Grouse Hunting Wisconsin for the season was unfortunately cut short this past year. The Wisconsin DNR made a difficult decision early in the season as there were concerns of west nile virus killing birds.

I hunted all season and did not see one troubled bird, but there could have been areas where this dreaded disease populated.

I generally hunt all the way through to the end of January 31 providing ample grouse hunting Wisconsin opportunities for the average hunter.

Durning this year of a shot season, required hunting jumping around and hitting a lot different areas where grouse hunting Wisconsin is good.

My season included running my dog down logging roads and hitting a wide cast of dog power. When my English Setter settled on a point I would slip out of my truck and see what he had pointed. If there was a grouse I would then pull over and begin hunting that area.

My most productive areas were from this type of searches as it allowed me to locate grouse where you would not typically find birds. The key to this type hunting is first to have a dog that handles well and can run over 30 miles in a hunt.

It takes a special breed to enable this jumping around.

I found grouse hunting Wisconsin to be more of a challenge this year. The birds were spotty and in pockets requiring hunt and move. Several areas I found this past year I would have never dreamed a bird would be there. I suppose that these new areas located were not pressured as aspen / popular cuts posted on several websites.

Additionally the weather played a lot of results as I found that sunny days tended to produce more birds on the ground and provided shooter opportunities. Windy cloudy days would drive the Grouse into the trees and produce more unproductive points and fewer shooters.

So I would encourage all grouse hunting Wisconsin to be patient and look forward to another year. Hopefully there will be a good hatch and the birds will bounce back.