# Michigan grouse hunting



## Harry1959

Getting excited about grouse season. Always hunt SE ohio some and make 2 trips to Michigan Every year. Mostly hunt around Gladwin. Went to eastern UP last year. We didn't find any more birds there, but they did hold better(less pressured). They say the western UP is better, but I've never been there.
I've probably averaged about 2 flushes/hr the last couple years and their cycle is on the upswing. much, much better than ohio where I probably get 1 flush every 3-4 hrs.
gladwin area got record flooding in late June, I'm concerned that it was rough on all the young chicks. 
Am considering going back to UP or exploring the NW lower Penn. I plan to go October 13-16 and back again at the end of October. I would be interested in trading general info with others who grouse hunt Michigan.


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## Clay Breaken

I'm getting a little excited also. Heading to the UP for the first time in October. Really looking forward to the trip. We will be there October 15-19. 

Last year I went with a buddy of mine and my son to the lower peninsula . We hunted south of Cadillac and also little east of that area. I used MIhunts website and printed off some maps and we got into birds at every location. We also went over and hunted the Lame Duck GEM location on the way home. We had the place to ourselves. Nice place and we moved several birds there also. 

Did some hunting in western PA for the first time last year. We moved a couple birds which surprised me a little because I didn't really have any info on where to go. I spent some time studying maps and got out a walked. We had a little luck on our side apparently. 

I got out one time late season here in Ohio. I hunted down in the norther part of what most would call SE Ohio. Walked some decent ground but didn't move any birds. Plan to get down that way more often this year early in the season. Maybe I will have better luck.


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## Mi-Mic-Kay

Oct 7-14th for me. My wife and another couple going up. Women do there thing and us boys hunt as much as we want or can take! Lower Penn around Wolverine. Always seems to be around the right time for the bonus Timber doodle. The grouse are a little jumpy in that area. Good luck and stay safe guys!


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## Yakeyes

Harry 1959 1 flush every 3-4 hours is pretty good in Ohio anymore. I'm lucky for 1 flush every 6-8 hours where I hunt. I'm planning on hunting Michigan next year for the 1st time. I might hit PA a couple times this year for the fist time. Good luck


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## Harry1959

I'd definitely give Michigan a try. Sooo much public land about 5-6 hous from Dayton. We didn't flush a whole lot last year, but did find a couple birds almost any good cover we went to. If you can find the right spot it's much better.


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## Yakeyes

I will definitely give it a try. I miss jumping grouse. I know of a small pocket of birds I won't hunt just because I like seeing them while bowhunting. I miss the days of putting up 20-30 birds


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## Bassnpro1

I'm going to the eastern UP oct 13-17. We will hunt the lower around grayling on the 17th on our way back. We go every year. Finding the right cover is key. I can tell before I get out of the truck whether we will flush them or not. Northwind mapping will save you so much time and put you in right areas without having to drive around and look for them. MiHunt is decent as well.


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## Harry1959

Were are heading up on Friday the 13th too, may leave on the 12th. Gonna start out in gladwin county and if not moving many birds going to go north. Great habitat all over the upper LP. I will look into northwinds maps. Thanks for the tip on that. In good years we find some birds about anywhere the cover is good. However, a couple years ago when the cycle was at the bottom, We hunted lots of great cover and most didn't produce.


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## Bassnpro1

The lower is fine for birds, but there are definitely more numbers in the up when you find good cover. Obviously finding good cover is the key. The north winds maps are ridiculously good at eliminating time driving around looking for the right cover. Certainly worth the money. Right now they are running 35% off the scout n hunt maps for your computer/phone. Use promo code: SNHSAVE35


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## Yakeyes

Do any of you hunt with pointers? I have hunted grouse with labs but just got a gsp and was wondering how well the grouse hold. She's no where near fully trained yet, she's only 6 months old so I don't have high expectations for this year.


