I have hunted grouse for several years in the Antigo, and Merril area, but, last year the population was down to almost nothing.
The DNR reports show that the grouse population is even lower this year.

I have heard that there are still good numbers in Florence county, and Price county.

Does anybody out there know of some specific locations to hunt decent numbers in those areas? (county land, paper land, ect.)

Thank you for any help!

Rh45,
Kill some of the Predators in the area and the game will come back. Lots of Coyotes, right?
Stepchild

RH45......It seems it is hard to get up much enthusasim for bird hunting here unless it is doves south of the border, doesn't it? I can't help you with grouse in Wisconsin; I don't even know what a grouse looks like I can, however, report that the quail situation here in my part of GA is looking up I saw another pair yesterday with a bunch of half grown chicks. That is the third group I have seen in the last couple of weeks, all on about a 50 acre plot. What kind of dog do you use for grouse? Pointers or flushing dogs? I can't imagine using a flushing breed on quail, but I understand they are used on many types of birds. Anyhow, I hope your bird-hunting prospects for this year take a turn for the better. Remember, don't just shoot at the covey, always pick one bird and concentrate! (do grouse come in coveys)

Remember what I told you Stepchild; be careful!! Coyotes, right

From what I've heard, the number of predators is actually down. The ruffed grouse numbers go through a 9 year cycle. Nobody seems to know why. Right now, it is at about the bottom of the cycle.
I have 2 dogs. My old dog is an irish setter that is about 8 years old. The young dog is a brittny, that is a little over 2 years old. They are both pointing dogs, but, the irish setter will flush, if the bird won't hold to point. I really think that is a good thing, because a freind of mine has a couple of champion wirehairs that are trained to hold point, no matter what, and a lot of birds will just run away from them.
I usually hunt pheasent in the Dakotas, also. Grouse hunting is mostly to help get me, and the dogs in shape for pheasent hunting.
I have hunted in Iowa a couple of times, and would prefer to hunt there, over the Dakotas, because it is closer, but, I really don't like hunting on their public land because there are so many people. I have been trying to make connections to hunt private land in Iowa, but, just can't quite ever seem to put anything together.

Thats right Dirtfarmer, Coyotes!
Would you believe that we have Mountain Lions here in Michigan(Kalkaska). No joke. I read it in the paper a couple months ago. The DNR is saying there are none in Michigan, but several people have seen them and a farmers mule was attacked by a pair of them and has the scars to prove it.To me thats a pretty scary thought. I guess the denial doesn't surprise me.
Last night I was surfing around on the Big Game board and the people out West are having a real problem with Wolves eating up the Deer and Elk herds.
On the brighter side, I saw that you got your self a puppy, and that your seeing some birds.That sounds like a hard combination to beat.
Good luck with your new pup and the up coming bird season.
Stepchild

RH45,
I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but it seems to me that the cycle you speak of is nothing more than a fluctuation in predator population numbers which in turn causes game populations to be high or low.
About the running birds. If I had a bird dog that didn't know the birds had moved, I wouldn't feed them very long, I could excuse a puppy but not an adult gun dog. The above statement is true only if the dogs have had enough hunting time to know the difference. I wan't my dogs to hold a solid point, but move if the birds move with out crowding them.
I once had a GSP pup, that other than being fooled with in the yard with some pen raised Quail for a couple hours had no bird experience, yet he handled his first ringneck(a runner) like a finished gundog. It's all about genes,for the most part.
I also had an Irish Setter(my first bird dog) and "Patrick" would give you a flash point and then charge. Patrick was hunting for his own amusement primarily. I was in my twenties then and really didn't know the difference.
Hope you find some good grouse areas.
Stepchild

Our grouse season opened yesterday.
It really sucked! The DNR reported that the population was down even further than last year, and they were right.
I spent half the day hunting in the Park Falls area, for the first time, because it is called the "grouse capital of the world"
I only got one flush.
I talked to another GROUP of hunters that only had one flush also. They said that a few years back, when the cycle was up, they took 90 birds in the area we were hunting.
On the way back home, I stopped at a buddy's land in the Merril area that usually has birds, and flushed the same bird twice, but, never got a look at it.
I'm thinking of giving up on the grouse this year, and getting out the squirrel gun, unless someone knows where there are some huntable numbers left in Wisconsin.

RH45, I don't know where you were hunting. I just came back from Wisconsin after 4 days of grouse hunting.

You don't say if are using a dog or not. I hunted on national forest land. We were averaging 4 flushs an hour on Grouse. Saw some woodcock as well, though that was not why we were there. We walked the slashes off the road. So we spent a lot of time crashing brush. The dogs are little worse for wear, but we saw and shot enough grouse to have a good time. I will say that any one expecting to stay on the roads and jump grouse will be disappointed. At least from what we saw.

I was hunting about an hour north of Park Falls.

Pete

Since opening weekend, I have been to couple of other places and have been flushing 5-10 birds per hour, but,the dogs have been putting them up in such thick coverthat I haven't even been able to see the dogs. I have managed to pick up a few. I think once the leaves are down a little, I should be able to shoot quite a few of the little devils.

I didn't hunt grouse this last weekend, because we went to the Dakota's for pheasent. Although it was warm enough that one of my dogs almost got heat stroke, we still managed to get our limit all three days.