09 hunt...WI for grouse or KS for pheasant/quail

[luke0927]

Never been to either for those that have hunted both or at least one of them what are your thoughts.....i was pretty set on trying to go to Kansas but im hearing that this years is supposed to be close to the top for one of the cycles of grouse in Wisconsin....i have never hunted grouse outside of GA which is basically hiking in the mountains with dogs...i did hunt pheasant last year but wanted to try a more mixed bag and get on quail besides here in GA...thats why i was thinking KS....what do you think?

[Gordon Guy]

Go one state over to MN for Grouse and Woodcock, then head to central or even southern MN for Pheasant. MN is a sleeper state for those ditch parrots. In the south western corner there's lots of public lands to try. Even in central MN there is a decent population of pheasants that not many folks are aware of because there's not much public land there. Knocking on a few doors may get you somewhere. Most folks head far north for grouse but there are plenty in the central part of MN as well, south of Wadena, as well as pheasants. I've shot grouse out of corn and soybean fields that were adjacent to woodlots. I've actually flushed grouse, woodcock and pheasants on the same hunt. On a hunt around Crookston MN in I've had points on Grouse, Woodcock and Greater Prairie Chickens within minutes of each other.

Good luck

[grousewoods]

sheeee!

[PntrRookie]

If you are coming that far, I too would start in MN for the grouse. Then pick to either head south & west for pheasants or head straight west to ND for sharptails! Since you are up there you might as well try to get it all done! Plus there are no birds in WI anymore to many turkeys and wolves

[BigShooter]

I would definitely head to WI. Great grouse & woodcock hunting with pheasants further south, plus it's a lot closer.

[djloder]

[quote="Gordon Guy"]Go one state over to MN for Grouse and Woodcock, then head to central or even southern MN for Pheasant. MN is a sleeper state for those ditch parrots.

Hey that’s a secret! Yeah there are no birds here in Minnesota anyway. Don't waste your time, shoot the WI birds.
That way there is more for my frenchy and me.

[rkelly]

I heard none of the birds made it through the long Minnesota winter

[BigShooter]

I've had points on Grouse, Woodcock and Greater Prairie Chickens within minutes of each other.

Gordon Guy forgot to mention, Prairie Chicken hunting is open to MN residents only by lottery. The season is only four days long with a total quota of 186 birds in 11 permit areas. So don't plan on that.

Minnesota has some decent hunting but the DNR or Game & Fish Depts. in the States of WI, IA, ND, SD & NE will attest to the fact they rely heavily on out of state license fees obtained from over 100,000 MN hunters that seek much better hunting out of state. Check out each State's websites & do a few other web searches, I think you can come up with last year's estimated harvest numbers by species for nearly any State you're interested in. Compare that to the number of licenses sold by each State and you'll have a pretty good idea of hunter success rates.

[fordman]

Minn sounds like the hot setup so far!

[BigShooter]

fordman,

What State do you live in now and what State did you grow up in?

[fordman]

MI----MI

[BigShooter]

The 2009 mean drumming counts for the forested areas of MN was 2.0 & for the northern region of WI it was 1.76. Both States are expected to have good numbers of birds in 2009 & your success will depend upon where you go and whether you get into the right grouse habitat. There are increasing numbers of reports of wolves killing dogs in both States so that is a safety concern for your dog while you are hunting in the woods. The upper peninsula of MI has good ruffed grouse numbers as well. The ruffed grouse in all three states and much of Canada are on the same ten year cycle that is expected to peak in 2010.

Everyone is just having fun trying to draw your attention away from the State they live or hunt in, right fordman?!!!

[fordman]

Well not exactly talked to quite a few people that said Park Falls area is the grouse capital also heard it is the Tick capital. By the numbers you posted it looks like Mn is still the hot spot for this year.

[Shadow]

Go one state over to MN for Grouse and Woodcock, then head to central or even southern MN for Pheasant. MN is a sleeper state for those ditch parrots. In the south western corner there's lots of public lands to try. Even in central MN there is a decent population of pheasants that not many folks are aware of because there's not much public land there. Knocking on a few doors may get you somewhere. Most folks head far north for grouse but there are plenty in the central part of MN as well, south of Wadena, as well as pheasants. I've shot grouse out of corn and soybean fields that were adjacent to woodlots. I've actually flushed grouse, woodcock and pheasants on the same hunt. On a hunt around Crookston MN in I've had points on Grouse, Woodcock and Greater Prairie Chickens within minutes of each other.

