Michigan Grouse

[joe tilford]

I have not been grouse and woodcock hunting in a very long time. Right now I have a very good french brittany that I think will love to hunt them, so I want to get up north and get after some. Will any of our members share a little information about the Michigan GEMS grouse management areas in the lower peninsula? I am thinking about a late October road trip with my dog and a Parker 20 ga.

[Steiner]

My experience has been that the GEM areas get a lot of pressure early in the season but tapers off some by late October. I suggest that you not limit yourself to
The GEM areas. There is a lot of grouse and woodcock habitat that is open to public hunting. OnX is a good resource.

[Kevin McCormack]

Agree with Steiner - another factor making public land attractive according to species you are after are local personal preferences. For years we grouse hunted public lands in NYS and never saw a pickup or SUV with dog crates in the back. All the locals cared about was deer hunting (first on their list) and those that wanted turkey hunting were truly fanatics about it. I asked a local one time why they never tried for grouse, he said "Dogs flush them all before you're ready to shoot and no one eats them anyway, so why bother?"

[Kentucky Bird Hunter]

As a committed Michigan grouse hunter, we have thousands (millions?) of acres of grouse and woodcock cover on public lands. Dan is right, subscribe to OnX for Michigan and enjoy your time in Michigan’s North Woods.

Dave

[Brett Farley]

The MI GEMS can be a good starting point but as others have said can be busy during the initial weeks of the season through mid October. If you do try a GEMS cut go in the middle of the week when it’s likely to be less busy. It will give you a good idea of habitat if it’s been a while since you’ve grouse hunted and several of them have “logging” roads cut through them that can make it easier if mobility is an issue. Between the national forest, state forest and timber land available to the public to access you’ll have no problems finding coverts to hunt!

[Harold Pickens]

Late October is a good time to be there, a d I use OnX maps religiously.

[Big D]

Northern Michigan was hit with a terrible ice storm this spring. As a result, a lot of grouse cover has been ruined and made almost unwalkable. Hopefully you can find someone in the area you are interested in who can give you some up close and personal information. Good luck

[Kentucky Bird Hunter]

Big D is right. The ice storm at the end of March was devastating to a band of the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. Basically the band from Grayling north to Gaylord was affected the most. Thousands and thousands of trees, power lines, roads, and UTV trails were damaged and rendered unpassable. Ask John and me how we know……. I had no power at my cabin for 13 days.

The prevailing discussion among grouse hunters in the area seems to be that all the down timber and brush in the grouse coverts will ultimately be good for the grouse population, but it will make for some very challenging hunting conditions for the hunter. May have to resort to walking two tracks, and letting the dog do all the work in places.

But, as you might expect, regardless of all that, we are naturally getting excited for the grouse opener in ten days!!!

[joe tilford]

An unexpected family obligation has required a change of plans. My October trip has to be cancelled. There is a possibility of a trip to the area around Houghton Lake in the first half of November.

Do you have any thoughts about that area at that time of the season?

[Big D]

I'm not familiar with grouse hunting in the Houghton Lake area. As a matter of fact, at 81 years old I'm not up on many places