Upland chook 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 dimension is finest 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 subjects, 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, though I grew up in a traditionally productive state. Whereas I’ve seen a number 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 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 normal grouse conduct. Most significantly for you, I discovered easy methods to dial in most popular 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 search out extra success.
What’s Most popular Ruffed Grouse Habitat?
Ruffed grouse don’t simply stay anyplace. In actual fact, they want a slightly 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 development within the 3- to 15-year-old vary. Sometimes following a disturbance like clear chopping, 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 easy methods to find grouse in what may very well be expansive previous clear cuts you’re in luck. I discovered that ruffed grouse don’t sometimes simply stay in the course of their most popular habitat. Quite, they sometimes stay alongside the sides of it. The overwhelming majority of our flushes got here whereas strolling logging roads by means of the center of those previous clear cuts, or on the sides of the clear cuts the place the successional development met with older, extra open timber.
In layman’s phrases, whenever you’re taking a look at clear cuts you intend to hunt, deal with the sides and transition traces.
How one can Use onX to Find Early to Mid-Successional Habitat
Discovering a 10-year-old clear minimize would possibly sound troublesome for those who’re unfamiliar with immediately’s digital mapping instruments. Until you understand of a minimize that occurred regionally about 10 years in the past, you could 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 facility to search out and scout for ruffed grouse habitat is correct at your fingertips.
To assist stroll you thru the method of scouting and discovering these areas, beneath is what my mapping regarded 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. Through the use of the forest disturbance layer, our group was in a position to hone in on a big tract of successional development 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 slightly below half an hour.
Discovering forest disturbance areas inside the previous 8 to 12 years was, fortunately, extremely straightforward. The entire totally different disturbances are labeled with the precise yr within the app. These areas had been doubtless both logged or burned, creating the right successional development for grouse to name house.
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 the next cover and fewer floor cowl than the thicker successional development, 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 totally 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 make it easier 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 obtainable to us in northern Minnesota, finding these scorching spots could be like discovering a needle in a haystack.
How one can 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 popular grouse habitats, the enjoyable half begins. On this journey, I had the pleasure of looking over some unimaginable 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 development timber and the youthful successional development making an attempt to choose 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 manner in the direction of them and bracketed the realm we believed the grouse to be in. With a small group, we had been in a position to ship flankers to the edges and one particular person in to flush the chook out of the duvet. This gave our group one of the best probability 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 might be a variety of cowl you could thread your pictures by means of. Correct type is vital. Make sure that to set your ft and swing by means of slightly 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.
When you had been to hunt these areas with out the assistance of a working canine, you won’t produce as many flushes, nevertheless it’s actually doable. For a solo hunter, work excessive proportion areas like logging roads or transition edges. That provides you with one of the best probability to provide some pure flushes. In a small group, deal with the identical areas, however staying 30 to 50 yards aside whereas masking floor.
Regardless 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. Looking 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 trying 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.
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