Minnesota grouse season begins Saturday
Grouse season opens Saturday in Minnesota, and it looks like hunters won't have a lot to grouse about.
The Department of Natural Resources says grouse are Minnesota's most popular game bird. Adult populations have held steady, and chick survival this spring and summer was good.
Ted Dick, forest game bird coordinator with the DNR, says visibility will improve for grouse hunters as leaves drop from the trees. And he says enjoying the fall colors is part of the experience, even if the vegetation makes shooting more difficult.
Minnesota's ruffed grouse hunter numbers last year were estimated at 83,000, an increase of 11 percent from 2013.
The season for ruffed and spruce grouse runs from Saturday through Jan. 3, 2015, and through Nov. 30 for sharp-tailed grouse.
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