Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Grouse in Emily/Outing Area


DewDropper89

Recommended Posts

Hi All -

This will be my first year hunting with my first bird dog (7.5 mo old GSP) and I want to ensure that I get him some decent wild bird exposure. I am considering hunting the Land 'O Lakes State Forest up north of Outing, and some interspersed county owned land (Crow Wing/Cass). I have hunted a lot of county land just south of this area the past two years, but with very little success. Can anyone tell me if generally this should be a decent place to hunt? Has anyone had success in the area over the past several years? Any comments or experiences at all would be helpful. Although this SF is convenient for me to get to, I will consider traveling further if it means getting my dog off to a good start. Any comments or thoughts on this area would be much appreciated. Thanks!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have hunted the area for years and a rabid grouse hunter..all i can say is there are birds...you may have to work for them and search for prime habitat but they are there. its been my experience that you find patches of them and most of the hunters I know are pretty tight lipped about covey areas...kinda like a hot panfish spot...best advice is get a map for up there and strap on the hiking boots and hit the trails.. good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another thing to look at for a first year dog is to try to find some woodcock. They sit a bit tighter than a grouse. They seem to be pretty plentiful lately too.

I have not hunted the area that you talk of, but there are pretty good areas as close as McGrath and McGregor. I bought a MN Atlas that highlights all the State/Federal lands as well as WMA's. I would suggest that you pick something like this up and just try places out. Can never hurt getting your dog out in the woods with you. That will give you both the necessary experience of working together if nothing else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the advice guys. I have a Delorme Atlas/Gazeteer and also other maps detailing a lot of the public land in the area. All I needed to hear is that if you work hard at it, you will move birds and it sounds like that is the case. I look forward to opener...Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been bear baiting lately and seeing some pockets of birds. Although they aren't bad right now, keep an eye out for deer ticks. They are usually disgustingly thick in this neck of the woods. Make sure your pup has the lyme's innoculation. My GSP got lymes last summer and he was on Frontline at the time. We were halfway through his shots when he was lame one morning and only wimpered when he tried to stand up. Dirty rotten tick...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the tip. My dog has been innoculated for Lyme's, so I guess I'll just worry about getting Lyme's myself!! That would put a damper on the hunting season. Anyway, how did that play out with your dog, were they able to cure it or did it lead to permanent damage/lameness?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course it happened on the weekend and our usual vet was closed, so we travel to the Baxter Vet. He did a quick test to verify it was Lyme's and then gave him a shot to treat the arthritis like pain and prescribed a anibiotic which cured him in no time. 50% speed in day one, 100% by day three.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.