Good luck

pack up your vehicle and head for some camping and good outdoors time
Wadena and north- check out tax forefited logging lands- there's some good ones- pot hole jumping for ducks also- might want to pattern some steel loads- surprising when you get into the woods sometimes- grouse seem to hang arround small ponds and recently logged areas

SW is quite good for pheasants- again- steel shot is required some places- 7 steel does pretty good
all alone you might find Minn quite rewarding

[Vizsla Vince]

I finally talked my brother-in-law to let me grouse hunt on his deer hunting land. I'm totally pumped! I've never grouse hunted before...

What's even better is my son just got stationed @ Ellsworth AFB, SD! I'm planning to make a visit out that way in Nov., & take him a little east for phez!!

[Windyhills]

Couple of thoughts for ya...

The Grouse cycles don't crash and burn in a year so there should be good numbers for a few years now.

I am less hopeful about pheasant populations with the dramatic loss of CRP and the equally troubling (unless you have the $$ to pay to hunt or ability to hunt private lands) loss of publicly accessible walk-in area lands. Faced between the two, I'd chase pheasants in some pheasant haven this year and grouse next year.

Or for a combo, the MN/Dakota's combo would be a good idea if you can afford the travel and multiple license fees.

Wolves aren't as big a problem as some say, and the WI folks really like to play it up...we've had 3-4 times more wolves than they have now for many, many years, and problems just are not that common.

Some of the folks here are promiting some of the western fringe of grouse habitat/northern fringe of pheasant for hunting, and I'm not so sure about that. Tougher winter last year and pheasant's took a bit of a hit in some places there. Will be some sure, but nothing like they'll have in the dakota's or further SW in MN in the areas that weren't as hard hit by the winter. Parts of ND were hammered too, but early reports sound a bit more encouraging. If you are undecided and can wait, you might want to wait until the roadside counts come out in another month....

[BigShooter]

[quote="Windyhills"]

Wolves aren't as big a problem as some say, and the WI folks really like to play it up...we've had 3-4 times more wolves than they have now for many, many years, and problems just are not that common.

[quote]

FYI - It was just reported in the news again today, July 31st, that four more bear-hunting dogs were just killed by wolves in Northern Wisconsin while running free during bear-hunting training sessions. The DNR is urging hunters to avoid areas where wolves are known to concentrate. The DNR lists areas to avoid at http://www.dnr.state.wi.us.

[Mike50]

Wolves aren't as big a problem as some say, and the WI folks really like to play it up...we've had 3-4 times more wolves than they have now for many, many years, and problems just are not that common.

FYI - It was just reported in the news again today, July 31st, that four more bear-hunting dogs were just killed by wolves in Northern Wisconsin while running free during bear-hunting training sessions. The DNR is urging hunters to avoid areas where wolves are known to concentrate. The DNR lists areas to avoid at http://www.dnr.state.wi.us.

Which link to view the reports?
thanks,

[BigShooter]

I was passing along information published in the local daily newspaper & haven't looked at the link myself. If you can't find the info on their website you can always use their contact info to get ahold of the DNR directly.

[BigShooter]

It was reported again this week that two more bear hunting dogs were just killed by wolves in Northern Wisconsin. If I recall that's 10 bear hunting dogs killed by wolves so far during late July & early August. I doubt it is as much of a problem for upland hunters and their dogs especially if you don't hunt in the areas the WI DNR says to avoid.

By the way we have a lot more wolves in MInnesota than they do in Wisconsin but MN doesn't allow bear hunting with dogs.

[Dave Quindt]

It was reported again this week that two more bear hunting dogs were just killed by wolves in Northern Wisconsin. If I recall that's 10 bear hunting dogs killed by wolves so far during late July & early August.

The 2009 list of wolf/deer incidents can be found here:
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/mammals/w ... depred.htm

We're currently up to 11 kills and 6 injuries on the DNR's list. It include a dachshund that was killed in someone's yard. There are a number of other incidents that have made the press involving wolf/dog near-incidents around residences. Last year a cocker spaniel was killed while running 100 yards ahead of it's owner on a town road, in April. The year before an elderly GSP was killed while walking 50 yard behind it's owner. The rate of incidents between wolves and bear hounds has been growing, but the rate of incidents between wolves and other dogs, including bird dogs, is growing at a much higher rate.

I doubt it is as much of a problem for upland hunters and their dogs especially if you don't hunt in the areas the WI DNR says to avoid.

That's funny! If you avoid all the pack areas where wolf/dog incidents have occurred over the last 3 years, you'll be grouse hunting in Minnesota. I know guys who have saved and scrimped to buy a cabin with 120 acres, have groomed the property for quality grouse habitat and have had 4 dogs killed within 2 miles over the past 3 years. What are they supposed to do?

