Although I have never drawn a firearm on a grouse, or any small game in the state of Minnesota, my time spent on the summer home roads every fall has educated me on their preferred habitat.
I have nothing against small game hunting, I was simply too cheap to buy a non-resident license back when I had the time to hunt –and ever since I became a resident I have been too busy.
Now that the gravel roads leading to many of the Gunflint Trail homes are no longer busy with traffic, the ruffed grouse will be seen roadside loitering like a nervous hitchhiker. They are called partridge, grouse, or road chickens because they often come out to the roads to eat gravel at various times of the day, and they taste a lot like chicken. Their best defense mechanism is “locking-up” with hopes that they have not been spotted – even if they are blocking the middle of the road.
As a pheasant hunter from Iowa, it is difficult for me to shoot a bird on the ground since it is kind of considered cheating, but not illegal, when hunting pheasant. It would be like banking the eight-ball without calling it first, or foul hooking a trophy walleye and having it mounted.
Grouse hunting has never interested me because it happens during the busiest two months of my season, and I would rather see them attempting to hide from my truck as I pass by on the roads than on my plate. They are much harder to spot in the spring and summer, but they communicate by drumming on hollow logs during their mating season, reminding us they are still around.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218- 388- 0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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