REGIONAL— Hunters are unlikely to see a phenomenal grouse season this year when they head to the forest roads and trails starting Saturday. But that doesn’t mean that hunters won’t find birds out in the woods this fall.
Spring drumming counts were down somewhat, but still encouraging, while a wet summer that was spared the kind of chilly weather that can limit grouse reproduction suggests at least average nesting success.
Some decline was expected this year, given that the ruffed grouse population has been at traditionally peak levels the past two years. Even so, drumming counts during previous grouse population peaks in 2009 and 2017 topped out at 2.1 drums per stop, just barely above the 2.0 drums average reported this year.
While this summer has brought several bouts of intense rainfall to the region, Jessica Holmes, DNR Tower area wildlife manager, believes the heaviest rainfall came late enough that young birds likely weren’t harmed.
She said field sightings point to decent survival of young birds. “We’re definitely seeing broods while driving around,” she said. “I’m not concerned about numbers for this year at all.”
With abundant public land, hunters in the DNR’s Tower work area will find plenty of places to try their luck. The work area also maintains over 90 miles of hunter walking trails, which were recently mowed in preparation for the season. Those are likely to provide excellent hunting opportunity for hunters looking to work some exercise for themselves and their dogs into their hunting plans. You can find digital maps and locations of trails in the area on the DNR’s website at www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/hwt/index.html or stop by the Tower DNR area office for hard-copy maps.
Change to spruce grouse bag limit
In past years, the bag limit of five grouse included either ruffed or spruce grouse in any combination. Starting this year, the bag limit on spruce grouse has been reduced to two, with four in possession. Spruce grouse appear to be on the decline in much of northern Minnesota, likely due to the changing climate.