My friend and hunting partner owns a good lot of land in some good grouse country. He lives there and keeps an eye out for birds. Initial reports have been promising. Last summer his observations ran counter to the rosy MNDNR drumming count report. He was correct, birds were scarce, we hunted hard to get a few. I was there for one week in mid October, I'm sure that more time would have found some better days. He generally will shoot a sobering amount of grouse in a season, not so last year. Hope springs eternal!
