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Fact:today’s hunter is constrained in ways our forefathers never imagined!
With dwindling access, fluctuating bird populations and travel time to huntable covers all growing, hunters are more challenged today than ever. Not just bird hunters, all hunters. The bad news, . . . it’s not going to get any better in our lifetime. The good news is that there are an increasing number of things you can do to maximize your time and improve your probability of a successful grouse hunt.
I recently had my eyes opened to an enterprising cottage industry that caters to this developing niche. Ann Jandernoa and Skip Souther, via their company Northwind Enterprises, LLC., are offering hunters a veritable smorgasbord of information and tools that will dramatically increase anyone’s chances for success and more importantly, enjoyment. With a product line of county-by-county maps detailing clear-cuts in prime grouse states across the upper Midwest and New England, habitat and grouse behavior seminars, guiding and well-bred and trained grouse dogs, they have come up with the right products and services for the times.
Recently, I had the privilege of tagging along with Patrick Murphy, an attorney from Lacon, Illinois and Mitch Kane, a dentist from Hayward, Wisconsin, two students enrolled in Northwind’s one-day seminar. We rendezvoused with Ann and Skip about 8:15 on a Sunday morning at the Hardees next to the Wisconsin DNR building in downtown Park Falls, Wisconsin. A couple of cinnamon raisin biscuits later, we were standing in the parking lot and receiving an overview of the course and recall materials from Ann.
Jandernoa is a highly trained forester who is well respected by loggers for her knowledge of the woodland’s subtle differences in habitat. She has guided many a logging crew to harvesting techniques that minimize many of the negative effects of logging. Her knowledge became quite evident the moment the classroom moved to the first clear-cut we studied. At our first trail head there was evidence of some hunter’s good fortune with remnants of a “breasted” grouse left in the parking area. A practice we all found to be abhorrent, wishing instead that people would at least pitch the remnants back into the brush. Besides, it tells everyone who parks there after your hunt that you found birds. A breach in etiquette few seasoned grouse hunters would offer to those who follow.
Ann took time to demonstrate some tools to enhance your outing via a topographical map and an aerial photograph, obtained from the new service Google Earth(, to lay out a plan of how the clear-cut should be hunted for best results. The point of this exercise was to make an example of how a cover that sees above-average pressure requires a revision in traditional tactics, and Ann definitely changed my way of looking at covers by the time we moved on.
Grouse were not the entire focus of our day afield, either. Woodcock also received an ample amount of attention. We viewed areas where both birds shared certain features. For example, woodcock often feed on or near grouse dusting sights like old ant mounds, especially after a rainfall. Larger areas, where woodcock that were part of the flight had congregated to feed, also became something that no longer looked like a deer scrape to us after Ann’s tutelage. Splatters are definitely not the only way to determine this strange little bird’s activities in the woodlands.
A little local knowledge helps, too. Ann pointed out that most out-of-state hunters are not aware that early in the summers of 2002-2003, there was an outbreak of Army Caterpillars that changed many grouse covers for the worst. The popple all look hospitable now, but those caterpillars literally removed the forest canopy by de-leafing the deciduous trees, allowing blackberry thickets, grasses and woodland broadleaf plants to get established on the forest floor. This subtle transformation wiped out virtually all of the food sources like winterberry and strawberry that grouse feed on in an untold number of woodlots and coverts across the northlands. The return of the trees’ leaves was far too late to reclaim these coverts and trails, with ruffs now few and far between in these thickets as a result.
Other items covered in their seminar, too extensive to be adequately described in this article, are listed below as they appear on the Northwind website:
Transition Cover, finding the right covers for the time of day and season
Identifying diet and diet changes during the hunting season
Where not to hunt and how a grouse protects itself
Why aren't there birds here? (Nothing lasts forever)
Changing your loads and patterns with the season
How to hunt the "back door" of clear cuts that are hunted hard
Blown down aspen and early snow. (All aspen clear-cuts are not created equal)
Drumming logs, dusting sites, and afternoon nesting bowls
What does a good habitat look like and how weather influences the hunt
Overlooked hunting areas that produce birds
Recognizing excellent spots on Topo maps and the use of Aerial Photos
Identifying the sex of either a Grouse or Woodcock
Acreage support for broods, male grouse, and hens
"Looking for the right place to live" from a Grouse's perspective
Brood development, nutritional aspects and needed acreage
Grouse dispersal....who leaves first, why, and how far do they travel
A daunting list of topics, and all are covered in as little or as much detail as a student would wish. And, trust me, we are all students when compared to what the Northwind folks can teach us. Pat Murphy summed it up, “This was really worth it for me. As a non-resident, my grouse hunting evolved from what was passed along by others, what I had read in books and just plain guessing.” Mitch Kane added, “It’s years of experience you can get in one day!” When I asked if they thought it was worth it, I got an incredulous look from both gentlemen that was plainly asking, “What, are you nuts!?!” What a stupid question, pretty much the same conclusion I came to, as well.
If the question ever comes up, “Wanna go again?” I know what my answer will be and probably Pat and Mitch’s as well. I’m sure we could have asked questions for hours on the information imparted to us. This seminar is a wonderful compliment to reading Burton Spiller’s or Gordon Gullion’s works, but enhanced with hands-on field experiences to fill in the gaps. Yeah, I’d go again. You bet!
Tom Mohrhauser
AT A GLANCE:
Northwind Enterprises, LLC.
Ann Jandernoa, Skip Souther Proprietors
N-14908 Kaiser Rd.
Park Falls, Wisconsin 54552
Phone: (715) 803-4371 or (715)762-1037 Website Email
Information about Grouse Habitat Maps
[1] This article first appeared in the Spring 2006 issue of Upland Almanac
Grouse 101
by Tom Mohrhauser
About:
Tom is a freelance writer and media consultant based in Franksville, Wisconsin where he lives with his six hunting dogs and very patient wife Sherry. He has been writing intermittently since 1992 and has been regularly featured in Field & Stream, The Upland Almanac, Quail Unlimited Magazine, Chevy Outdoors, Shot Business Magazine and The North American Grouse Partnership Magazine. His book “Paradise Valley” is available through Quail Unlimited, Inc.
His current assignments include; Editor-at-Large for Quail Unlimited Magazine, Contributing Writer for Shot Business Magazine (a National Shooting Sports Foundation Publication) and Consulting Editor for The Upland Almanac. He also is a consultant with the nationally broadcast and award winning outdoor television program, Focus Outdoors.
He has also served as a consultant to The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) in Washington, DC.
All things considered, he would rather spend a day afield with dogs and friends than just about anything else.
The illustration - Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus - used in this article, is available as a giclee print, a collectors stamp and as US Postage. Contact Dan for details.
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His current assignments include; Editor-at-Large for Quail Unlimited Magazine, Contributing Writer for Shot Business Magazine (a National Shooting Sports Foundation Publication) and Consulting Editor for The Upland Almanac. He also is a consultant with the nationally broadcast and award winning outdoor television program, Focus Outdoors. 
