If there’s an underlying theme for Minnesota ruffed grouse hunters going into this year’s season opener, it’s this:

Charlotte Roy, grouse research scientist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Grand Rapids, holds a female spruce grouse. After a banner season in 2023, optimism was high, and strong spring drumming counts across most of Minnesota’s ruffed grouse range — the highest since 1972 — suggested hunters could be in for more of the same this year. Then came heavy rains in June that likely pummeled production for the ground-nesting birds. Minnesota’s season for ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, spruce grouse and Hungarian partridges opens Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Charlotte Roy / Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)

Hunters should lower their expectations – and be willing to travel if the areas they normally hunt don’t produce birds.

Minnesota’s season for ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, spruce grouse and Hungarian partridges opens Saturday, Sept. 14.

After a banner season last fall, optimism was high, and strong spring drumming counts across most of Minnesota’s ruffed grouse range – the highest since 1972 – suggested hunters could be in for more of the same this year.

Biologists estimate spring ruffed grouse populations by following designated routes and listening for the drumming sound male birds make by rapidly beating their wings to attract a mate.

Then came June and heavy rains that likely pummeled production for the ground-nesting birds. Instead of broods of eight to 10 birds or more, wildlife managers in the hardest-hit areas have reported broods of two to three – if they see any at all.

“Our drumming survey data indicated the adult population was doing phenomenal this spring – just phenomenal,” said Charlotte Roy, grouse research scientist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Grand Rapids. “But the other piece of what hunters see in the fall is that production piece – those young birds – and they mainly see young birds in the fall. So when the production piece is not great, hunters are disappointed if their expectations are based solely on those drumming survey numbers.

“We really need to be paying more attention to that brood piece – and this year, we had a pretty tough June.”

Last year’s dry weather, by comparison, resulted in ideal nesting conditions and recruitment.

Roy early this week said she was just beginning to get August brood observations from wildlife managers across Minnesota’s ruffed grouse range so it’s difficult to make predictions going into the upcoming grouse opener.

“What I know so far is June reports were spotty,” Roy said. “In some areas that got hit heavy by the rains, brood numbers were not good, and in areas that managed to escape that round of heavy rains in June, numbers were a little bit more what we were expecting.

“Last year was a very good year, so a lot of people were excited and anticipating it might be another year like last year. And in some areas, you might get that kind of success. But I think people need to temper their expectations a little bit with the knowledge that we had a really rough brood-rearing season.”

Roy’s advice: Don’t be afraid to travel to find birds.

“If you’re willing to try a lot of different spots and focus on areas that didn’t get heavy June rains, you might have some success this season,” she said. “If you like to go to the same area you always go, and it got hit heavy by rains, I’d say you’re going to be pretty disappointed.”

Charlie Tucker, manager of Red Lake Wildlife Management Area at Norris Camp south of Roosevelt, Minn., said his outlook on brood success hasn’t changed since July, when he reported seeing hens with only one or two chicks.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t more chicks in the bushes, but usually by now, you’d like to have some reports of folks seeing seven or eight chicks or a hen with up to 11 or something like that – and I haven’t heard any reports like that,” Tucker said. “We’re seeing some young birds that look almost mature, like you’d expect this time of year, and then we’re also seeing some birds that still look very young, which would indicate they hatched later and females had to renest.”

While spring drumming counts were high at Red Lake WMA, the DNR’s spring survey tallied a decline just to the west in the northwestern Minnesota survey area – only .66 drums per stop, down from 1.5 in 2023 and 2.9 in 2022.

Roy said the northwest grouse zone only has eight survey routes, and a couple of poor results from routes near Karlstad and Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge may have contributed to the drastic decline.

“I don’t have a fantastic reason for why it would be down in that region, based on what was going on just to the east, where things were phenomenal,” Roy said. “It’s a pretty small sample size and when you have small sample sizes, they’re very susceptible to big changes with just a few bad routes.

“I think about half of them were pretty bleak, and then the other half were fine.”

At Red Lake WMA and adjacent Beltrami Island State Forest, Tucker said conditions on the ground are finally improving after the wet start to summer.

That means hunters can expect decent trail conditions, barring heavy rains between now and then.

“I think we’re trending more toward average conditions after a real wet summer,” he said. “Things are drying out and feel normal. Out here in Beltrami (forest) and Red Lake WMA, it’s often wet boot country, and I think it’s going to be like that again this fall. But it’s not like folks are going to up to their knees (in water) on the trails.”

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