The good news for grouse hunters came early this year. Spring drumming counts of ruffed grouse were up 34 percent from the previous year, possibly foreshadowing an upswing in the 10-year grouse population cycle.
Then nesting season came - cold and wet.
The peak of hatching usually is around June 10, said Charlotte Roy, grouse project leader for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources at Grand Rapids.
“It was chilly all through June when the young would have been leaving the nest,” Roy said. “Conditions were not what I would consider favorable.”
Grouse seasons open in Minnesota and Wisconsin on Saturday.
Two factors determine numbers of ruffed grouse on the landscape each fall, Roy said. One is the breeding population, which is reflected in the numbers of grouse drumming in early spring. The other is the production of young, which is affected by nest success and chick survival.
“There was lots of rain in northern parts of the state,” Roy said. “We received heavy rainfall numerous times.”
When that happens, some chicks die.
“It does seem like we had a real wet May and June,” said Chris Balzer, DNR area wildlife manager at Cloquet. “That might have had an impact. I suspect we’ll have a season similar to last year, maybe slightly better.”
The grouse population has been in a downward swing since 2009. When the drumming counts jumped significantly this past spring, biologists thought that perhaps the population had bottomed out and was on its way up again.
“We’re hoping we’ve turned the corner,” Balzer said.
Perry Loegering, DNR wildlife manager at Grand Rapids, said he and his staff have been out a lot in late summer working on wildlife projects and mowing hunter walking trails. But grouse sightings have been few.
“I tell you, it’s not looking very good,” Loegering said. “Kevin (wildlife technician Kevin Carlisle) mowed 50 miles of hunter walking trails and saw one grouse. We had a few extra drums in spring, and then we had that weather. It appears that had a tough effect on things.”
Roy said she had received more positive reports from wildlife managers around the state.
“The reports I’m getting about the size and age of broods have been very favorable,” Roy said. “There may be pockets where production was quite good. I suspect this fall there will be areas where folks do very well and places not far away where they’re not having as much luck, without that nesting and chick component.”
Most grouse hunters don’t get serious about hunting until most of the leaves have dropped, so the verdict on grouse numbers won’t come in until perhaps early to mid-October.
Last fall, grouse hunters in Minnesota shot an estimated 288,000 ruffed grouse, down from 341,000 the previous year, according to the DNR. The highest recent harvest was 465,580 in 2010.
Wisconsin numbers hold steady In northern Wisconsin, spring drumming counts were statistically the same this year as in 2013, according to the Wisconsin DNR. Drumming counts in northern Wisconsin peaked most recently in 2011 and have been lower since then.
Anecdotal evidence provides reason for hope, said Greg Kessler, DNR wildlife manager at Brule.
“We’re seeing somewhat more broods than in the past couple of years,” Kessler said, “but they’re a smaller average size, physically. They might not be fully mature when the season opens.”
This year’s hatch for grouse, turkeys and ducks was later than normal, he said.
“Everything I’ve seen is two to three weeks younger than we’d typically see,” Kessler said.
As always, he said, hunters with good dogs who put in their time will find enough grouse.
“Even last fall,” he said, “I know guys who were flushing three or four birds an hour, where the average guy was flushing about a bird an hour. That’s not fantastic hunting.”
Sharptail numbers steady
Statewide in Minnesota, sharp-tailed grouse counts were higher in 2014 compared to 2013, but the changes were not significant in either the northwest or east-central survey regions, according to the DNR. The statewide average of 9.8 sharp-tailed grouse counted per dancing ground was similar to the long-term average since 1980.
