Forecast for the upcoming season in the Northwoods?

[Steve Hodges]

As a New Hampshire resident I can tell you it will not be a good year for Grouse, and the turkey numbers will be down next spring. I have only seen two turkey broods all summer. One was yesterday. The poults were the size of robins which indicates the are very young and not likely to make it through the winter. Plus there were only five of them. We have had record rainfall all spring and up until the middle of July very cool temps.

[Steiner]

In response to this thread and my potential trip to northern Maine (way the hell up there) in early November, I reached out to a friend that hunts up there regularly and has some local connections. He relayed that the locals confirmed that the early hatches were negatively impacted by the weather but the later hatches were good. They're expecting the road hunters to have some difficulty with grouse numbers but are expecting the guys with dogs hunting deeper in the cover to do well. That's why the call it hunting.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Dan Steingraber

In response to this thread and my potential trip to northern Maine (way the hell up there) in early November, I reached out to a friend that hunts up there regularly and has some local connections. He relayed that the locals confirmed that the early hatches were negatively impacted by the weather but the later hatches were good. They're expecting the road hunters to have some difficulty with grouse numbers but are expecting the guys with dogs hunting deeper in the cover to do well. That's why the call it hunting.

BINGO, well said Dan. I've had success in NY the last few years, but there aren't many folks that will put the miles in that I do. While I love reading about leisurely walks over a pointing dog in abandoned New England farms, I've always seen grouse hunting as an endurance sport not meant for the timid. Chukar out West would be good, but I've heard the phrase, "My you have big thighs and a small head, you must be a chukar hunter.." and that sounds a bit scary : )