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## PapawSmith

Yakeyes said:


> Do any of you hunt with pointers? I have hunted grouse with labs but just got a gsp and was wondering how well the grouse hold. She's no where near fully trained yet, she's only 6 months old so I don't have high expectations for this year.


The best pointer I've owned, a Braques Francais, I hunted Woodcock and Grouse in Michigan when she was about the same age. While she did outstanding on the Woodcock she just could not get the hang of the Grouse, and never really did. She could always show you where the bird had just been, but had a tough time figuring out where they are right now due to the birds perpensity to run and their amazing stealth. I had trained her on birds that she could head off and get to sit tight for a flush, like Pheasant and Woodcock, and the Grouse just confounded her. As great a hunter as she became, she just never could adjust to a Grouse behavior and when I would hunt her on them they would frustrate the hell out of her, and me.


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## Yakeyes

I was a little concerned about that, and almost expected it. How far did your pup range? I am planning on training her as a close working dog. But only time will tell. Me and my son are going to set up a ground blind in a couple hours and I'm going to try to work the pup on a couple woodcock today before the season starts


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## PapawSmith

She hunted pretty close, they way I like it, she would seldom range beyond 30-40 yards unless she was strong on a bird. When she got out she seemed aware of it and if she had a bird she was great at hold so we could get caught up. If there were 4 or 5 of us behind her she would still keep close but range left and right to cover all of the ground, which was great and effective. A lot of her habits, like the wide range for a group, were not taught by me but instead just how she hunted because she loved to hunt as much or more than any of us out there with her. I hope you end up with the very same dog, hard to beat a day in the field with an animal like that.


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## Harry1959

Yakeyes said:


> Do any of you hunt with pointers? I have hunted grouse with labs but just got a gsp and was wondering how well the grouse hold. She's no where near fully trained yet, she's only 6 months old so I don't have high expectations for this year.


 I've owned two GSP. One was a well bred female from rugerhimers kennels. She ranged about 100 yards and was a brush busting hunt till she dropped, ball of fire.
The others was a male pup out of the fore mentioned female. He pretty much stayed within 30-40 yards, avoided briar patches. If I walked the trail, he wanted to walk the trail. However if I got in the aspen or thicker cover, he'd get in it and hunt. He hunted slowly and methodically. He was much easier to train than his mother. Although he didn't find as many birds, I killed a lot of birds over him and enjoyed his slow pace. When there were plenty of birds, the closer hunting dog was nice to hunt with. However overall I prefer the bigger running female to find birds when they are sparse.
Kind of odd odd how a high powered female can produce such a calm, close working pup. I don't know how common that is?
Both were wonderful, affectionate pets as well.


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## Mi-Mic-Kay

I've had 3 close working Brits and they've all done good on Grouse. I've seen them go on point from 25yds away, with the right wind, and the grouse just bust with nobody moving. Grouse are going to do what a grouse wants to do. Depends on how much they've been pressured.


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## buckeyebowman

My buddy and I have found grouse in NW PA nearly every time we've gone. He had a trailer near a state game land, and the PGC manages the habitat for grouse. Meaning that they sell timber rights. Grouse love successional habitat. Those thickets of saplings that are hell to walk through. Or, areas where wild grapes have dragged down trees to open up the woods a bit.


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## Full_Choke

Not trying to change the subject but looking for info on what guns you use. I recently started hunting the U.P.


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## Bassnpro1

Full_Choke said:


> Not trying to change the subject but looking for info on what guns you use. I recently started hunting the U.P.



I have a 20ga ruger red label that I use. The gun really doesn't matter. Being able to shoot it matters 100% more than the make.


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## Harry1959

Franchi al48 20 gauge semi auto. 28 inch barrel Weighs right around 5.5 pounds. 
Agree with bassn, the brand don't matter, as long as it fits you. I am 5' 6" and have my shotgun stocks shortened, or put a thinner recoil pad on .


