Start Your Own Grouse Hunting Tradition at Anchor Inn Resort
Minnesota grouse hunting is a tradition for many repeat guests at Anchor Inn Resort. The resort’s location in the Chippewa National Forest makes it a natural lodging choice for experienced hunters.
Minnesota is the top ruffed grouse-producing state in the U.S. No other state harvests as many ruffed grouse each fall or provides as much public hunting land containing ruffed grouse.
The ruffed grouse is a native woodland bird about the size of a small chicken. The bird is noted for its fan-shaped tail marked by a broad, dark band. Some ruffed grouse–called red-phased birds–have chestnut-colored tails, and the gray-phased birds have gray or slate-colored tails. The bird also has a concealed neck ruff that the male puffs out during courtship displays.
Male ruffed grouse make a well-known drumming noise that sounds similar to a distant lawnmower engine. He drums by beating his wings in the air, starting slowly as a series of thumps, and then, as beating speeds up, the sound resembles a drum or engine. The drumming occurs on logs, boulders, tree roots, or other elevated sites known as “drumming logs.”
Minnesota Grouse Hunting Season INfo
Ruffed Grouse, Spruce Grouse & Hungarian Partridge Season – Sep. 18, 2021 – Jan. 2, 2022
Sharptailed Grouse Season – Closed in Itasca County for 2021
Minnesota Hunting Regulations
2021 Grouse Survey Report
Grouse and Woodcock Hunting Tips
Our proximity to the Chippewa National Forest makes Anchor Inn a perfect place to start your grouse hunt or woodcock hunt as the forest provides great cover for these fowl. A beautiful walk through recently logged forest ground is a good area to start your hunt. The forestry trails and roads will also produce a good harvest. Pay attention to fallen trees and brush where the birds like to hang out and be prepared for the startling flap when you least expect it!
Not counting a sturdy pair of boots, a blaze orange hat and vest and a shotgun, all you need to hunt grouse in Minnesota is a valid small game license. Hunters seeking woodcock must be HIP-certified (done when you purchase your Minnesota license) but do not need state or federal migratory bird stamps. Shotguns may not hold more than three shells unless a plug is used.
Call Anchor Inn Resort today at 218-659-2718 to reserve your next Minnesota Grouse Hunting trip.
NOTE: Completion of a Hunter Education/Firearms Safety course is required to purchase a hunting license for anyone born on or after Dec. 31, 1979. Click here for the full story: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/safety/index.html