Upland hen 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 greatest for sure hunts, and they are often particularly opinionated about whether or not a pointer or a flusher is the only 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 not too long ago, 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 power into pursuing them on account 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 few of the greatest ruffed grouse habitat the U.S. has to supply. Whereas there, I discovered an immense quantity about their habitat, forage, and normal grouse conduct. Most significantly for you, I discovered the right way to dial in most well-liked grouse habitats utilizing modern-day mapping expertise. 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 well-liked Ruffed Grouse Habitat?
Ruffed grouse don’t simply stay wherever. The truth is, they want a fairly particular kind of habitat to outlive in. These upland birds require cowl, loads of floor forage, and protected places 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 the right way to find grouse in what could possibly be expansive outdated clear cuts you’re in luck. I discovered that ruffed grouse don’t sometimes simply stay in the course of their most well-liked habitat. Quite, they sometimes stay alongside the sides of it. The overwhelming majority of our flushes got here whereas strolling logging roads by the center of those outdated clear cuts, or on the sides of the clear cuts the place the successional progress met with older, extra open timber.
In layman’s phrases, if you’re clear cuts you propose to hunt, deal with the sides and transition traces.
Methods to Use onX to Find Early to Mid-Successional Habitat
Discovering a 10-year-old clear minimize may sound tough for those who’re unfamiliar with in the present day’s digital mapping instruments. Until you already know of a minimize that occurred domestically about 10 years in the past, you may be scratching your head making an attempt to determine the place you’ll be able to find and hunt ruffed grouse within the habitat I described earlier.
The excellent news is, it’s truly fairly simple 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, beneath is what my mapping regarded like after we had been making an attempt to find grouse habitat.
As you’ll be able to 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 sides 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 simple. All the completely different disturbances are labeled with the precise 12 months within the app. These areas had been seemingly both logged or burned, creating the right successional progress for grouse to name residence.
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 traces between two favored feeding areas was a recipe for achievement on this hunt. To search out the completely different forest varieties within the app, activate the younger aspen forests, deciduous vs. coniferous, and forest disturbance layers. These three overlays on the map will allow you to differentiate the place the differing habitats are and provide you with an in-depth overview of the looking space earlier than you’re taking a step out of the car.
With out the power to make use of onX to scout the huge areas out there to us in northern Minnesota, finding these scorching spots could be like discovering a needle in a haystack.
Methods to Hunt Successional Habitat As soon as You’ve Discovered It
Now that you simply’re accustomed to utilizing the onX hunt app to find these most well-liked grouse habitats, the enjoyable half begins. On this journey, I had the pleasure of looking over some unbelievable pointing canine, 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 outfitted with GPS collars and a bell to alert us of some extent.
Every time the canine went on level, we shortly 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 edges and one individual in to flush the hen out of the duvet. This gave our group one of the best likelihood of getting a clear shot on the lightning-fast birds after they flushed.
As for making the shot, that’s on you. Ruffed grouse flush quick and, in successional habitat, there may be plenty of cowl it is advisable to thread your photographs by. Correct type is vital. Ensure that to set your toes and swing by fairly than rush the shot. For my hunt, I selected a light-weight Stoeger Condor 20-gauge that I might mount and swing shortly, and paired it with 7 ½ Federal Premium Upland copper plated shot.
Should you had been to hunt these areas with out the assistance of a working canine, you won’t 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 offers you one of the best likelihood to supply some pure flushes. In a small group, deal with the identical areas, however staying 30 to 50 yards aside whereas overlaying floor.
Regardless of the way you select to hunt them, chasing the ‘King of the Woods’ is likely one of the most exhilarating upland hunts you’ll be able to expertise. Their flushes are quick and livid, they usually’re extremely clever about when and the way they flush. Looking over some world class working canine made this hunt that a lot sweeter. Whether or not it’s your first ruffed grouse hunt, otherwise you’re simply trying to discover extra success, focusing your efforts on early to mid-successional habitat is a worthwhile endeavor and can undoubtedly offer you extra alternatives in your subsequent hunt.
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