Best Grouse State?

[Nontypical265]

Pretty sure I am headed to Nebraska this fall with a buddy to do some grouse hunting there. He got invited to a group hunt there. Guess they have both prairie chickens (?) and ruffed grouse he said. Can't say I have ever seen a priarie chicken before.

Any one ever hunted grouse in Nebraska or would you recommend another state to go to for good grouse?

Also what about shot size, from my understanding these grouse are out in open spaces. I have hunted them before but pretty much always in forest terrain mostly.

[Vikingsin05]

If they are out in the open then pretty much use what you would use on pheasant

[DinkKiller]

I'm also possibly heading out to the lonely confines of Nebraska in hopes of giving tjhe birds a hard time. Never hunted grouse out there, but heard it's a royal kick in the arse. Don't know what group hunt you're going on, but I'm headed out on a similar deal.

[Vikingsin05]

Here is the MN DNR report/description of prairie chickens

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/prairiechicken/index.html

[YoungBuck]

I love to hunt grouse and Prairie Chickens. I have hunted the hills of Nebraska many times. They are fun to shoot and good eatin as well. I use 6 shot 2 3/4 inch field loads. When you see them fly you would want to wait until they start the glide to shoot. They will get up and flap like crazy for a little bit, then glide for a bit. They are much easier to hit when they are gliding.

[Great West]

Nebraska has a good population of grouse and chickens if you get in the right areas.

I am also attending a rather large group hunt in Nebraska this fall for grouse, which one you going on?

[DinkKiller]

Nebraska has a good population of grouse and chickens if you get in the right areas.

I am also attending a rather large group hunt in Nebraska this fall for grouse, which one you going on?


The one where all the birds are at.

[Todd G.]

Living in Nebraska, I can say you will have fun hunting grouse. It kind of depends on what part of the state you will be hunting whether or not you will see many chickens. Whatever the case, its a great time.

As for other states, the Dakotas probably have a better population of Sharptail Grouse. However, they will have fewer chickens. Public land access in the Dakotas, especially North Dakota, is very good also. The grasslands around Pierre, SD are pretty well known.

[wildbio]

For diversity I'd vote for Montana - hungarian partridge, sharp-tailed grouse, sage grouse, blue grouse, ruffed grouse, spruce grouse, chukar, turkey, and pheasant. Numbers will vary by year and area. There's lots of public land but the private can oftentimes be locked up. There is a state sponsored program (Block Management) that gains hunters access to a fair amount of private land....again it varies by area.
We may not always have the number of pheasant here that you'll get in the Dakotas but you can get into some real good bird hunting.

[citori]

To the original poster, I don't think there are many ruffed grouse in Nebraska, you probably meant sharptails. I hunt them with the same loads and chokes as I do for pheasants, generally an ounce or more of lead 6s with IC/Mod chokes in my O/U. If I'm shooting a pump or auto I'd go with Mod. I hunt over dogs, mostly pointing ones but a few flushers, in the grasses. The birds typically hold fairly well until the second week of the pheasant season except first thing in the morning when they are still bunched up on the roost. In the later season I'll switch to Mod/Full and heavier loads like 1 1/4 oz of #5 or #4 as the birds are bunched up more and pretty spooky. I am also hunting pheasants too which is another reason for heavier shot. Prairie grouse are among my favorite birds to hunt, so many think they are so difficult but it is all in the timing. Get them in the grassland and they are easier than pheasants by a long shot.