The Mythical Minnesota Grouse

Nine hunters, including me, Kate, and Brian, and three dogs, rented a cabin on Little Winnie, the smaller sister to Lake Winnibigoshish, or "Filthy Water" in the Ojibwe language. Nestled in the Chippiwa National Forest, the area is rumored to be the natural habitat of grouse and woodcock. This being our third year hunting the public land in this area, some of those rumors may have originated with our own tall tales.

Habitat

We were hunting areas of young birch, and often thicker, nastier, more difficult terrain, similar to a hedge. Grouse supposedly can be found anywhere in the woods, from sunning themselves in open glades to hiding in the thickest bush. Woodcock seem to prefer the areas that the hunters and dogs preferred the least. We would move into these areas searching for both of these elusive forest birds. Obviously if you aren't finding birds in the easy to walk paths and trails, they were hiding in the thickest brush! You have to go where the game is.

Levels of Engagement

Let's start by getting our language calibrated. In grouse hunting, there are 5 "Levels of Engagement" that are useful to define:

Level 0 = No engagement. Just walking in the woods.

Level 1 = Bird flushed, audible signature, often including visual confirmation

Level 2 = Shotgun shouldered and safety disengaged

Level 3 = Shots taken

Level 4 = Bird down, or probably, maybe hit

Level 5 = Bird retrieved

Day 1

We spent most of the day hunting areas we were able to engage grouse or woodcock in prior years. This year, we went a little earlier in the season due to scheduling conflicts. Unfortunately, fall had not really started and most of the leaves were still on the trees and bushes, greatly reducing visibility. This made us walk a tighter "line" formation, to keep visual contact with each other. It also meant we had several Level 1 engagements, with only audible results. We had to keep the dogs close and flushes happened with no warning.

Two years ago, I had switched from using a 20 ga over-under to using a Benelli Ethos 28 ga. Since I spend most grouse hunts in Level 0 - 2, I've been on a quest to find the lightest shotgun, and the Ethos weighs in at 5.5 pounds. I do not like the placement of the safety (I prefer the tang safeties for wingshooting) or the hassle of unloading the semi-auto, so I may retire the Ethos if I can find a good 28 ga side by side around 5 pounds.

I personally spent the day at Level 0. I did find a large mushroom. 

Kate, armed with her OnX Hunt app, guided us to some areas designated as "recent forest disturbance" thinking we would find younger growth trees. In general, we found habitat we thought the grouse or woodcock would love, but it was also thick with small branched shrubs and small trees. We moved slowly, and could not swing a shotgun to take a shot, even if we flushed a bird, which we did not.

At sundown, we made our way back to the cabin. Kate cooked us a hearty jambalaya, enjoyed by all, and we played board games.

Day 2

We started the day with a hearty breakfast and headed out. 

There were several flushes, and probably a dozen Level 3 engagements, and much off-trail forest bushwhacking. The highlight of my hunt occurred when a flushed bird flew past in a streak, from right to left, and I almost got my safety off. Almost Level 2! Let's call it Level 1.5. Unfortunately, the positioning of one of our new friends made taking a shot unwise. 

Driving to a "forest disturbance" in the national forest we spotted one of the mythical grouse from our vehicle and a solo hunter, Grant, chased it into the woods and brought it back to the car, headless, and partially mauled by his young pudelpointer, Clutch. Our first Level 5. This success made all the prior bushwhacking seem a bit like wasted effort. 

Day 3

For some of us, Day 3 was consisted of checking out of the cabin and driving home. Brian and two other hunters, decided to stop and explore some new spots south of where we stayed. There, Brian successfully shot a bird, which was retrieved by a chocolate lab named Hazel, thus solidifying Brian's reputation as successful Minnesota grouse hunter.

Concluding thoughts

While nine hunters harvesting two birds over three days may seem like a failure, it was still nine Americans, enjoying the outdoors and each other's company. It is also a realistic outcome for many hunters who endure the challenge and frustration of hunting public lands. We will continue to perservere, and can testify that this most elusive of game, the Minnesota Ruffed Grouse, does actually exist. In prior years, we would harvest more woodcock than grouse, since we did not see a single woodcock this year, I fear they are extinct.

I am opening this up for public comments. Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question!