He could have crouched as I passed unknowing on the other side of the finger of woods. He could have run and flushed silently and never been detected. But he didn't. He was in the path of the dog and the dog pointed and the bird flushed straightaway and I shot him. No need to worry about a runner.
Death feeds on life.
The grouse would lie on a bed of wild rice and we'd exclaim over his succulence, but whatever is the essence of grouse will stay in the woods until next spring when a new drummer takes its place. Good logs are too rare to ignore. This Fall Presuming they hunt where there is good grouse habitat, hunters in the northern Midwest and New England should experience an excellent season this year. Elsewhere, expect to do a lot of walking between birds. According to Dan Dessecker, senior wildlife biologist of the Ruffed Grouse Society, ruffed grouse are nearing the peak of the current 10-year cycle, and drumming surveys indicate healthy populations in much of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine.