2010 Ruff Grouse hunting reports-how did you do?

[WallyGator12000]

CANOPY, I'll be out in Tofte this weekend too, taking a long weekend at the BlueFin Bay with the fam. Might see you out there! I've got a blue mercury mountaineer...hoping to see plenty of birds

[CANOPY SAM]

Wally. Are you by chance attending a wedding at the BlueFin? My nephew Josh is getting married there on Saturday. We're pulling in on Friday afternoon, and leaving Sunday afternoon.

I was thinking it would be nice to get in a little brush-busting while in the area. I'm not much for sitting around talking for hours, and the north shore ought to be beautiful right about now.

[WallyGator12000]

Sam,

We are actually not a part of the wedding, though I heard it was going on because we barely squeezed in to get some rooms. My family goes up every year to the Bluefin right around this time of year for a family reunion of sorts. I'm the same as you are though, I can only take so much talking before I need to get out and get some exercise.

Should be perfect up there in terms of fall color for a wedding, I'm sure Josh's will go very well.

Plenty of birds up that way if you are willing to get off the main path and bust some brush, I'm sure you'll enjoy the scenery while chasing them too.

Feel free to say hi if you see me in blaze, like I said I have a blue mountaineer SUV. We will be up tonight until Sunday afternoon. Here's to hoping they are wrong with all the rain forecast for the next few days...

[tybo]

I stayed at the Blufin in early August. Hiked the temperance and nearby trails with the dogs and moved a few grouse.

[Matt Breuer]

Good luck to both of you!

CANOPY, I will be up the weekend of Goose Fest., so not this, but next. I'll be there from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. Leave some time open for some walking, as I'll be flying solo with the pups. Would love to have someone to help cover some ground, and we'll get your boy his first sharp.

Anyone else jazzed for this weekend? I can't wait to lay the smack down on some timberdoodles! Tons of locals still around!

[CANOPY SAM]

Wally. I'll keep an eye out for ya'. It's hard to make out your face in the avatar with that beautiful ski, but I'll find you one way or the other.

Tybo. The hiking is good? Are there maps or directions one can find in town?

Matt. I look forward to next weekend. As of now I think she's wide open. Sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm sure my son will be jacked as well. Just got him a new pair of hunting boots that we need to break in before we hit the cattail sloughs of NoDak.

May even take the fam up to GooseFest as well. Been a long time.

[PGE-Hound]

Been out three days (4 hours a day) and have flushed 5-7 each day. Its too bad I can't shoot..haha. Busted up two each day. Below is a pic of my 14 month lab with her first two birds ever. Her first retrieve was alittle hairy but the second was flawless. She retrieved all 6.

[wdgold]

wdgold i was hunting the south side i seen the most amazing site as i was driving past one of the thicker areas i seen a big bull moose in the middle of the road was not afraid at all didnt think moose were down in nemadji

Jdog, It's funny you say that, back in the early 80's with my dad we saw a moose along that same road and that was first and only time we saw one in that area. I will try to make it up there on the weekend of the 2nd of Oct. with my son. Between my dad and I We have been hunting grouse in that area for the last 40 yrs.

[tybo]

Canopy, That was my first trip to the area. We mostly hiked around the Temperance River and there some nice trails. We didn;t hike a whole lot we were mostly yhere to see the falls and get some pcitures. I talked the girlfriend into sneaking off on some trails to let me setters run and maybe get on a few birds. Seems like a nice network of trails from some hiking clubs there but we didn't explore them too much. We got some info at the information desk at Bluefin and there is more you can get at the State Park office at Temperance.

[tybo]

Matt,

I hope to bag a few woodcock. I love hunting those little birds. I'm in the wing survey again this year. Found some nice local bird coverts near my house that I can hunt during the week. Me and my friend Wes will be back up to Chippewa NF this wekeend. Good luck to all.

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks for the tips tybo. Looking forward to some nice walks in the woods. I imagine it would be prudent to have everyone wearing orange? We'll make sure to bring the camera! Hope this rain clears by Saturday. Feel sorry for the folks in SE MN this morning. Sounds pretty bad....

[Ely Lake Expert]

All these posts of many flushes and few birds in the bag had me feeling pretty good. Then "Ely Lake Expert" has to come on with that garbage. Good grief...I was ready to set my bar perty low, but not anymore.

Good work! That must have been great to see those dogs work all those birds!!

I'd love to get a couple limits in the freezer and not have to ration grouse meat until next fall! Kudos, sir.

Thanks, it was very fun to see the dogs in action. Definitely didn't forget anything from last year. The pup picked things up quickly too. I will be out again this weekend hopefully with the same results.

[Matt Breuer]

Matt. I look forward to next weekend. As of now I think she's wide open. Sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm sure my son will be jacked as well. Just got him a new pair of hunting boots that we need to break in before we hit the cattail sloughs of NoDak.

