October/November 2004 Now in our thirteenth year. www.Bdarn.com

Think Wisconsin and you
likely think of Holstein
cows, cheese, the Green Bay Packers, and muskies. If you are one of the rare breed of shotgunners know as Ruffed Grouse aficionados, you know that the Badger state holds more than its share of the jet fighter profiled game birds to occupy your panting hunting partner. But Wisconsin is a tale of three countries when it comes to grouse. Each area calls for different hunting and dog handling tactics if you intend to score.
The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Coulee region. It consists of sheer bluffs and deep ravines that are said to have survived the ice age when the glaciers stopped short and receded near Eau Claire. This area, from roughly La Crosse south to Dubuque, Iowa and east to within a half hour of Madison is called, "God's Country." It is called something else by tired grouse hunters who must hump up and down these maddening mounds in order to collect a few grouse for dinner.
Grouse hunting is a game of walking. I'm not going to tell you different. However, I know a little trick that can cut your walking down 75% with no significant dent in your game bag. In this Coulee Region, which I've also hunted as far south as Allamakee County, Iowa and west to Houston County Minnesota south of Brownsville, grouse favor south facing bluffs above creeks which feature the occasional acre or two of thick conifer stands.
Here the grouse can enjoy the sun. Solar rays also grow the grain and seed foliage grouse need to proliferate. Late in the season a hunter can actually see the reason grouse prefer these areas. Snow melts on southern faces, but remains on north, east and west bluff faces. If doesn't take a genius to figure out that this makes forage easier for the birds to obtain on southern slopes, and also is more comfortable for the birds.
That doesn't make hunting easy by any means. Hunting grouse here is similar to hunting indigenous Chukar partridge on the hills and mountains of central Montana. If a hunter starts at the bottom and moves up, he finds the birds running ahead and flushing wild. One needs to reach the summit. Having slyly noted the approximate location that the wild flushing birds landed - likely near an evergreen stand - he moves on the birds from above or the side. They will fly uphill if they can, so if you are above or at the same level as the birds, you have an advantage. If uncertain where the birds are, choose a path above where you believe the grouse to be, not below. Better yet, send your dog below and work a parallel line above your canine assistant.
From Madison north to Portage is flat, farm country. This is Wisconsin's second grouse country. Although this area appears more suitable for Pheasants than grouse, and indeed holds good numbers of cackling long tailed birds, it also contains small woodlots and areas of sandy soil sprouting Aspen and Alder thickets. Here hunters find grouse where the walking is easy. The birds may be fewer here, but they are also easier to hunt. Look for creeks with rough areas on both sides. These thickets should be interspersed with Alder and Aspen trees, and laced with vine thickets. Woodcock will likely provide a bit of action to supplement the grouse from mid-September through October.