Upland chicken hunters are a singular group of people. They’re well-known for being very choosy about which gauge to make use of, or which shot measurement is finest for sure hunts, and they are often particularly opinionated about whether or not a pointer or a flusher is your best option for a looking companion. Whereas there are arguments about every of these matters, there’s one factor that upland hunters can all agree on, ruffed grouse have earned their title of ‘King of the Woods’.
Till just lately, I hadn’t hunted ruffed grouse, despite the fact that I grew up in a traditionally productive state. Whereas I’ve seen a couple of flush throughout deer drives or scouting missions in my lifetime, I by no means dedicated the time and vitality into pursuing them as a result of their dwindling numbers. Pennsylvania has seen a extreme drop off in grouse populations within the final 20 years due primarily to habitat loss.
On the finish of October, I used to be given the chance to move to northern Minnesota with onX Hunt and Camp Chef to pursue the ‘King of the Woods’ in a number of the finest ruffed grouse habitat the U.S. has to supply. Whereas there, I discovered an immense quantity about their habitat, forage, and common grouse conduct. Most significantly for you, I discovered tips on how to dial in most popular grouse habitats utilizing modern-day mapping know-how. Right here’s what I discovered and how one can apply it to your future grouse hunts to seek out extra success.
What’s Most popular Ruffed Grouse Habitat?
Ruffed grouse don’t simply dwell anyplace. The truth is, they want a relatively particular kind of habitat to outlive in. These upland birds require cowl, loads of floor forage, and protected areas to nest and roost to keep away from predators. For ruffed grouse, there’s nothing higher than early to mid-successional habitat.
Early to mid-successional habitat is described as a panorama that has progress within the 3- to 15-year-old vary. Sometimes following a disturbance like clear slicing, this habitat has had time and daylight to develop again right into a low cover thicket. In Minnesota, these thickets had been primarily made up of deciduous quick rising softwoods like aspen, birch, and alder.
What makes these areas so interesting to ruffed grouse is the immense quantity of canopy and forage. The place we spent most of our time, there was forage seemingly in every single place. With an abundance of tag alders, hazel brush, wild clover, wild strawberry leaves, catkins, dogwood berries, aspen buds, and excessive bush cranberry, there was a plethora of meals amongst the duvet they wanted to remain protected from predators.
Now, if you end up questioning tips on how to find grouse in what could possibly be expansive outdated clear cuts you’re in luck. I discovered that ruffed grouse don’t usually simply dwell in the midst of their most popular habitat. Moderately, they usually dwell alongside the perimeters of it. The overwhelming majority of our flushes got here whereas strolling logging roads by means of the center of those outdated clear cuts, or on the perimeters of the clear cuts the place the successional progress met with older, extra open timber.
In layman’s phrases, once you’re taking a look at clear cuts you propose to hunt, concentrate on the perimeters and transition strains.
The right way to Use onX to Find Early to Mid-Successional Habitat
Discovering a 10-year-old clear reduce may sound tough in the event you’re unfamiliar with at present’s digital mapping instruments. Until you realize of a reduce that occurred regionally about 10 years in the past, you is likely to be scratching your head making an attempt to determine the place you may find and hunt ruffed grouse within the habitat I described earlier.
The excellent news is, it’s really fairly straightforward to find this successional habitat utilizing the onX hunt app. With layers for each state like younger aspen forests, historic timber cuts, historic timber disturbance, and even ruffed grouse administration areas (RGMA’s), the ability to seek out and scout for ruffed grouse habitat is true at your fingertips.
To assist stroll you thru the method of scouting and discovering these areas, under is what my mapping seemed like once we had been making an attempt to find grouse habitat.
As you may see, the three grouse waypoints (marking flushes) are all on the transition edges of the differing habitats. By utilizing the forest disturbance layer, our group was capable of hone in on a big tract of successional progress and let the pointers do the remainder of the work for us. As we labored alongside the perimeters utilizing the overgrown logging roads and wind to our benefit, we managed three flushes in just below half an hour.
Discovering forest disturbance areas inside the previous 8 to 12 years was, fortunately, extremely straightforward. All the totally different disturbances are labeled with the precise 12 months within the app. These areas had been possible both logged or burned, creating the proper successional progress for grouse to name dwelling.
Together with the forest disturbance, one other key was to hunt the transition edges that had younger aspen forests versus older hardwood forests. Whereas the younger aspen forests had a better cover and fewer floor cowl than the thicker successional progress, there have been nonetheless some small pockets of hazel brush and tag alders for the grouse to feed on. Strolling the transition strains between two favored feeding areas was a recipe for fulfillment on this hunt. To seek out the totally different forest sorts within the app, activate the younger aspen forests, deciduous vs. coniferous, and forest disturbance layers. These three overlays on the map will show you how to differentiate the place the differing habitats are and offer you an in-depth overview of the looking space earlier than you are taking a step out of the car.
With out the power to make use of onX to scout the huge areas accessible to us in northern Minnesota, finding these scorching spots can be like discovering a needle in a haystack.
The right way to Hunt Successional Habitat As soon as You’ve Discovered It
Now that you just’re aware of utilizing the onX hunt app to find these most popular grouse habitats, the enjoyable half begins. On this journey, I had the pleasure of looking over some unbelievable pointing canines, English setters to be precise. As we tried to remain alongside the transition edges of the successional habitat, the setters would weave out and in of the open older progress timber and the youthful successional progress making an attempt to select up contemporary scent. The setters had been geared up with GPS collars and a bell to alert us of some extent.
Every time the canines went on level, we rapidly made our means in direction of them and bracketed the realm we believed the grouse to be in. With a small group, we had been capable of ship flankers to the perimeters and one individual in to flush the chicken out of the duvet. This gave our group one of the best likelihood of getting a clear shot on the lightning-fast birds once they flushed.
As for making the shot, that’s on you. Ruffed grouse flush quick and, in successional habitat, there could be loads of cowl you should thread your photographs by means of. Correct type is vital. Be sure that to set your ft and swing by means of relatively than rush the shot. For my hunt, I selected a light-weight Stoeger Condor 20-gauge that I might mount and swing rapidly, and paired it with 7 ½ Federal Premium Upland copper plated shot.
In case you had been to hunt these areas with out the assistance of a working canine, you may not produce as many flushes, but it surely’s actually doable. For a solo hunter, work excessive proportion areas like logging roads or transition edges. That will provide you with one of the best likelihood to provide some pure flushes. In a small group, concentrate on the identical areas, however staying 30 to 50 yards aside whereas overlaying floor.
Irrespective of the way you select to hunt them, chasing the ‘King of the Woods’ is without doubt one of the most exhilarating upland hunts you may expertise. Their flushes are quick and livid, they usually’re extremely clever about when and the way they flush. Searching over some world class working canines made this hunt that a lot sweeter. Whether or not it’s your first ruffed grouse hunt, otherwise you’re simply seeking to discover extra success, focusing your efforts on early to mid-successional habitat is a worthwhile endeavor and can undoubtedly give you extra alternatives in your subsequent hunt.
The Greatest Offers on Out of doors Gear Presents
Trending Merchandise