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## Yakeyes

I'm looking at getting a over and under but I have been using a Remington 1100 12 gauge and a mossburg 500 20 gauge. Agree with above comments both my guns are cheaper guns, you just gotta shoot straight


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## Bprice1031

The gun doesn't have to be expensive to shoot straight. Doesn't matter what you shoot as long as it fits you and you're comfortable with it.


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## buckeyebowman

Harry1959 said:


> I've owned two GSP. One was a well bred female from rugerhimers kennels. She ranged about 100 yards and was a brush busting hunt till she dropped, ball of fire.
> The others was a male pup out of the fore mentioned female. He pretty much stayed within 30-40 yards, avoided briar patches. If I walked the trail, he wanted to walk the trail. However if I got in the aspen or thicker cover, he'd get in it and hunt. He hunted slowly and methodically. He was much easier to train than his mother. Although he didn't find as many birds, I killed a lot of birds over him and enjoyed his slow pace. When there were plenty of birds, the closer hunting dog was nice to hunt with. However overall I prefer the bigger running female to find birds when they are sparse.
> Kind of odd odd how a high powered female can produce such a calm, close working pup. I don't know how common that is?
> Both were wonderful, affectionate pets as well.


I've noticed the same in my buddy's GSP's. Abigail will literally hunt till she drops! Although one day she'll be "horizon dog" and the next she'll hunt no more than 50 yards away. 

I did notice that we have a better chance of her working close if we take her out alone, and not with her Sisters! They are extremely competitive, and Abby wants to be the one who finds the birds and gets the retrieves. That's when she'll blow out on us and seem to be hunting for herself. 

And Abby will walk a trail with us, but I notice that she seems to recognize the kind of cover that might hold a bird, and will leave the trail to check it out. And if we see her start throwing her nose in the air, we know to get ready! 

Other times we've had her seem to keep working the same old ground over and over. If my buddy tries to call her off and she won't listen, we've had to learn to just let her keep on working. It's usually some crafty rooster running corkscrews in there! Eventually she figures it out, and the bird goes up. And she has made some absolutely mind boggling retrieves! 



Yakeyes said:


> I'm looking at getting a over and under but I have been using a Remington 1100 12 gauge and a mossburg 500 20 gauge. Agree with above comments both my guns are cheaper guns, you just gotta shoot straight


Not just straight, but quick! A fast swinging, but steady gun is a must. Grouse are the Top Fuel dragsters of the bird world!


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## Shortdrift

There was great grouse hunting back in the late 60's / to mid 70's in SE Ohio and then it seemed to crash. I still have my Ithica double, 26" barrels, imp cyl and mod 12 gauge which was a great fast pointing gun. I would like to get it to someone that would use it but it is darn difficult to part with.


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## Misdirection

I have two GSP's. An old female (14) and a young male (2). Both are hunting machines that will go wherever needed. I will say the old dog has lost a step or two, but the young one caught a grouse and brought it back to me last year!


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## PapawSmith

Shortdrift said:


> There was great grouse hunting back in the late 60's / to mid 70's in SE Ohio and then it seemed to crash. I still have my Ithica double, 26" barrels, imp cyl and mod 12 gauge which was a great fast pointing gun. I would like to get it to someone that would use it but it is darn difficult to part with.


I say you hunt it a few more times before you try to part with it. There is still great Grouse hunting in the UP and it is only a day away.


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## Yakeyes

Shortdrift said:


> There was great grouse hunting back in the late 60's / to mid 70's in SE Ohio and then it seemed to crash. I still have my Ithica double, 26" barrels, imp cyl and mod 12 gauge which was a great fast pointing gun. I would like to get it to someone that would use it but it is darn difficult to part with.


I wish I could of seen it in the 60's and 70's when everyone said it was great because I thought it was great in the late 80's through the mid 90's when I started hunting lol. I remember my dad telling me stories on the # of birds they put up each trip down to southern Ohio and I just wish I could have seen that. I can't wait for my Michigan trip next year!


