Ted Dick hunted ruffed grouse for 30 years before he got a dog. And part of the reason for that acquisition was he'd had so much fun and decided a dog would increase his enjoyment. Today, neither Bruce Mills of Elk River, nor Lloyd McKissick of Parker, Colo., have hunting dogs, but every fall they traipse around the forests of northern Minnesota, generally meeting with success in their search for grouse.
To a man, they credit the hundreds of miles of maintained pathways in the state's forest region known as hunter walking trails as being integral to their success.
Hunters can find the trails, which are open for anyone to use, on a wide variety of public lands, including those managed by federal and local governments. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources maintains perhaps the most extensive and well-known of the trails, which meander through lands such as state forests, and wildlife and ruffed grouse management areas (RGMA) throughout Minnesota's ruffed grouse range. Those on RGMAs generally offer the best grouse hunting.
"We had fun for years without hardly knowing how a pointing dog worked," said Dick, DNR forest game bird coordinator.
Unlike Dick, whose office is in Grand Rapids, neither Mills nor McKissick have ruffed grouse-hunting opportunities right outside their door. Mills heads north with friends each fall, while McKissick flies in from Colorado to visit his father-in-law, who lives on Lake of the Woods. Both men rely on hunter walking trails with good grouse habitat to maximize their time afield.
"They're usually mowed, and it's nice and easy walking," said Mills, who has used the trails since the early 1970s. "I'm 65 years old now, so I'm concerned about my knees and ankles and stuff. You can see holes, and you can also see the [birds]. Boy, if you like to get away and be quiet by yourself, it's a great thing to do."
Said McKissick, 58: "The trails seriously tip the scales toward a much more huntable situation for guys who don't have dogs. I enjoy the peace and quiet, just slinking along. If you're attentive and walking along and have your senses in top order, when you hear a putt or something, you can generally get ready for a shot before they flush."
McKissick and Mills tend to focus most of their efforts on the northwestern side of the state, but hunter walking trails are widely available. Tom Rusch, DNR area wildlife manager in Tower, Minn., has about 75 miles worth of trails in his work area. A wildlife technician in his office had been allocating four days a week since mid-August to getting the trails mowed and ready for Saturday's ruffed grouse hunting opener. Mowing the trails not only makes them easier to hunt, but also promotes clover growth. It's not uncommon for hunters, especially if they're walking quietly, to happen upon a grouse that is feeding on clover in the middle of a trail.
