Hunters entranced by appeal of ruffed grouse

By RON SCHARA
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Colorful trails. Peaceful walks in a popple woods. The poetic motion of a bird dog with a nose full of scent. The whirr of wings from who knows where.

These are some of the special ingredients in the pursuit of ruffed grouse.

But they are not all what's special.

What's missing are the zealots. The ruffie addicts. Great passion can be found among men and women in all sports and pursuits, and there is no less of it in ruffed grouse hunting.

These people even glorify woodcock hunting.

A group of these hard cores gather once a year in Grand Rapids, Minn. under the banner of the Ruffed Grouse Society of America, a conservation collection of bird hunters devoted to the bird's well being.

They come from all points, Maine to Minnesota. They bring their fine dogs and their fine shotguns for a fundraising wingding called the National Grouse and Woodcock Hunt.

A Grand Rapids grouse guru, Wayne Jacobson, Jr. is a co-founder of the Hunt, which over the 25 years has raised millions of dollars to manage grouse habitat wherever the fine bird resides. And there's plenty of work to do.

Ruffed grouse numbers are declining in a number of eastern states, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Minnesota, meanwhile, is in the eyes of most grouse zealots, akin to a Holy Grouse Covert.

"I think we forget what we have here," Jacobson said, referring to healthy grouse populations and miles of aspen habitat from Grygla to Grand Marais.

Jacobson is probably right. Minnesota's grouse hunting might be underappreciated.

Minnesotans tend to think more about pheasants than grouse. The ringneck in farm country, perhaps, is more vulnerable than grouse in popple thickets.

As long as folks read newspapers or write term papers _ that is consume paper products _ creating new grouse habitat by harvesting aspen isn't a problem.

Or, maybe there's another reason. Is it because ruffed grouse are more difficult to hunt?

Of this, there is no debate among Ruffed Grouse Society members. They argue the ruffed grouse is the most difficult to hunt of all common game birds _ quail, sharptails, ringnecks _ you name it.

I tend to agree, although the Hungarian partridge is right up there.

However, it's true that reaching a daily bag limit of ruffed grouse is a day to remember.

On the contrary, maybe comparing is unfair. I've missed my share of ringnecks as well as grouse. And if you say you haven't, you're a liar.

Maybe grouse hunting simply touches our lives as ringnecks do on the prairie or ducks do in the swamp.

Speaking of swamps, my grouse hunting friends, collectively known as Members of the Swamp, have gathered once more in the popple thickets for five days of grouse gathering around Talmoon, Minn.

No doubt, Bill and Lee and John and Al and all the rest probably pushed a lot of birds.

Sadly, I had to miss the Swamp meeting with my friends.

But since I couldn't be there, I kind of hope the hunting wasn't all that good.