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## buckeyebowman

Shortdrift said:


> There was great grouse hunting back in the late 60's / to mid 70's in SE Ohio and then it seemed to crash. I still have my Ithica double, 26" barrels, imp cyl and mod 12 gauge which was a great fast pointing gun. I would like to get it to someone that would use it but it is darn difficult to part with.


Oh man! In the '70's and into the '80's there was some great grouse hunting in NE Ohio! We had a place just south of Lisbon that was chock full of them! Big hardwood timber (oak, maple, beech) that was loaded with wild grape! All we'd do was go from grape vine tangle to grape vine tangle! I could get limits and couldn't shoot worth a crap on grouse! Still can't. 

Heck, even Beaver Creek State Park had a load of them. Nearly had several heart attacks walking in to a deer stand in the black dark, and have a grouse go roaring out from underfoot! There's no thrill quite like that. 

Haven't seen a grouse in years. Not even a "sound flush" where you hear the bird thunder away but never actually lay eyes on it.


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## Full_Choke

I could get three days of grouse hunting before deer opening on Nov 15th. Got just one day last year. They sure take you by surprise ! Did get a snow shoe hare. Look forward to hunting with a dog some time.
The reason I asked about guns is I was thing switching to a 20 and something lighter.


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## Overwatchmike

If you guys ever get a chance to run north of the border you'd be amazed at the grouse hunting that can be had in Ontario! They are every where and in a short one mile walk from my cabin I can jump 15 to 20 birds. Like other areas some are better then others but in a whole it's nothing short of amazing! Both Spruce and ruffed grouse.


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## Mi-Mic-Kay

I've fished Ontario & Quebec for years and I'm always amazed by the amount of grouse up there. Some day I'll take the dog & side-by-side too...


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## Bassnpro1

We did great. Got 23 grouse on our 4 day trip between 7 people


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## Mi-Mic-Kay

Wow! You did get into the birds! Were the Timberdoodles still up there?


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## Harry1959

Dayum. Those are great numbers. Most aren't finding many birds, including us. We didn't even get near 23 grouse flushes, let alone kills. 2 of us hunted 3 days. Lost half a day to rain and another day my buddies setter bit into a porcupine, he got it bad.


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## buckeyebowman

Holy smokes! That ain't huntin', that's gettin'! Man would I love that. No game bird like a grouse!


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## Bassnpro1

It was nice to bring a bunch of grouse home. We ate 9 while we were up there and everybody had 2-3 to bring home. Numbers were good. We probably averaged 25-30 flushes a day. The lower seemed to have slightly better numbers than the upper. The upper was more scattered, but we had a couple walks that were incredible. In one small stretch we had 18 flushes and 4 in hand. 

Woodcocks weren't as numerous as I expected, but if you walked woodcock cover they were there. Probably had 10 woodcock flushes a day.


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## Bassnpro1

buckeyebowman said:


> Holy smokes! That ain't huntin', that's gettin'! Man would I love that. No game bird like a grouse!



Very true. Ruffed grouse are the King. So good on the table as well. 

" there are two kinds of hunting: ordinary hunting and ruffed grouse hunting" -Aldo leopold


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## Mi-Mic-Kay

I had a buddy come up for the first time and hunt the first 3 days. He'd never done this before so I took him to woodcock cover where he'd have plenty of opportunities and better chance of hitting something. We had at least 3-4 dozen flushes a day. He managed to shoot 5 woodcock and can't wait to come back next year. After he left to go home I spent the last 2 days doing wife things and resting I did manage a couple hours in the afternoon both days in grouse cover. Had over a dozen flushes both days just hard to get those rascals cornered when your a 1 man band! (did have a few shots but my little pointing buddy was not impressed...) We did manage to bring home 17 timberdoodles, they're always a blast to shoot! and eat!


