Grouse Hunting Around Mille lacs Lake Area

[GrouserGov]

Has anyoone been grouse hunting south or east of Mille Lacs? We have been out a few times and had some success. Have you been seeing more birds late in the day? Crop contents?

Good Luck!

[jbdragon17]

I went out and hit the Mille Lacs WMA early Oct. I didnt see a bird. Heard one flush but that was it. I had my setter with and she ranges out pretty good. Still no birds. I did go on a weekend and the place seemed very crowded. I would advise against it unless you are going on a week day.

[GrouserGov]

Anybody been out around McGrath - Solana State Forest or Snake River areas? We have a seen some birds out there, but it has been spotty.

[brittman]

My general experience with late season grouse hunting is find one and you will find 3 - 10 more.

They tend to bunch up around one feed source that is near good winter cover.

[Slowfinger]

Spent 3+ hours near the Snake last weekend. Got one bird up....it didn't want to come home with us tho.

[metrojoe]

How about woodcock? Did you see any woodcock early on?

[GrouserGov]

We saw a bunch of doodles early season. Mostly along trails running through and near whip size popple cut overs. Kinda like what you would expect, but clumps of 3+ were common at times. They seem to be doing very well. My experoence with late season has been that when you find one you find several also. Food - popple buds, catkins, remaining strawberry leaves, and tree berries of most types near thick popple cover work well. Like Frank Woolner said though, "Guns don't get grouse, legs do." This is especially true late season. Walk 'till ya hurt then walk some more. We see birds around the Snake and Solana, but we usually work for them.

Stay warm and good luck these last couple weeks.

[Matt Breuer]

Pretty much all of the 'doodles have migrated already. The Mille Lacs area is great for them early season though!

As for grouse, there are a lot of birds in that area. I've shot a lot of birds between Aitkin and Mora, as well as South to Mille Lacs from Aitkin.

The replies above are right. Once the snow hits, you better cover some ground. If you can find some stand of berries near good cover, you'll more than likely find some birds.