Grouse hunting in the rain

[JMR]

Hi everyone, I'm heading up to the North Shore to do some grouse hunting Sat and Sun. Saturday looks pretty rainy. Any ideas where to find the birds? Under pine trees? Would like to wait but I only have so much time this fall and have planned on this weekend for a while.

Thanks, Joel

[orchdork]

It is always tough in the rain. I have found them in the balsum plantations. You know the ones that were planted in the late 70's. tough to hunt with a dog. I have found that if you walk slow and quiet and peer under the branches you can find them in the thick stuff. If you aren't particular about ground swatting you might do well otherwise it is real tough.

[duckbuster]

I wouldn't let the rain affect your thinking on where they might be. The last 2 times I have been up hunting I walked the same trails for the most part everyday. 3 days in sunny/partly cloudy days and 3 days in the rain, one of which was god awful rain. I shot 4 birds on the rainy days and 3 on the non-rainy days. The end result obviously was better on the rainy days. If you are heading up the north shore try and finds some areas of 15-20 year old poppals 3-6" diameter and start walking some trails.

GOOD LUCK!!

[Jmnhunter]

hey, might have to shoot some grouse this weekend now that you guys talked me into it!

I've kicked alot up in the pine mixed in hardwoods in the rain, but like orchdork said, you probably have to hit them on the ground.

single shot 20 guage this weekend!

-Good luck

[kingkidfisher4431]

Where we hunt it seems not to matter. If you can stand the walking they will be out. In the last couple weeks ive seen darn near 25 birds and only had decent shots at maybe 6 and only gotten 2. Shows i have a louwsey shot!!! Not going to keep me away from the ruffies cause i love the taste to much! Good luck to everyone!

[Matt Breuer]

If you have a dog, the rainy days are actually better. Find food adjacent to some pines and you'll do well. They like to travel under pine stands in the rain, but if it lets up even for 30 minutes they're going to hit some trails or food stands.

[JMR]

Thanks for your help guys!! It didn't end up raining as much as I thought, mainly a light mist Sat am then nothing in the afternoon. Ended up seeing 3 birds and shooting 3 birds. Very lucky with the shooting. I doubt we would have got any with out the dog. He retrieved one that landed in a river and then flushed 2 others. Matt you were right on, the 3 birds we got were all by berries next to or in pine trees. We did alot of walking, and not much seeing. It's very pretty up there but from everyone we talked to the hunting has been very tough this year. We did see alot of deer in moose country. Still a great trip. Thanks again for the help.

Joel

[Matt Breuer]

Glad to hear you did well!! I hunted 3 hours S. of Bemidji here tonight and found the birds to be eating completely different. There are still leaves near Brainerd and Mille Lacs, it was fun to see. Berries and catkins down there, catkins and clover here. It's about two weeks behind down there.

I didn't test my rainy day theories this week, it did rain everyday darn near. Tomorrow will unfortunately give me another shot in the rain!

Again, congrats, 3 is a good day. In about a week we should be seeing some limits!