EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn. _ After last year, Ted Dick could be excused for being gun shy about making predictions on ruffed grouse hunting this fall in Minnesota.
The season for ruffed grouse, spruce grouse, sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge opened Saturday, Sept. 15.
Forest game bird coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources in Grand Rapids, Minn., Dick last year offered a rosy outlook on hunting prospects after spring drumming counts soared to a statewide average of 2.1 drums per stop, a 57 percent increase from the spring of 2016.
Traditionally, counts vary from 0.6 drums per stop during years of low abundance to 2.0 drums per stop during the banner years so Dick's optimism wasn't unfounded.
All of the signs last fall might have pointed to a banner season, but they didn't translate into birds in the bag, a turn of events that left Dick and other experts scratching their heads. Ruffed grouse populations traditionally follow a 10-year cycle of boom-and-bust, often peaking in years ending in 7, 8 or 9.
"Normally, in the history of doing drumming counts in the last 70 years, when you get close to one of those cyclic peaks, you can usually predict some pretty good grouse hunting," Dick said. "Last year, that really didn't pan out, and we're still kind of at a loss to say why."
The outlook for this year's ruffed grouse season might best be described as a mixed bag. Spring drumming counts were down 29 percent statewide from last year at 1.5 drums per stop. But at the same time, drier spring conditions may have benefited chick survival.
Only time will tell.
"Not to speculate some more, but I have heard more positive brood counts this year than last year and the last several years," Dick said. "Maybe people felt bad for me or something. We said it would be so good last year, and it wasn't.
"Foresters, people in the woods, wildlife staff, they're saying more about more broods around ... "
.png?w=600)