May even take the fam up to GooseFest as well. Been a long time.

I won't be at Goose Fest. My wife's parents are both from Middle River, and most of her family lives up there yet. They spend the weekend up there, and it's a family thing for them. I stick around TRF and up toward the cabin hunting my tail off for the weekend!

Ty, you need to get up here yet one of these days. I want to see that bird hunting trailer in person.

[Kyle]

Anyone know of any good places to go in the brainerd area? I just moved up here and am not even sure if there are grouse around here or if I have to go north?

[walleye365]

Kyle try pillsbary you take hwy 77 west the roads to look for pillsbury trl. beauty lake road lot of trails down them. let me know i could show ya.

[Judge Smails]

Finished my five days around Nevis yesterday. Once the wind and clouds came in earlier this week I hardly saw a bird. Hoping for some good weather and a few more startling flushes in a couple weeks in the NE part of the state.

[Kyle]

I would love to get together if you are interested in hunting? I acutally went out there today, didn't flush a bird, but I was also trying to stay away from the really thick grasses. I concentrated on brush piles in heavily wooded, but semi open ground foilage. Im sure there are good numbers of birds in there, but with the poor weather they were probably holed up in the nasty stuff. With the way the ticks are, Im just not willing to bring the dog through that right now.

Let me know if you want to go out though...I dont know anyone around here and love to hunt.

[uplander]

They say the best day to go hunting is the one you can......so my day was today...RAIN and 30 mph wind...but in 3 1/2 hrs and bringing out my 5 year old for his first grouse hunt. ( He held up quite well considering the weather..) We put up about 15 birds in that span only bagging one but I'll take it. I'm not sure if the highlight of my day was my dog finding that bird that I never knew I hit, or my son so proud of that bird and begging to put it in his game pouch. It was great to be in the woods again! Rain and all!

[Matt Breuer]

Kyle, when I lived down that way I used to hunt around Crosby and Aitkin most often. Some great areas that never get touched around there. Do yourself a favor and pick up some PRIM maps and you'll be knocking down birds in no time...

[mixxedbagg]

I hunted from sun-up--if you can call it that--till about 5:30 pm today. I spent most of my time in the Pine Island State Forest west of Big Falls and ended up at the Bowstring and Egg Lake walking trails in Itasca County.

I got soaking wet! Rained on me til almost noon. Every trail I tried in northern Itasca County had LOTS of standing water. I went over my knee high rubber boots twice just trying to keep going.

With it being so rainy, I didn't think I'd see much...though I guess I had higher hopes for some of the remote trails off of Pine Island Forest Road. I was just walking without a dog. Flushed a total of only 8 birds. Four of those birds flushed off the trail and I didn't even see them to get a shot. Of the other 4, I got one, missed 2 easy shots (I suck), and one bird flushed out of the top of a 40+ foot aspen tree....I never have THAT happen this time of year. Do you guys usually see grouse in taller trees during the middle of the day in Sept/Oct??

On top of that fun, I saw a Spruce Grouse on the Pine Island Forest Road, heard a Boreal Chickadee, saw several flocks of American Pipits (including several pipits mingling with some Lapland Longspurs at a logging landing that I watched for a while), lots of White-throated Sparrows with a couple of Harris's Sparrows, Palm & Yellow-rumped Warblers, a singing Blue-headed Vireo, 3 magpies, and lots of juncos. Also, there were fresh moose tracks at Bowstring...something I don't see a lot of in the Chippewa National Forest.

A good day considering the slow results.

[Matt Breuer]

Wow, you covered some serious ground! Was the bird that flushed into the tall pine a sprucie? Could explain it. I've had it happen numerous time in Pine Island, never to be seen again!

[mixxedbagg]

Nope. The high flush was a Ruffed from the top of an aspen at Egg Lake. You know, I almost never look up when grouse hunting unless it's really early or late in the day from late November through the end. Maybe I should look up more.

Yeah, I walked. And walked. And walked. It was great!

[jjz]

I put in two hours north of whitefish chain today. Put up 6 grouse and 6 woodcock that I saw, to windy to hear the others my dogs jumped. Only fired one shot and got one super tasty grouse out of the deal. Could have killed all the woodcock, was lucky to get the ruffie though. What a great way to start the season, 1 shot, 1 clean kill, one perfect retrieve. Basically the same as last year in this area. The guy that just moved to Brainerd, check out the 20 square miles of county land north of whitefish. Get a good map and explore good bird hunting is around it.

[walleye365]

kyle im hopen to get out to day sometime i got a new spot id like to try. i was 1for2 yesterday.

[Rick Reisewitz]

jjz good thing you didn't get that woodcock since it doesn't open tell today.