Less than two weeks into the season, ruffed grouse hunting has been hit-or-miss, as heavy cover still hinders hunters.

"I'd call it mixed,'' said Ted Dick, Department of Natural Resources forest game bird coordinator in Grand Rapids. "Some people have had very good action, and for some it's been pretty slow. Overall, it's been more positive than negative.''

We won't really know if the ruffie population is on the rise, as officials suspect, until more leaves fall.

"Things are pretty thick out there,'' Dick said.

Conservation officers echoed his assessment. "Grouse hunting was tough,'' reported conservation officer Mark Mathy of Cass Lake.

But conservation officer Darin Fagerman of Grand Marais said he was pleasantly surprised at the number of grouse he saw during the second weekend of the season after a disappointing opener.

Brad Schultz, conservation officer near Cook, checked some hunters with birds in the bag. "The leaves are just starting to fall, so the best hunting is still to come,'' he said.

Really early ducks

And then there were the two hunters conservation officer Mark Fredin of Aurora encountered last week hunting ducks over decoys. They told Fredin the hunting was poor. They had licenses and a copy of the waterfowl regulations, but unfortunately forgot to read them and didn't know the season hadn't opened.

"They were shown the opener date [Sept. 27] and both hunters' jaws dropped,'' Fredin reported.

Wanted: deer director

The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association is formally starting the search for a new executive director this week to replace Mark Johnson, who has accepted a job with the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.

The MDHA named state president Denis Quarberg of Windom as acting interim executive director. The 15,000-member nonprofit group will release the formal job posting Thursday on its website, www.mndeerhunters.com.

Johnson, 55, of Grand Rapids, headed the deer association for 14 years. He begins his new job as executive director of the Heritage Council on Oct. 6, replacing Bill Becker, who is retiring.

Doug Smith • 612-673-7667