How to: Drumming Grouse Photography

[Scott M]

I remember as a kid walking through the woods in the spring time at the family cabin and running into, nearly literally, a drumming grouse. I hid behind a tree after I saw it and remarkably it didn’t see me or was so full of bravado that it didn’t care. It was pure dumb luck, although often times grouse will use the same drumming log year after year. I watched it for 20 minutes. I was so close I could feel the reverberations of the drumming in my own chest.

The question I have is, what do you folks do when you want to get a grouse drumming shot? Stalk a little drummer boy through the woods until you can get close enough? Set up a blind over a known drumming log? I don’t have the advantage of living day to day at our cabin where I’d like to do this, so I don’t know which logs are being used for drumming, but I am curious as to how its done. No one can deny that it is a unique and beautiful image to capture.

[finnbay]

My most successful strategy is to start with stalking a drummer. Though some drumming logs are used year to year, some are abandoned and some new ones brought in. I try to stay far enough back where I can locate the bird on the log but not disturb it. Next morning I'll try to get there before daylight, in camo, and set up where the sun will be towards my back. The grouse will come in shortly before daybreak. Good luck!