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Grouse hunting


monstermoose78

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I was out hunting pot holes in Sheburne National Forest and the Sand Dunes.  I was very surprised the amount of grouse I saw - In all my years hunting out there I can count on one hand the number I have seen.  Last weekend I shot six just walking to random spots.  They seemed to be concentrated in the transition areas from spruce to oaks.

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  • 1 month later...

My season started out great, then went downhill.  The last two times I have been out I spent about 6 hours walking each time without seeing anything, only to drive home and flush some in my yard...

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  • 6 months later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Well grouse are hatching hearing reports of big batches of babies. I know it’s early but if they can make it to fall it will be a blast!!

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Let's hope so. Last year turned out to be a let down as they should have been near peak.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
1 hour ago, PRO-V said:

Let's hope so. Last year turned out to be a let down as they should have been near peak.

I did well last year I was finding coveys of  birds.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

The heavy rains in the arrowhead might have ruined the big broods I have heard about. Fingers crossed them broods made it.

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Just read that drumming counts were down by 29% statewide this spring. No surprise there.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

The numbers where good where are was last fall, but the drop in drumming is not good

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

My dad and brother saw a few birds on the echo trail.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

My family has not been seeing grouse around the arrowhead trail or gunflint. They made some trips to the echo trail by ely and saw a few broods. My bear hunting guide friends are telling me it will be a slow year for grouse. 

 

I took a drive to the rum river state forest and seen 4 singles and 3 broods today.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Over the last 5 days I covered lots of back roads from Grand Marais to ely. Not much for birds around Grand Marais or the arrowhead trail, but as got towards ely the number of birds increased. Finn and I took walks and he found coveys of up to 8 birds and the good news is they were not tiny babies. We seen some spruce grouse near Isabella.

 

Fishing was slow caught 2 pinks salmon, one nice 16 inch brookie,and 3 smallies from a little lake.  I caught the salmon and brookie on a silver  spinner casting out into superior. With the rains the pink salmon should hit the streams in numbers.

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Haven't been to my shack NE of Effie to check due to recurring neck problems. But have been working with my 3 month old Bichon puppy. Trained over guns and will ride the 4 wheeler now but probably too little to go this fall. 

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Was up to the shack NE of Effie today to mow. Over 20 miles through the forest roads, only saw moose tracks. No, not Monster Moose tracks. ? 

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
14 minutes ago, PRO-V said:

Was up to the shack NE of Effie today to mow. Over 20 miles through the forest roads, only saw moose tracks. No, not Monster Moose tracks. ? 

 

Do you guy see some Moose when deer hunting?  I have done a bunch of snowmobiling in the area but never saw a Moose up there. ?

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2 hours ago, leech~~ said:

 

Do you guy see some Moose when deer hunting?  I have done a bunch of snowmobiling in the area but never saw a Moose up there. ?

I have seen them all while grouse hunting. Mostly over the last 10 or 12 years. Have seen at least 15. Once I watched a Huge bull, cow and calf for 45 minutes. Got pics of the bull.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Most of the birds I saw were when the dog and I walked the little trails for fun.

We were looking for high bush cranberries 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Seeing any birds Moose? We did 8 miles behind the shack last Saturday and saw 0. Also didn't see any on the logging trails on the way in.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Duck hunting today Finn flushed 3 grouse I heard them never saw them. I have not got out grouse hunting.

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I was just working in the woods, not hunting, but there were tons of grouse where I was near Warroad. 

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
1 hour ago, jbell1981 said:

I was just working in the woods, not hunting, but there were tons of grouse where I was near Warroad. 

 

That always happens-when you don't have a Gun!  They know.  ?

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I'll Get out for grouse one of these days. Family owns a lot of land up north of Duluth, It's not to bad, it was the setting of my first hunting trip. Coincidentally, We were hunting grouse.  My uncle legit used my as his dog, I would scare the grouse and, once he shot them, pick them up. They weren't to hard to find, not a lot of cover.

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I'm trying to get out this Saturday for grouse. Not entirely sure of the area, depends on what kind of time I'll have. I will be out next weekend for sure, activity should be increasing 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got back yesterday from a week at my shack. Tough conditions. Lots of rain and over 6" of snow. My buddy and I saw 28 grouse and got 15. They were pretty wild and had to put the chase on alot of them. Got pretty wet running after them and snow falling on your head. Had to chainsaw our way out to the trucks thanks to the heavy wet snow.

