See Many Grouse This Summer?

I’ve seen a few more than I usually do around the cabin this summer. NW Wi. Any reports from northern MN?

I have seen two momma’s w/ their broods (is that the correct term?) near Longville and I have never seen a brood in the past 20 years up there. Hopefully that is a good sign and things are on the upswing! RR

In mid-May I recall seeing and hearing more grouse than in past years when we were in Northern MN. I was exited to see one walking along the tree line by our campsite! I probably stood there and watched it forage for a good 10 minutes before it hobbled away.

I’ve been seeing quite a few more this summer up at the FIL’s place near Duluth. No youngin’s, all adults. Of course that doesn’t mean they’re not there.

I start running the girls in grousier woods than usual beginning in August. Typically I’ll stay in the maple highlands June and July to keep the girls away from little birds and critters. Am seeing about the same numbers as last year but the grouse are considerably smaller given their late start this year. I’ll have a better idea on what the season will hold after the first week or two of our season when I’m hitting full on grouse terrain.

I don’t like hearing that. I thought last years late crop was the smallest size I had every seen. So small that I passed up shots several times.
I’ll be out there same as you. looking forward to many grouse trips this year.
Fortunately the grouse populations in Minn are usually quite different than the UP.

suzuki wrote:

Fortunately the grouse populations in Minn are usually quite different than the UP.

Tell me about it…there are no birds in the U.P.

North central MN is the only place I consider stable in the world.
Made the mistake of hitting the north shore last year. Hadnt been there in years. It can be excellent. I came home early.
Sure people luck into patches everywhere but I don’t believe anyone when they tell me there are “grouse everywhere”. Bear baiters are notorious for claiming that and it almost always turns out to be BS. There are very few serious grouse hunters out there or ones that can accurately access an area population.

A friend of mine who is a grouse hunter, was in the UP last weekend trout fishing and scouting for bears and said he never saw any grouse. Plenty of wolf sign every where though.

Speaking of grouse, if anyone wouldn’t mind a tag-a-long this fall, please keep me in mind. I’d love to do some grouse hunting with an experienced grouser.

4walleye wrote:

A friend of mine who is a grouse hunter, was in the UP last weekend trout fishing and scouting for bears and said he never saw any grouse. Plenty of wolf sign every where though.

Speaking of bears, my youngest dog, Sami, just pointed one last night that was hidden in a thimbleberry patch. It bolted when I was about 20′ away and thankfully Sami didn’t chase it. Another 10′ – 15′ closer and it might have been an even more interesting night. Can’t say as I’ve had any of my dogs point a bear or a bear hanging around long enough to be pointed before. It’s not like I have the beeper collars turned off or on point only or that we’re all that quiet on our walks. I intentionally make noise so as not to surprise any wolves, a pack of which is known to frequent that area on occasion.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Speaking of grouse, if anyone wouldn’t mind a tag-a-long this fall, please keep me in mind. I’d love to do some grouse hunting with an experienced grouser.

[throat clearing sound] I believe I tried that before…..

suzuki wrote:

[throat clearing sound] I believe I tried that before…..

You tried a fishing trip or so, but I never remember a grousing invitation!

suzuki wrote:

I don’t like hearing that. I thought last years late crop was the smallest size I had every seen. So small that I passed up shots several times.
I’ll be out there same as you. looking forward to many grouse trips this year.
Fortunately the grouse populations in Minn are usually quite different than the UP.

FWIW, if the last week or two (I’ve been testing some of my grouse spots closer to town) ends up being representative, we might find ourselves in a slight mid-cycle uptick locally. I’m seeing more birds than this time last year. However, the caveat about them being small still remains…lots of small birds.

It is very hard to say for sure, but I think the numbers in NC MN are stable or slightly up from what I’ve seen and the drumming I’ve heard.

I never know if I’ll have time to grouse hunt, I usually try to time the woodcock migration and see if I can find some of both. 2 years ago we hit the jackpot and big northern woodcock were everywhere the day we were out. We found them in a brushy creek bottom where you could flush them and still have good visibility. What fun that was. My cartridge to kill ratio was miserable, but hey-ho, no news there then.

Grouse

Heading up to Grand Rapids area very early Friday morning. Cant wait.
It’s all weather dependent now.

Sounds like a fun outing. Please report back on the number of flushes and opinion on birds numbers this year.

Sure will. This is my old area so I’ll have a good feel for the numbers.

Baudette used to sport a good population. Fun surf n turf trip. Hit some marble eyes early, ground pound a few birds and get them slow cooking, then head back out for the evening bite only to head back in for the feast. Makes me miss those days. Darn kids, they ruin everything.. Lol

Lots of drumming near the cabin… so there is one for sure on the Eastside !

Heading up to Bigfork tomorrow around noon.
80% chance of rain Tomorrow and Saturday.

If I can get a couple hour walk in between the storms that would be fine.

With the leaves still up I don’t expect much but looking forward to getting the dog out in the woods.

Weather forecast couldn’t be more depressing. That’s what I hate about long range plans. If it rains you are screwed. Wind and rain equals bad grouse hunting. All we can do is suck it up. Its fun to be up there regardless.

Suzuki–Looking at your avatar picture, are you from the U.P.?

We haven’t decided “Where” he is from….

Chris Raymond wrote:

Suzuki–Looking at your avatar picture, are you from the U.P.?

From the LP. Took that shot of Miners Castle a couple summers back.
Weather was terrible. Rained much of the weekend up there. Talk about getting soaked. Did not see many birds. Only got 3 between two of us. Two of which came at the very first spot. I jumped one as soon as we started walking on the first covert Friday and we thought it was going to be great. Just like getting a fish early then nothing. Hopefully that was just the weather talking and not an indication of the population. Saw more deer than usual so that is good. Always fun to be up there though. Good food and lots of exercise and nice scenery. The colors were just coming on with maples leading the way.

Figured you must be a MI guy with that pic. Never have bird hunted over in that part of the U.P. and am a western end guy at heart in that regard.

Also ATV’s are an obvious advantage in that area. Many OHV trails that are so long you cannot walk them or cannot see if they have good cover from the road.
I have always been against ATV grouse hunting but when you consider them transportation to good cover then I am starting to wonder if I should use them. You need to get way off the beaten path to find the untouched birds and there isnt enough time in the day to make very many long walks.

80% of my grouse hunting is pre-scouted via Google Earth where I concentrate on 10 – 20 year old aspen cuts. If the loggers cut it, there’s a road getting to it from somewhere.