Early Season Grouse and Woodcock Hunting in Minnesota: A Sunday Hunt with My Bird Dog Sweep

Early Season Grouse Hunting on a Minnesota Grouse Management Area

My English Setter, Sweep and I squeezed in a Sunday grouse and woodcock hunt before kickoff of the Minnesota Vikings game. At 60 degrees it was warmer than I prefer, but that’s early season bird hunting in Minnesota. We headed to a Grouse Management Area (GMA) near our house. One truck was already parked there, but the hunters were finished and deciding where to go next, so we had the area to ourselves. Another truck pulled in as we hit the woods, but that was just a deer hunter checking his stand and hanging trail cameras.

Hunting Woodcock and Grouse with a Tailwind

We started with a tailwind, and within the first few minutes we had a wild woodcock flush. I’m not usually a big woodcock hunter, but I decided to take a shot at one if I could, to reinforce my bird dog’s training.

Not much farther down the trail, a grouse flushed wild from the opposite side from where Sweep was working. That made me wonder whether the tailwind was carrying the sound of her bell too far and warning the birds of our approach. If you hunt with a bell or beeper collar, wind direction is worth considering when planning your route through grouse cover.

Bird Dog Points: First Woodcock and a Nice Grouse

Soon after, Sweep went on point on another woodcock, and this time I harvested it. She did a great job finding the bird on the ground after it dropped.

After a couple of corners, Sweep locked up on point again. This time it was a grouse, and we took it. It was the nicest grouse of the season so far, and I was feeling great about the hunt.

Working the Wind on the Return Loop

At the far end of the trail, as we looped back, Sweep swung into the wind and flashed a point as a grouse got up. I shot, and the bird went down. As I stepped in to retrieve it and Sweep closed in, it flushed again, stronger than before. I was so surprised I never got off a second shot. It’s a good reminder to always mark a downed grouse carefully, since a wing-tipped bird can run or flush again.

Our First Multi-Bird Day of the Season

We kept hunting and got a couple more woodcock points, though I didn’t get shots off. Even so, it was our first multi-bird day of the season. Sweep covered just over 10 miles in just under 2 hours, so she’ll sleep well tonight.

English Setter Sweep with Woodcock and Grouse

 

Grand Rapids MN 2026 Ruffed Grouse Opener Eve

I haven't hunted the grouse opener in quite a few years.  But I'm going to give it a try this year.  I've been scouting a fair amount looking for new places to hunt.  My two biggest concerns tomorrow are finding a spot that doesn't have too many trucks and that it will be warmer than what I like to hunt in.

To celebrate the opener eve I decided to hit Florios for the Friday Night Fish Fry.  Pro-Tip... make a reservation... 

Quail Release For Dog Training 2026

I got 26 quail from my Realtor’s daughter.  I think she was raising them for a 4H project or something.  I should have waited a day to release them as we had a pretty big storm the night that I let them go.  I let out 6 in some good cover pretty close to the house and then the other 20 were in our 25 acre field underneath some raspberry bushes.

The next morning I found a pile of feather where I am assuming one of them became a meal.  A little later I had the bird in the photo start to follow me around.  They were  raised as pets and didn’t have any fear of people.  I’ll check on the other 20 and see if the dogs can find them when I take them for a run in the field at the end of the week.

 

Deer Fly Mania Dog Run

I ran the dogs for 30 minutes in the field next to our house.  The cover is fairly decent but we haven’t released any birds yet so we were just running for exercise.  The flys were driving me crazy so I attached a Deer Fly Strip to my hat and it made the run a lot more enjoyable.  It ended up being out last run before the mega heat kicked in.  

You can pick up Deer Fly Strips @ https://deerflypatchstore.com/categories/deer-fly-patches

Besides Backing I asked Jerry @ Northwoods Bird Dogs to work on Sweep’s Whoaing.  She does ok but can sometimes break when there is a lot of action going on like other hunters or dogs.  Just got this picture of Sweep on a whoa.  She is doing it much better now and I also know that if need be I can put on a belly band and she will be more diligent about it.

 

 

 

Bird Dog Training Steady To Point and Shot

Just got the latest picture of Sweep from our trainer, Northwoods Bird Dogs, one of the things that I asked to have Sweep tuned up on was backing. We don’t hunt with other dogs but it is nice knowing that they will back if we do hunt with someone else or if I run her with one of our other dogs.

Finally connected on ruffed grouse | Deer River MN

 

Finally got back out hunting after a week of household chores and warm weather.  Tasha, the old timer ( 13 )  got the call so that she could take advantage of the cooler weather.  We had 2 wild flushes in the first 5 minutes and then the action continued to pick up….  She got a couple of nice points that I was able to connect on and I only missed a few of the early ones. At about the halfway point of the loop she went on point about 10 yards off the trail, as I moved in the birds starting popping up all over.  Most we out of range or behind the trees.  We ended up moving 6 or 7 from this one spot but didn’t end up getting any.  At about the 3/4 mark Tasha decided to follow a different route thru the woods.  This used to be a trail to a deer stand but has since over grown.  Her hearing isn’t what it used to be so Iw ent after her when she got to 125 yards away.  It took me a while to catch up to her and she had just gone on point and I was able to take the first one but two more flushed at the shot and I didn’t connect.  We had it back to the truck and she was still going well but it was a good time to end her hunt before it became too much.

Peach got the next spot. This area was my favorite for a number of years but the cover had gotten older and we have had quite as much success but I though it would be a good place to have her try.  She started out well with a grouse and then a woodcock point, neither of which presented a shot.  We didn’t move another birds and she didn’t even get too birdie during her hunt.  At about the 40 minute mark she started to breather really heavily and just sounded like it was a challenge.  We took a break and sat for a few minutes and then I put her leash on her and walked her slowly bak to the truck.  After resting and drinking a lot of water she seemed better.  This evening she seems back to normal.

If all goes well tomorrow Sweep will get to hunt.