# Ruffed Grouse



## drjongy

I've had real good luck the past couple years hunting Sharptails, but I would love to shoot some Ruffed Grouse this year...I hear the meat is real white. I cannot recall ever having shot a ruffy. Has anyone had luck this year in the Northeast part of the state?


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## fishunt

I used to lived NY for 34 years and there are very good number Ruffed grouse... however I think would be good for u to try out in Maine very good number for ruffed grouse and good luck


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## KEN W

Ruffs are white meat....problem is they are at the bottom of their 10 year cycle.Pretty tough to find here in the Trtl Mts.


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## drjongy

What type of cover are they in? I hear you basically just have to start walking in the woods...totally different cover compared with Sharptails and Pheasants. What do they eat for their main diet?


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## KEN W

When I hunted them....I looked for logging trails on forrest Service land.Pretty tough to just walk into the woods.

They were feeding on chokecherries and high bush cranberries,along with young aspen buds.


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## drjongy

Thanks for the info Ken, greatly appreciated. I was hoping to draw a Prairie Chicken this year, then I was going to go for all four types of Grouse (is there a grand-slam in grouse? :lol: ), but I would at least like to try for a Ruffed Grouse this year. It's not too far from GF to some of their habitat in Cavalier County I understand.

I have never hunted Sage Grouse either but that would be fun one day. I think I might have to mount one of those.


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## generson

I can put you on to some pretty nice peices of public land in Wisconsin if you are willing to travel...We have a good cycle of grouse and they are on the upswing in the northern part of the state


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## Zeboy

Come to Michigan and we'll go ruffed grouse hunting, you'll find out in a hurry why ND is having problems with too many nonresident hunters.

All kidding aside; ruffs like thick woods. Early growth aspen (5 - 10 years) is some of the best. Mixed hardwoods and pine can be good as well, but they do like younger growth and it needs to have ground cover as well. They like soft mast crops - berries, nuts, some plants, bugs, aspen buds - they eat many different things depending on the time of year. We are at a low cycle. We are only flushing 1 to 1.5 birds per hour and most of those you don't get shots at.

At times they can hold fairly tight but you rarely get a "good" shot because of the thick woods conditions. You have to somehow block all the trees out and focus on the bird. Often the bird disappears into the woods about the time you pull the trigger.

Good eating - slightly wilder and more tender than a pheasant. Light colored breast meat - half way between a hun and a pheasant.

Good Luck


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## saveaduckkillaskybuster

as a boy hunting in indiana we had plenty of grouse. on my grandfathers farm is was not uncommon to jump 15 birds in one outing. since i have been home from the marine corp i havent seen nor heard a grouse drum in the spring. where are they?????


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## jlunseth

They cycle roughly every ten years, and did so even in the old days. They are generally up in years with a 0 or 1, and fall hard in the next two years after. The "up" in our area in Northern MN was 99 and 00. Because of wet cool springs, the upswing has been slow. If the cover is still good on your grandfather's farm, you will start to see numbers in a couple of years. Not far from the bottom right now.


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## Grouse Hunter

ya the meat in ruffed grouse is really white and good!


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## apeterson

People have said ruffed is the best taisting game bird... I like.... I am in central MN and last year had a bad year... 2 years ago it was really good here... We hunt old logging roads and also new logging roads, seems the best habitat is smaller aspen trees with a larger forest around, water also must be present and available... they are really fast and difficult to hit in the trees.... and scare the heck out of you when they fly! season opens here in MN on the 15th of Sept and I will be out.... however best hunting here is when the leaves fall off the trees... Good luck! will bring you out but will not guarentte any thing, as I dont know what numbers will be this year, just that the cycle is down as everyone else has posted.


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## Grouse Hunter

Yup ruffed taste good and at then end of the season to me it the best time to hunt them because the trees have lost their leaves and usually there is snow on the ground and they are up in the birch trees feeding on the buds so they are easy to pick off!  
But for spruce it is different they are harder to see at the end of the year because the trees that they are in (spruce trees) have a lot more cover! so spruce are better earlier in the year!


