried them on our ATVs to good areas to foot hunt and they saved many a lost bird. One of the most unusual and best hunts I was on, we followed the hunt leader on ATVs with his Black lab working the trail edges ahead. When he got birdie we would close to his location and dismount as he would flush the bird and someone would get a shot. Many times the flush as before we we’re ready but the birds flew up into a tree as they were escaping a ground predator.

We hunt most of October in all of northern MN north of Red Lake to the Canadian border, the last two weeks with the cover down being the best as we no longer have dogs. This is a very large area with many old logging roads etc. to checkout. Bring a GPS and a map as you may not have a phone/internet connection many times. Keep notes or waypoints so as the years pass you’ll see location patterns etc. this will help you during the down years.

Good luck

I’m looking for current northern MN grouse reports as we will be leaving next weekend for Warroad to hunt.