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## Overwatchmike

Just got back from my camp and figured I'd give you my sightings for the week that I was up. The 2 track heading back to camp is 8.6 miles long and I traveled it a total of 6 times. For the week I counted 63 Ruffed grouse and 5 Spruce grouse. I did very limited quad riding because of moose season so I won't count those birds.

I agree that pretty much nothing compares to them as table fare. That is Ruffed grouse. Spruce grouse on the other hand is A LOT darker meat and has a totally different taste..... Not bad, just a unique taste.


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## Harry1959

Glad you guys found a lot of birds. Honestly, this was my 2nd less productive year in the 17 years I've been going. Didn't really target woodcock, but flushed a few of those everyday, didn't really get into them. Sounds like it's a good year for them.
We didn't even get to shoot at a grouse until the last day(flushed 7). 4 of the 7 we flushed were in mature oak, bordering thick, prime aspen. 
Mi-mic, I think you said you hunted the central northern LP, was wondering what type of cover you found your grouse in?
I'm going back the 1st week of November and hope to do better.
A lot of the guys on "Michigan Sportsman Forum" are saying it's the worst year for grouse that they have ever seen. Maybe the hatch survival was real good in some areas and terrible in others? I know some areas got pounded with June rain, while others didn't get it so bad.
Thanks for the positive reports, it gives me hope! Lol


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## Mi-Mic-Kay

I hunt the area around Wolverine, both east and west of the interstate. I find the majority of the grouse that will give you an open shot (if that even makes sense) is a meadow with grass and ferns with spruce trees here and there, walk the edges where it meets the timber. Also, young clear cuts that seem like the saplings are every 6" apart I target for doodles but as the clear cuts get a little older, with spruce or snags here and there is where I have a better chance of getting a shot at grouse. Not to say you won't find both in the same locations. I've been going up for a while and it takes a lot of time to find good locations, and they're always changing. 

And you can always walk the two-tracks with cover and find birds...


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## Full_Choke

I'm ready to head up to the U.P. Picked up a new shot gun, might not be able to hit anything with it but it wont get heavy !


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## buckeyebowman

Mi-Mic-Kay said:


> I hunt the area around Wolverine, both east and west of the interstate. I find the majority of the grouse that will give you an open shot (if that even makes sense) is a meadow with grass and ferns with spruce trees here and there, walk the edges where it meets the timber. Also, young clear cuts that seem like the saplings are every 6" apart I target for doodles but as the clear cuts get a little older, with spruce or snags here and there is where I have a better chance of getting a shot at grouse. Not to say you won't find both in the same locations. I've been going up for a while and it takes a lot of time to find good locations, and they're always changing.
> 
> True that! My buddy used to own a travel trailer in a park that butted up against a state game land near Cook Forest, PA. The PA Game Commission would sell tracts of timber in that SGL, and manipulate some of the habitat for grouse. We could always manage to flush some there.
> 
> Wish that Ohio would do stuff like that, but then, the ruffed grouse isn't Ohio's state bird!
> 
> And you can always walk the two-tracks with cover and find birds...


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## Harry1959

guys, its that time again. Headed for rose city area around oct 12-14th(less than 3 weeks) then going back the last week of oct for 5 days. Didnt do as well as I had expected last year, but did do better on our early november trip than mid oct. most say the numbers werent very good last year, Also birds were hard to find due to early draught. Reading a few good reports for this year on the Michigan forum. it should be getting towards the top of the cycle. Hopefully West Nile virus isnt hurting us too bad.


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## Mi-Mic-Kay

I'm heading up this Sat for a week then back up the middle of Oct for a half week. I heard the spring drum counts were good but the road count this summer were down, there blaming it on West Nile will see??


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## Harry1959

Good luck mic-Kay. Should be good numbers of woodcock that weekend too. 
Michigan is just starting to study effects of WNV on grouse. I think the DNR said 4 of the grouse they tested last year were positive. Don’t know how many were tested. Also heard they are going to have hunters send in tissue samples for testing. At any rate there will be birds and it will be fun!


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