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## Todd Reber

In my opinion the Ruffy is the best game bird there is when it comes to eaten. I'm from Fargo and hunted the Ruffys on the MN. side for many years when the cycle was up, it's a lot cheaper to get a out of state license and drive 60 miles and be in the grouse woods then to drive 200 plus miles in my own state. Also this is a challening bird to hunt and would recommend it to any hunter. Alot different then the Sharpies. I can't wait until the cycle comes back up. When you have hunted the Ruffys all fall and then go hunt the late season Dakota Pheasants, the Pheasants look like 747 lifting off the ground when they flush, it really sharpens your reaction time hunting in the woods. If your not familar with area your hunting it would be wise to bring a gps or compass, it's very easy to get turned aroung up in the woods.  
Hunt hard and shoot straight


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## Rick Acker

People have been saying Ruff's are in their down cycle for the last 5 years...How long does that 10 year cycle last? A lot longer than 10 years if my math is correct!


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## apeterson

seems like the hunting has been bad for 10 years at least.... In Northern MN I have seem more but in Central MN we have not had much action for at least 10 years....


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## Duckslayer100

My grandparents own a bunch of land around Chisholm Minnesota and we have some ol' faithful trials that we hit meticulously year after year. Its pretty apparent when the cycle is up or down. I do know one thing, #6 and #7 shot lead sure does clear young aspen and birch trees well. I've blown more trees in half going after ruff grouse than i care to mention.


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## huntbeaverbay

i hunt ruffed grouse in the northeastern part of minnesota, and the meat is very white. i just started last year, and i got 3 this year. i have seen them in coveys, if thats what you call them. up to 5, and i have only been hunting for 2 years. they fly fast compared to pheasant, which i hunt also. its also harder to get a shot at with all the timber. i suggest looking in young forests where aspen are plentiful. you usually get a shot at every 
3-4 birds, and hit every 3-4 birds you shoot at. they hold tight from where i am. i was only 2 feet from a bird, and it didnt flush
hope this helps.


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## steve66

i love grouse meat, very tasty. they eat alot of clover and berries. look for them around aspen trees as they also eat the buds off of them, same as iron wood. they can also be found in spruce trees as they provide excellent cover. when ever you shoot one open up the crop and see what kind of foods they are eating. you will also find alot along gravel roads as they eat the small pebbles to help grind up their food.

i had a great year for them i was able to get 14 which has been my best year ever.


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## huntbeaverbay

i heard that in minnesota, they have an 18 year cycle, and there getting out of the bad years now, so in the next couple years there gonna have a higher pop.


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## jlunseth

It is a ten year cycle. The year's with a zero or 1 are usually the best. It falls off pretty hard after the peak, so we have been in the low part of the cycle since 2002. The population rise and fall tends to move from NW to SE, so NW Minn. generally sees the first uptick. The is a bit of an uptick this year, with the birds up 58% in some areas of WI according to their drumming count. Minn's drumming count will be out soon, but was not out as of last Mon., at least I could not find it.

They are a bird of the woods, but they do not like open mature hardwoods. They prefer dog hair popple, alders, and alder swamps. Some of the best areas to hunt are clear cuts that are about ten years old, or around the edges of swamps embedded in the woods. We also have good luck with "grouse mix," which is a combination of hazel brush, alders, some tamarack, cedar or fir, and some popple. Usually you need to be getting your feet just a little bit wet from time to time, or you are not in the right kind of cover.

There is alot of good grouse hunting right across the border from GF. Get a public hunting ground map, a Minn. license, and go explore any stands of popple you see on those lands.

58% of very little is still very little. But the pop. should be up this year.


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## tallgrasser

drjongy,
Check for public land north of Mountain. There are Ruff Grouse in those area and it's not to far of a drive from GF. Good luck!


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## Joltin_Joe

Any of you MN guys been out?

The cycle is definitely on the upswing in the Grand Rapids area. Reminds me of the kind of hunting we had in the late 90's. It has been a lot of fun so far.


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## Horsager

I was out on Sunday near TRF MN and that area is still at a low point in the cycle. They've had cruddy hatches in that area due to all the wet weather the last couple years. The hatch this year seemed fair at best and we didn't bump any covey's, only singles. 4 guys, 3 dogs, 8 grouse on Sunday. Of the 8 we got, 3 were adult birds at least last years birds.


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## Shu

Went out for the first time this year in WI and we shot 10 grouse and 6 woodcock over 2 days. A little windy but a great time to be out.


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## Ruffed Grouse

Went to wisconsin last week and ALWAYS fond some birds in high bush cranberries. In one spot we fond 15 birds in about 100 sq ft. It was crazy i killed my limit in one spot it was my last stop of the day at about 5:30. Every tim i got in some cran berries fond at least 2 birds.


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