Grouse hunts are good and getting better in Minnesota

Minnesota's ruffed grouse hunting season continues to shine.

Many hunters reportedly are finding good numbers of birds, and as leaves continue to fall, hunting should only get better.

"I'm switching my season description from 'pretty good' to 'very good' based on the reports from the past week," said Ted Dick, Department of Natural Resources ruffed grouse coordinator. Dick, an avid grouse hunter, has been finding lots of ruffies. His advice: Get off trails and into the woods.

On the way to a favorite haunt, Dick encountered some hunters putting up deer stands.

"I stopped to ask them if they were seeing any grouse, and they said they quit hunting them because they hadn't seen any from their four-wheelers in three days of driving around. I asked if they would mind if I hunted nearby just to check it out for myself."

He flushed 18 birds in just over two hours.

"Sometimes you have to get out and walk the thick stuff away from the trail," Dick said.

"I'm finding good numbers of birds," he said. "And I'm finding woodcock virtually everywhere."

Ruffed grouse kiosk Grouse hunters and others will learn about grouse, forest management and the work of the late Gordon Gullion at a new kiosk constructed at the popular Mille Lacs Wildlife Management Area near Onamia. Officials will dedicate the kiosk on Wednesday. Federal Cartridge Co. and the Ruffed Grouse Society are partners on the project. Gullion, who died in 1991, was regarded as the foremost authority on ruffed grouse.

North Dakota ducks Minnesota duck hunters heading to North Dakota might find that bagging birds isn't a slam dunk this year. The oodles of water covering the state has dispersed waterfowl, said Mike Szymanski, migratory game bird biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

"There's just so much water out there. It's been sort of hit or miss," he said. "Some hunters are doing really well. Other veteran hunters aren't. There definitely are places without ducks."

Waterfowlers hunting only in traditional spots might have problems. Szymanski said ducks have been using small, temporary wetlands, some of which are surrounded by little or no cover -- places few hunters go. "The ducks feel secure there," he said. Szymanski, who is based in Bismarck, has hunted some of those flooded areas with great success.

Minnesota ducks Duck numbers in Minnesota remained similar to the previous week, and scaup numbers are higher than normal, according to the DNR's weekly waterfowl migration and hunting report. The duck opener was better than expected, especially in the northern half of the state. Some samples: Hunters averaged 2.4 ducks near Slayton, 1.1 ducks at Lac qui Parle and .08 ducks at Swan Lake. Up north, they averaged 2.4 at Thief Lake, 2.2 at Big Rice near Remer and 1.4 at Roseau WMA. See the full report at dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/waterfowl/index.html.

More zebra mussels The discovery of zebra mussels in Gull Lake near Brainerd is more evidence that it's apparently just a matter of time before the invasive species spreads to most of Minnesota's lakes. Despite attempts to educate the public on how to reduce their spread, in the past two years the mussels have been found in lakes Mille Lacs, Minnetonka, Prior and Le Homme Dieu, and in parts of the Mississippi, St. Croix and Zumbro rivers.

"I'm just not surprised," said DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten. "Our whole strategy has been about slowing down the spread. Nowhere in the world has someone figured out how to stop it. We slowed it, but now every new lake is a new opportunity to spread it to another lake."

John Taylor, president of the Gull Chain of Lakes Association, said signs went up last week at public accesses telling boaters of the infestation.

"I guess everyone is a little bummed," he said. "What can you do? We did what we could as far as prevention."

• A Maple Grove turkey hunter was hit by a shotgun blast from his 14-year-old hunting partner after the youth mistook him for a turkey. Pellets hit the hunter in the face, neck, arms and chest, and he was treated at a Fergus Falls hospital.

• A young bull moose was spotted swimming across a bay on Leech Lake recently.