By the way we have a lot more wolves in Minnesota than they do in Wisconsin but MN doesn't allow bear hunting with dogs.

You have more wolves, but the bulk of your wolves are in areas with much lower population and road densities than Wisconsin. Even with less wolves, Wisconsin will have more wolf/human interaction than Minnesota.

We have a mess in Wisconsin, and it will get worse before anything changes. The DNR has been unwilling to accept that it's estimates of wolf numbers were wrong, and that wolves do not shy away from human interaction as we were told they would. WI law has put sportsmen in a bad position of having to commit a crime in order to stop a wolf attack from taking place; if you shoot a wolf when it's attacking your dog on land where you are not the landowner, you have committed a crime.

Having said all of that, I will continue to grouse hunt in WI. Grouse hunting has always been risky; from the roads and the bears and the deer to the fungus in the ground itself. Wolves just add another, very unpredictable, risk.

The problem I have is that while losing a dog to an accident on the road, or in the field would be a horrible event, loosing one to a wolf would be to me a game changer. I doubt I'd grouse hunt again, as I could never feel comfortable in the woods. And that's not a good feeling to have going into this season, or any other.

JMO,
Dave

[Mike50]

Were ever you decide to hunt grouse. UP. WI. MN. Watch your dog if he starts acting funny. Sticks to you like glue won't get out and hunt. Pick up and leave. My guy did it twice last year it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He normally hunts grouse 150 yards out. Then he wouldn't leave the logging road I was on he was always in sight and kept looking back for me. I knew there was something wrong. Trust your dog!

[Mike50]

Up here hunting grouse I want them checking in ever 2 or 3 min. Most will say that's to soon. If you've ever walk 2 or 3 minutes threw heavy cover. You'll think that's not soon enough. You'll be breaking a sweat the first 30 yards. Besides I want to know we're both heading north not west.

[BigShooter]

Wolves aren't as big a problem as some say, and the WI folks really like to play it up...we've had 3-4 times more wolves than they have now for many, many years, and problems just are not that common.

That's funny! If you avoid all the pack areas where wolf/dog incidents have occurred over the last 3 years, you'll be grouse hunting in Minnesota. I know guys who have saved and scrimped to buy a cabin with 120 acres, have groomed the property for quality grouse habitat and have had 4 dogs killed within 2 miles over the past 3 years. What are they supposed to do?

A little over a year ago a young dog reportedly was killed by brush wolves (coyotes) when it went lost, off course in a field trial in a western suburb of Minneapolis, MN. The young dog apparently wandered off near a den site.

I've posted a number of times in this thread about the ever increasing number of bear hunting dogs killed by wolves to highlight the issue so rookies going grouse hunting in MI, MN & WI are aware of the issue. Recently it's been the bear hunting dogs in training that are the ones reportedly being killed. Wolves have killed home owner's pets for years. After losing a dog off their porch about 23 years ago near Baudette, MN a friend of mine bought two Irish Wolfhounds for pets around the house and yard. They were never killed by wolves.

[Gordon Guy]

[/quote]Gordon Guy forgot to mention, Prairie Chicken hunting is open to MN residents only by lottery. The season is only four days long with a total quota of 186 birds in 11 permit areas. So don't plan on that.

Minnesota has some decent hunting but the DNR or Game & Fish Depts. in the States of WI, IA, ND, SD & NE will attest to the fact they rely heavily on out of state license fees obtained from over 100,000 MN hunters that seek much better hunting out of state. Check out each State's websites & do a few other web searches, I think you can come up with last year's estimated harvest numbers by species for nearly any State you're interested in. Compare that to the number of licenses sold by each State and you'll have a pretty good idea of hunter success rates.[/quote]

That's true the PC season is only for those how live there, but it was sure great to see them. There is a ailment known to hunters and fishermen that cause them to think the grass is greener in another state. It may be, but I'm guessing, that they drive by loads of game on their way somewhere else.

I use to live in ND and my acquanitances (sp?) that liked shooting Sharptails would travel 300 miles to western ND to hunt them in the badlands area and north. Not realizing there are plenty of Grouse in within 30 minutes of where they lived. I would see on average of 40 to 60 bird a day and maybe 1 or 2 other grouse hunters all season. The ND Game and fish departments population charts reflected no Sharptails in that area so it was always bypast by folks that didn't know any better. My friends ask how I know about these areas, I tell them "I get out of the truck"