Sharpie Sightings

You can't hunt Sharp-tailed grouse in western Minnesota's Lac Qui Parle County, as the season is closed to protect the remaining remnant populations, but it's still fun to see them.

I'd often wondered if this native bird still inhabited the western parts of LQP, as the countryside contains some remaining native grasslands mixed in with the brushy draws, creek beds and croplands that sharpies love.

Finally, last fall, my suspicions were proven true. My brother spotted three sharpies near a Waterfowl Production Area in southwest LQP. Then while duck hunting in November, a covey of a dozen or so flew over our spread on a Wildlife Management Area right near the MN/SD border. In January, my dad located three sharpies not far from the homestead, a good 10 miles from the SD border, and then while predator hunting in February, I managed to kick up a sharpie out of a windbreak on my parents' LQP farm – the first ever grouse sighting on the property. While snow goose hunting at the aforementioned wildlife area last week, a lone sharpie buzzed our spread. Five confirmed sharpie sightings in Lac Qui Parle County in six months.

It sure would be fun to locate the lek(s) in LQP – the open space where males perform their colorful mating displays. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Helpful Sharp-tailed grouse links:

www.pheasantsforever.org/page/1/pgp.jsp

www.dnr.state.mn.us/snapshots/birds/sharptailedgrouse.html