doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 1st grouse hunt to Michigan

Just spent the last week hunting around the Baldwin Michigan area. This was my first trip to the "state up north" as all good Ohio State fans refer to it. I used to sing the song... "I don't give a damn bout the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan, I don't give a damn about the whole state of Michigan....blah, blah, blah, blah-blah!"

Well, now that I've hunted your grouse, I've now had a change of heart. Hunted 3 days in Pere Marquette State forest and moved 43 grouse and 8 woodcock. Reduced 8 grouse and 1 woodcock to the freezer. Then moved a couple of miles away into Manistee National forest for the final 2 days and experienced similar numbers in much different cover/terrain.

For an Ohio "grouse" hunter that's lucky to put up 12-15 birds a season... it made me feel like I was hunting with my grandpa in Ohio in 1975. Dog had a great time as did I. If my doubles could talk - I think they would have approved as well. Managed to shoot several grouse and 1 woodcock with an 1889 Remington (118 years young) a couple with a Grade 3 Ithaca Flues and a couple with a Fox A grade. All survived the Michigan sand. Saw 1 BIG bear, lots of bear scat/tracks, 2 huge coyotes and 1 20lb. pourcipine (had to dispatch of him so my Brittney didn't meet him first).

I've always heard stories about 20-30 flush days in Ohio's glory days but I am too young to have seen anything close. I didn't do quite that good on my first trip up north - but 12-15 birds a day was good enough for me to schedule next years visit allready. (If I could talk my wife into another permission slip- I'd go back in December)

Anyone else have a good experience hunting Michigan? I still have to hold my breath when I go through Ann Arbor but I'm making progress. GO BUCKS!!!

Being a Northern Michigan native, your post brings back the memories. For years I did have very good experiences hunting (and fishing) Michigan. A friend and I would often hunt grouse around Irons (just a little north of Baldwin). Sadly, those days are over and way long gone for many of us.

Displaced by the economy. I left immediately after college, as have most of my friends. That was 10 years ago and the economy has only further deteriorated. What a mess. If not fully dead, the American dream is coughing up blood in my home State. Glad to hear at least the grouse are thriving.

IronMan.. This forum prides itself in honesty. Those numbers sound like they came from a Whitehouse briefing. I live up near the bridge and been out 6 times and heard one grouse go out. And this is with 2 labs thumpin the brush. As one Buckeye to another, what's the real scoop?? Just kiding. Glad you had a great hunt. Didn't you run into all that rain. I'm building an Ark. Our local population of birds is at rock bottom. You don't have any idea the stress of a Buckeye living amid all the Wolverines and Spartans. All ask why I stay faithful to OSU. They don't understand all males born in Ohio aren't born with nuts, we're born with a pair of "Buckeyes". In a few weeks, U of M is going to get another beating. Randy

Amen Randy. OSU's beating by Purdue has left a bad taste in my mouth for this season - but nothing a good Michigan ass-kicking won't fix. My 2 favorite teams are Ohio State and ANYONE that plays Michigan!

Birds were a little tough to find at first. Damn that's a big area. But basically when we started moving birds it was in a specific kind of cover and we continued to hunt this type the rest of the week. 3-4 year old aspen growth, small oak scrub, basically stuff that was clearcut 3-5 years ago and bordered bigger woods. We hunted the transition lines on ridges and fingers. We might go 3-4 hours without a flush, but once you found them... there were always several in the vicinity.

Even if Michigan grouse numbers are down - it's still grouse utopia compared to our dismal population here in Ohio.

Ironman5 sounds great that things are so good in Michigan. We just got back from Wisconsin and we did put up close to those numbers but would like to find some good hunting much closer than Wisconsin. I live in Southern Ohio and you're right about the numbers in Ohio. How close do you live to the Jackson County area?

I live more towards the center of the state. 20 miles East of Columbus. I hunt alot down in Shawnee State forest - where I generally move around 15 birds a year. But you have to log alot of miles (mostly straight up and down) to find those few birds. I also hunt grouse in Perry County - Wayne National forest and have had some luck finding some birds there over the past couple of years.

For a good hunt on a budget, I don't think you can beat that Michigan trip. 7 hours away from Columbus, stayed in a 3 room cabin with dog kennel ($60 per night/2), annual non-resident lic. + $5 waterfowl stamp ($100?), Brought most of our food and ate lunches in the field ($100), Box of shells and 2- 30 packs of saporillo. Hell I only took $500 and had $150 left to stop at Cabela's on the way home. That many birds and money left over... My kinda trip!