opening weekend grouse hunting

[Noreaster]

Started hunting grouse in the Arrowhead in 1978. I am certainly one who has hunted memories, and have noted many changes in the forest since then, from before clear cuts, to right after, through its prime cover, to becoming overgrown. It can take a long time for a covert to grow past it’s prime up there, but it certainly has happened to a lot of my old stomping grounds.

Nowadays there is not as much logging going on in the areas where I used to hunt. This trend has not been conducive to the moose population, or to the production of the high grouse numbers I recall through the late 90s. In fact I never noticed the cycle when I lived there and hunted a lot, as there were plenty of birds each and every year. Then in the early 2000’s the cycle low became very evident, and the highs were not very robust either. This year seems no exception from what I have been hearing so far.

Thankfully there are no numbers of turkeys moving up that far that I have seen.

[peteywheatstraw]

Grouse generally don’t inhabit older growth forests unless that’s the only thing available. If your walking through an area like a park..your probably not going to see or hear much, I have always found the best cover to be old aspen clear cuts where the trees are anywhere from an inch to the baseball bat width. Also don’t dismiss swampy areas if its been dry. I also look for dogwood bushes (little white berries) If your not busting brush, getting slapped in the face and caught up in underbrush..your going to have a bad time..very early in the season, sure walk all the trails you want but like anything, they smarten up pretty quick and get deeper into the woods.

[Author]

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