Ruff grouse reports 2014 season

[ZachD]

Went out Sat and Sunday walking the trails (no dogs) we got 3 saw a couple more we could not shoot.

[cribbageboy]

Went out Friday and Saturday east of Grand Rapids. 4 guys walking, no dogs. Kicked up roughly 30 birds. Only bagged 3. Not a lot of missed shots either, just bad flushes for the most part. Lots of leaves down.

[laker1]

They use to say when ruff grouse numbers are high,the red phase(tail etc.) starts showing up more.

[dewey1]

Be advised, if anyone likes to hunt the Echo Trail or stay at the Echo campground, the Echo trail is closed a few miles beyond the campground (east) for 7 - 10 days while they install some pretty massive culverts on Camp Ninety Seven Creek. You can stand up in these culverts, they're that big. I think it'll take awhile to get it completed. The warning signs of the closing have been up for some time now up on Cty #24 and down by Ely.

Planning on heading up to Jeanette this week. Any word on the culvert work?

[Dusty]

Its all done.

[birdguy]

The culvert work is done and the Trail is open.

Here's this years tail collection, the basket of tails is from previous years.

My mancave/workshop, the dog house is under the work bench, it's carpeted and has a GunDog door to a back run.

[brittman]

It has been a very enjoyable fall for grouse ... moving birds all across MN.

Dogs (9 and 4) are having a nice, nice season.

Making the impossible shots, while missing some of the easy - swing down the trail shots.

[birdguy]

Added another tail to the collection this morning hunting the Rush Point area. My brother got another. Flushed six roosters and two hens in about an hour.

[yakfisher]

Added another tail to the collection this morning hunting the Rush Point area. My brother got another. Flushed six roosters and two hens in about an hour.

That sure is a huge grouse.

Glad you are seeing some roosters up there.

[birdguy]

The pheasant numbers appear to be good around here. I'm pretty lucky as I work from home a lot so can take off and hunt often. Here's a picture (taken in August) from my home office window. I grew up here in the Rush Point area and know all the farmers so I can go and do a five mile walking loop starting at my back door and go around the lake and end up back at my front door. I don't do it during deer season though but after that, when the woods are empty and the corn is down it makes for a heck of a nice Saturday morning hunt.

[ZachD]

Emily area

No dogs

Walked some trails flushed 3 the first day only got this one.

Today flushed one and missed. Flushed another and couldn't get a shot I saw it didn't flush very far tried to send my girlfriend in to get it so she could get a bird but she couldn't get through the fallen trees. I went in to flush it and as soon as i broke through the downed tree i see it not 15 feet away from me I turned to tell her to get through no matter what then turned and watched the bird in my sights. As she was coming in it flushed and flew away I was hoping she would get a shot off so I waiting to long before trying to get a crack at it myself and missed too much brush in the way by the time a shot. Oh well she will get a bird soon!

Seems like I don't see as much birds on the hot sunny days like today anyone else get that too?

[ZachD]

Oh we also walked into a wolf too. We turned the corner and what I thought was a deer standing in the middle of the trail turns out it wasn't. I told my girlfriend look at that deer but as we walked closer it turned to walk of the trail and it was no deer just a big old wolf. She was a little hesitant to keep walking but I told her not to worry she has a stick that goes boom in her hand.

[leechlake]

hunted west of Walker the past 10 days. I usually hunt about an hour every morning and an hour late afternoon. All but one time did the dogs put birds up and there were some woodcock too. My shooting was awesome until I realized it and then went down hill a bit. I was very happy with the numbers of birds although it wasn't anywhere like the peak years.

I hunted mostly private land but spent a day over the weekend (mistake) in the Paul Bunyan and ran into a lot of hunters but did find a few birds. Kind of stinks when you want to sit on a trail head on the tailgate and have a sandwich with the dogs and have them retrieve multiple grouse carcasses guys left laying around after pulling the breasts. Hiding them under leaves somehow didn't fool the dogs...

[ZachD]

Got bored and put a fantail in a shadow box

[brittman]

Very nice Zach.

[birdguy]

Got home from work today at 3:10, had a rooster by 3:30. Flushed three roosters and one hen.

[brittman]

Bird Guy. Why not put these pheasant hunt photos and reports in a Pheasant thread on this forum.

Title of this thread is "Ruff Grouse reports 2014 season".

Thanks.

[birdguy]

Thanks brittman, I will from now on.

Zach - nice display. I also do a tail mount for grouse similar to turkey mounts.

[ZachD]

Anyone been in Nemadji this year, How did you do? I am heading up there Saturday morning for the day. Will report when I get back as well.

[birdguy]

I used to hunt there often and do well, but the ATV's have kind of ruined it. The Sandstone National Wildlife Refuge is a good place to hunt, park at the south end and hunt the one long trail which then splits into two trails, must use steel shot though. I always do good on woodcock there. Also hunted west of Hinkley in the St. Croix State Forest but horse traffic kind of wrecked those trails.

[tybo]

Last weekend four of hunted for a few days. Me and my buddy got one hunt in Thursday night, and two Friday morning. My neighbors came up Friday afternoon. The four of us then hunted Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning. We shot 29 birds. WE got 23 WC and 6 grouse. I hit another grouse that dropped a leg but we couldn't find it.

We were north of Mora.

[leech~~]

The poor Grouse, bottom of the food chain!

Everything eats them. It's funny we see many at all anymore.

Some of this we can thank PETA and all the predator lovers for.

There was a heck of a lot more trapping going on 10-20 years ago before the big "Fur is bad" craze. This really killed a great deal of the fur market and way less buyers are buying fur.

So you have a large increase in predators and every little rodent, Skunks, Raccoons, Fishers, Weasels, etc, eating their eggs in the spring and then Bobcats, Fox, Coyotes, Wolves, Goshawks and Owl's pounding them the rest of the year.

And yes humans take some as well. Out of all the guys I know that use to hunt Grouse maybe only 10% of them even give it a try anymore. I think the human predation is down a lot for the last 10 to 20 years as well.

[laker1]

If your talking predators,its the egg eaters doing the most harm. Number 1 would be the raccoon in north central Minnesota,which at one time was absent from the north woods.

It is a weird year,drumming counts were up statewide almost,nice size broods across much of northern Minnesota,but than cool rains came and had friends talk about seeing numerous big broods and as spring went along they really shrank in numbers.

Up by Women lake for 3 hours and seen only 2 grouse this week.

[setterguy]

Hunted Nemadji last year and did pretty well. You have to get off the trails and having a good dog helps a lot. I like what they are doing up there, lots of logging going on.

[brittman]

I have not made a walk this fall without moving at least one grouse, but I am also not seeing lots n lots of birds. Averaging moving about 2-3 birds per hour of walking. Bringing home about 2 birds per day.

The areas that I hunt are drier this year and woodcock have been few and far between.