Anyone else think Grouse are WAY DOWN?

[Warzord8]

I haven't been out near Pennington this year but have been out several times up 89 north of Bemidji and it has been very poor. "heard" two birds and that's it so far...Last year was pretty solid...this year not so good so far...

[Bullwinkle]

I went for 5 days last week. Started out by Brainerd and moved North towards Ely as the week progressed. I found that the further North I went the less birds I found. Total flushes for the trip was 39 got a total of 9. The best luck was just north of Brainerd and like alot of posters have said they were off the main paths. Beat some brush and you'll do fine.

[Scott M]

From Glen Schmitt, St. Cloud Times

COOK — Leading up to the 2007 grouse season, everything pointed to a banner year. Spring drumming counts conducted by the Department of Natural Resources indicated a 30 percent increase over last year and the highest level recorded in seven years.

It appeared as though the grouse population was finally on the upward swing after several years of decline, which occurs during the grouse's natural 10-year population swings.

Hunter enthusiasm was high and every indication from Central Minnesota to the heart of the state's grouse range in the northeast part of the state was that the grouse was back and this year would be a good one.

But when the season started in mid-September, those preseason predictions and population assessments appeared to fall short of most hunter's expectations.

Grouse were tough to come by, especially young birds, which left a lot of hunters asking questions.

Was it just a lot of hype, was the DNR just trying to sell licenses, did something happen to those young birds after they hatched, or did the weather have an effect on hunter success? These were just some of the questions being asked.

Mark Barnett is the owner of Lake Vermilion Trading Company in Cook, one of the state's premier grouse hunting areas.

While anticipation was high before the season, it didn't take long for most hunters in this area to realize grouse numbers weren't as high as reported.

"We shot some grouse up here, but with as much as population numbers were hyped, I'd say it's been a poor year," Barnett said. "It's about the same as last year and last year wasn't that good."

Near Tower, DNR Area Wildlife Manager, Tom Rusch says it's hard to draw a conclusion on the season at this point.

In his work area, there seems to be pockets of birds, but he's talked with some hunters who simply aren't seeing as many grouse as expected.

Anything that points to a less-than-reported grouse population would be pure speculation in his estimation. But Rusch says the weather could have played a role in hunter success because it was an extremely warm and windy fall.

In addition, the Tower area went from extreme drought conditions to receiving monsoon rains while young grouse were vulnerable to inclement weather.

There's also the possibility of several unknowns such as diseases that could impact grouse numbers, which is one area DNR officials would like to look at in future years.

In short, Rusch said it's been a "tweener season", which simply means some groups have shot birds and others have struggled. It's too early to put a pulse on the grouse season and relying on anecdotal reports isn't the best way to assess it.

"I know guys say we're trying to sell licenses but that isn't the case," Rusch said. "We have population trends, drumming counts, and hunter surveys and that's what we work with when estimating grouse numbers."

Rusch also believes that late season hunting success would be a good judge of the season as a whole. He's seen quite a few grouse while deer hunting in recent weeks and has talked with other hunters that have as well.

Bob Kirsch is the DNR area wildlife manager in Two Harbors. He, too, has noticed a lot of grouse as the deer season has progressed. But he admits that while there are birds to be had, grouse hunters have indicated spotty results up to this point.

Kirsch said it's important for hunters not to rely so heavily on spring drumming counts each year. While it's an effective tool to gauge grouse populations there are other variables that play into a hunting season.

"Across the board, the impression is that there are fewer birds than we anticipated," Kirsch said. "It just seems, from what I've been hearing, is that grouse numbers may not reflect what we saw in the spring drumming counts."

According to Kirsch, the annual hunter survey that's conducted after each hunting season and next spring's drumming counts will provide a clearer picture on what's taken place this year.

Until then, Kirsch said there's still plenty of good grouse hunting to experience.

"It may not be as good as many people expected it to be," he added. "But I'd say, at least in this area, grouse hunting has been better than last year."