2012 grouse report

[sochr000]

What I'm hoping to do with this thread, is have people give general reports of how their season is going. If people want to expand beyond grouse, and go with all upland, that works as well. It doesn't matter if it's public or private land, just give people an idea of where the hunting is good or bad.

Bemidji, NE of town, didn't see or hear any grouse on Saturday Sept 15th, at 4pm.

[grousemaster]

What I'm hoping to do with this thread, is have people give general reports of how their season is going. If people want to expand beyond grouse, and go with all upland, that works as well. It doesn't matter if it's public or private land, just give people an idea of where the hunting is good or bad.

Bemidji, NE of town, didn't see or hear any grouse on Saturday Sept 15th, at 4pm.

Did you bust the brush, or ride around on a 4-wheeler? I had 9 flushes Friday and 13 on Saturday. Dry and hot conditions make it tough. Not trying to be a smart ass with my first question, but lot's of "hunters" ride around on ATV's then say "numbers are down" when one doesn't walk across the trail for them to shoot. You gotta get to where the birds live to find them, and it's not easy cover to get through. You need good dogs and good boots to get serious, but the dumb ones are readily available to trail walkers and ATV riders the first couple weeks.

I didn't pull the trigger, I was just scouting for the guided hunts I do in October.

Grouse hunting always sucks in the heat or pouring rain, not sure where they disappear to but they certainly seem to vanish.

[sochr000]

It was me and my brittany walking trails. It was a bit windy, and she isn't the best at getting into the thick brush, but I expected to hear something!

[tman]

A friend of mine went Sat AM. He spent most off the time trying to clear trails in the National Forest east of Bemidji from the July blowdown.

He reported seeing nothing.

[grousemaster]

It was me and my brittany walking trails. It was a bit windy, and she isn't the best at getting into the thick brush, but I expected to hear something!

I think it's gonna be a tougher year....

Although I don't put too much faith in these reports (lot's of variables and populations can change drastically from area to area), the DNR reported a 47% decline in drumming counts this spring, indicating we fell off a cliff as far as the 10 year cycle goes.

[FJ540]

I've seen one bird all year at my place outside Brainerd. We've never had a lot of them, but I'm used to seeing them from time to time.

Our turkey population is way down too, but that could be from the return of the foxes or that they found another area they like better.

[smurfman]

I've been out for two quick hunts locally so far. Two grouse in the bag from 8 contacts is it. We hit prime territory with little lollygagging between covers when numbers appear to be down. Why waste time and the dogs' energy on areas which are not likely to have birds in them?

That said, at our place in Carlton county we have been seeing grouse in bunches. This time of year one can go quite a while without contacting a bird as they are still brooded up. With 6-10 birds in an area up to 50 yards in size it can be easy to miss them when cruising through their 20-60 acre home grounds. Get a bit unlucky or not hit optimal cover and it can seem you are hunting the Gobi Desert for grouse. It can also seem to be a super banner year if one finds the broods regularly. It helps to be able to turn out a pack of dogs to work the ground rather than one; broods have a much smaller chance of avoiding detection that way. It also assures a quick run down on dog power as they are not in peak shape yet. I much prefer later as the fall shuffle occurs as the birds are much more spread out creating less "feast or famine" in contacting birds. I'd much rather contact 6 individual grouse over the course of an hour than find all at once. One also does not burn out good coverts either as new birds are still wandering around and will fill in if the resident bird gets taken.

[grousemaster]

I've been out for two quick hunts locally so far. Two grouse in the bag from 8 contacts is it. We hit prime territory with little lollygagging between covers when numbers appear to be down. Why waste time and the dogs' energy on areas which are not likely to have birds in them?

That said, at our place in Carlton county we have been seeing grouse in bunches. This time of year one can go quite a while without contacting a bird as they are still brooded up. With 6-10 birds in an area up to 50 yards in size it can be easy to miss them when cruising through their 20-60 acre home grounds. Get a bit unlucky or not hit optimal cover and it can seem you are hunting the Gobi Desert for grouse. It can also seem to be a super banner year if one finds the broods regularly. It helps to be able to turn out a pack of dogs to work the ground rather than one; broods have a much smaller chance of avoiding detection that way. It also assures a quick run down on dog power as they are not in peak shape yet. I much prefer later as the fall shuffle occurs as the birds are much more spread out creating less "feast or famine" in contacting birds. I'd much rather contact 6 individual grouse over the course of an hour than find all at once. One also does not burn out good coverts either as new birds are still wandering around and will fill in if the resident bird gets taken.