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Wow, impressive! I was out in northern MN over the weekend and, while working on stands, flushed six. No shots as all were roosted high in the trees thanks to the rain, but made for some excitement at least.

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  • 11 months later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Nice day. Where?  ?

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • gimruis
      I hunt in the rifle zone so I don't have a need to use a shotgun to hunt deer, but I would be looking at this if there was ever a need to.   There could be state legislation introduced next summer that eliminates the shotgun zone completely.  It has bipartisan support.  Wisconsin removed theirs years ago and MN is usually later to follow.  They've tried to pass it more than once and it came up just short both times.  Probably just a matter of time.
    • Wanderer
      Oh, h e l l no! 
    • leech~~
      Screw that, here's whatch need!  😆   Power-Shok Rifled Slug 10 Gauge 766 Grain Grain Weight: 766 Shotshell Length: 3-1/2in / 89mm Muzzle Velocity: 1280
    • Wanderer
      20 ga has become a real popular deer round in the last 5 or so years.  The rifled barrels are zinging those sabot slugs with rifle like accuracy out to 100 yards easily.  Some go so far as dialing in for a 200 yard shot but really, by 150 they’re falling off pretty low.   I have a single shot Ultraslug in 20 ga that shoots really well at 100 yards.  Most everyone I know that has bought a slug gun lately has gotten the Savage 220 in 20ga.  Problem can be finding the shells you want.
    • leech~~
      My son always bugs me about getting a nice light over-under 20ga for grouse hunting.  I say Heck no, I'm getting a 3 1/2" 10ga so I can put as much lead in the air that I can!!     So, I'm keeping my 12ga.  
    • 11-87
      That’s almost exactly what I was thinking.  Have slug barrels for both   One for turkey and one for deer.      I have a 20ga mosseberg as well. (Combo came with the scope but never used.   I always liked the 12 better
    • leech~~
      Wanderer is right on the money and covered it well.  I was wondering too if you had a slug barrel for one of your guns?  If so you could make that your slug gun with a scope, and the other your turkey gun with the Red dot.  As you can afford it. 
    • Wanderer
      Kinda depends on if you want magnification or quick target acquisition.   More magnification options and better accuracy with a scope.  You get what you pay for too so get comfortable with a budget for one.  Tasco and Bushnell work but I find they lose their zero easier, have low contrast and don’t gather light well in low light conditions.  That said, I’m still using one I haven’t replaced yet.  Vortex has been the hot brand for the past several years for bang for the buck.  Good products.  Nothing beats Swarovski though.  Huge dough for those.  Burris is another decent option.   There are some specific models for shotgun/slug hunting in the economy brands and bullet drop compensation (BDC) reticles.  Based on experience I’d recommend not falling for that marketing ploy.   Red dots are usually lower magnification and easier to get on target.  Reasonably accurate but don’t do well with definition, like searching the brush for your target.  I put a HAWKE red dot on a .22 for squirrels and it’s been good.  For turkey, that’s probably the route I’d go.     If your slug shots are normally not too far and too brushy, I’d think a red dot could work there too if you’re only buying 1 scope.  You’ll be better off dimming the reticle to the lowest setting you can easily use to not over shine the target and get a finer aim point.   If you don’t have a slug barrel, you might appreciate one of those.  I had a browning with a smoothbore slug barrel that shot Brenneke 2-3/4 inch well.  The 11-87 would well fitted with a cantelever rifled barrel. 
    • 11-87
      Looking for recommendations on scope or red dot    I basically hunt turkey and whitetail, live in southern MN. So it’s all deer/ shotgun    looking to add a scope/ red dot as my eyes don’t work like they used to to with the open sights.    my gun options are 11/87 12. Browning BPS 12    not looking for the most expensive or the cheapest    pros and cons of one over the other
    • SkunkedAgain
      That's good news. I haven't seen any ice in Black Bay yet, but it looks like the small bays should start to freeze up this weekend. Hopefully we make some ice next week.   Below is the forecast for Cook. We should have temps mostly below zero . The bottom section below shows that it should not be windy, and no snow is predicted. All good signs for making ice.  
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