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.

Introduction and request for info


Recommended Posts

Hi all,

I just got transplanted to MN from out west and thought I would introduce myself. I moved here 3 weeks ago from Utah. And I am already looking forward to the Fall hunting season. I have 2 springer spaniels so I mostly hunt birds. They've hunted pheasant, dove, sharptail, ruffed, and blue grouse, desert quail, huns, chukar, and geese. I've been hunting for the last 30 years and enjoy travelling to new places to hunt and explore.

I've been looking at the MN DNR website and it looks like there is a huge amount of National Forest up north and WMAs just about in every part of the state. Towards summer once the chicks are grown I'd like to start scouting for grouse and pheasant too.

I was hoping someone could provide me with some areas that are likely to hold grouse. I'm used to hunting ruffies up in the mountains so I'm not sure what to look for out here or where to start. Are there any public areas that hold pheasant or is that strictly a private landowner deal?

I assume people here protect their honey holes like I did out west with the same rules. I'm just looking for information like "look in this forest in this quadrant (north, south, NW, SE), with this kind of cover or food. Stuff like that.

Also I've never hunted deer and would like to try that as it seems Minnesota has a good population and access to public land. I'd like to do the rifle hunt and don't care if it's got antlers or not for my first time. Any suggestions of any sort would be greatly appreciated. My wife and I are looking at houses up around Rockford if that helps at all but I don't mind driving.

I know it's a lot of questions, sorry this is so long. Thanks for any help and I look forward to contributing to this board!

Thanks,

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to Minnesota. If I were looking for Grouse and Deer and the possibility of scouting both at the same time. I would look at the Paul Bunyan up between Park Rapids and Bemidji. There is alot of land up there with an abundance of deer (in rifle zone) - the past two years has been on the up cycle for grouse in the area. I think the peak will be within two years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1st off welcome to FM...

Lots of forest land open for grouse hunting (and deer hunting) up in the area of Walker to Bemidji to Blackduck to Grand Rapids. With the population on the upswing, you should have little problem finding birds. Generally guys walk forest service roads and fire lanes, and while these will provide some opportunity, as usual the best hunting lies off the trails.

Pheasant hunting can be good to excellent on the public lands out in Western - Southwestern Minnesota. They get pounded hard early and on weekends, so weekdays are usually your best bet. Late season can be phenomenal as most of the WMAs hold cattail sloughs in which the birds use for loafing and roosting cover in the winter. Look for WMAs next to a food source and you should find some birds. It is still possible with some manners and door knocking to get on private land... especially later in the season.

As the time grows closer to grouse hunt, if I am getting into birds in some areas I know (and want to explore) maybe we can meet up and hit it hard for a day. I have a cabin in Cass Lake and I just bought a field bred Cocker and am going to get back into ruffie hunting after 20 years of waterfowling...

Keep in touch on the board and we'll see if we can't pick out a weekend to meet up.

Good Luck!

Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to Minnesota nd to FM.com.

Depending on how much you hunt determines how much public land there is. The more you hunt the smaller the state gets. wink.gif

There is an abundance of state land for deer. If you check out the DNR's webpage click on hunting and then on deer. Ther eare some interactive maps detailing harvest statistics and population surveys. Some of the areas give up ~10 deer per square mile every year.

Pheasants on public land can be hit or miss depending on the pressure they get. Some public lands get hit 4-5 times a day on the weekends by different groups hopiing form WMA to WMA. I just got a Springer in the last year and I can't wait to start rooster hunting with my own dog. Not only will you find plenty of lands to hunt, hang out on here and you'll meet many great people who wouldn't mind a new hunting buddy.

Unfortunately I know nothing of grouse hunting, but I hope to start this year. With the new dog and a new lease on some paper company land I'm hoping to see a few.

Around here the birds like poplar and alder trees. They eat the buds of young trees. Finding places that have been harvested or burned in the last 5-10 years can be great locations. A lot of people use the trails and roads to find birds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for the information and warm welcome. Sounds like I landed in the right state.

I appreciate the help with where to look for grouse and the deer info. My older Springer was going to be a pheasant dog but he saw nothing but grouse for the first 2 years of his life.

It's a learning process. With each season he learned what cover to look for and where he was likely to find scent. And although western grouse seem to have a reputation for walking around, with a flushing dog on their butt they WILL fly. First couple times it scared the heck out of me cuz it's loud. Are there woodcock around here along with the grouse?

I'd be happy to share any information or show up to give a hand to anyone who is training a flushing dog. I've found once you're past basic obedience it's pretty hard to move to the next level without at least one, preferably 2 helpers. PM me for contact details if you're interested.

Thanks again for the help and information. I look forward to learning more about hunting in Minnesota from y'all and hopefully have something useful to contribute in the future!

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MN grouse do fly but not unless you step on them!!! LOL.

We do have woodcock around here, but they migrate pretty early. They are fun and sporting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to Fishing Minnesota and Hot Spot Outdoors. You have found a group of sportsman that will help you with just about anything.

Glad to have you aboard. cool.gif

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.