Yup, Smurfman knows what he's talking about. Also, if you're running pointing dogs don't be afraid to let them range quite a bit (edge of audible bell range for me). Think of it this way, would you rather have a fish finder that just looks under the boat or 20 yards on either side of the boat? Multiple dogs also is a huge advantage, it's like playing bingo with one card vs. a few.

[Dante]

A co-worker reported seeing a dozen or so birds each day he was out. They are up on the North Shore and keep pretty much to the trails.

[rtk]

A friend of mine went Sat AM. He spent most off the time trying to clear trails in the National Forest east of Bemidji from the July blowdown.

He reported seeing nothing.

I'm buying this report.

[smurfman]

I run my dogs with beepers on them. Bells are nice sounding but it is hard to find the dog once they go on point. My dogs also tend to break them off the collar or break the clapper in debris when running around. I picked up my bells from a serious grouse hunter who swore by them, I tended to swear at them. I can also hear the beeper much further than a bell, 100 yards in the woods at this time is not a problem unless the wind is blowing hard.

I mostly run my beepers in point only mode as I am not really concerned about where the dog is until it goes on point. If the dog has not checked in recently I'll use the locate feature to get an idea of its whereabouts. If I am hunting in an area with a fair chance of running into a wolf I'll put the collars in run/point mode as that seems to warn keep the wolves at bay. At least I haven't seen a wolf when the collars where in that mode while I have seen them when in the point only mode. With a den close by to the cabin I have plenty of opportunity to experiment with different warning methods.

[grousemaster]

I run my dogs with beepers on them. Bells are nice sounding but it is hard to find the dog once they go on point. My dogs also tend to break them off the collar or break the clapper in debris when running around. I picked up my bells from a serious grouse hunter who swore by them, I tended to swear at them. I can also hear the beeper much further than a bell, 100 yards in the woods at this time is not a problem unless the wind is blowing hard.

I mostly run my beepers in point only mode as I am not really concerned about where the dog is until it goes on point. If the dog has not checked in recently I'll use the locate feature to get an idea of its whereabouts. If I am hunting in an area with a fair chance of running into a wolf I'll put the collars in run/point mode as that seems to warn keep the wolves at bay. At least I haven't seen a wolf when the collars where in that mode while I have seen them when in the point only mode. With a den close by to the cabin I have plenty of opportunity to experiment with different warning methods.

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I also run my dogs with beepers at all times, but on "point only" mode. This way I don't have to listen to a damn beeper all day, and the batteries last longer on the collars. Bells are crucial for me, especially with young dogs. They're just more sensitive. I can hear the bell stop a few seconds earlier than the collar would go into point mode, plus I can tell if a dog gets ancy on point and boogers up a bird by the sound of the bell before the flush...can't do this with a beeper. When the dogs are hunting far out I'll switch the beeper on and/or use the locate function.

I agree the beepers keep the predators away. Also, if your dog finds a bucket set trap atleast you can go find your dog by the sound of the beeper on point mode...I know a guy that happened to.

Are you running setters?

[smurfman]

English Setters, German Wirehair Pointers, and a Springer Spaniel. Just put down a Pointer out of Elhew Snakefoot. Approaching 30 years for pointing dogs, they do everything I need for hunting. The springer was a Christmas gift as I had talked of the hassles of running pointing dogs on frozen swamps for pheasants. He is a good dog but very specialized for my hunting.

[JJ]

Made a day if hunting west of Grand Rapids yesterday. Lots of foot traffic around, but we managed to have 12 solid contacts. Didn't get much shooting, flushing dogs and a lot of leaves made it tough to get any shooting, though I did whiff an easy one that went straight down the trail.

[sochr000]

Got out again on Sunday, saw either 3 or 5 grouse (might have been a couple jumped twice). I managed to miss them all, although a couple of the flushes I only heard, as there are still a fair number of leaves on the trees.