Grouse against the grain: Don’t hunt like the rest of ’em

If you could see the routes most ruffed grouse hunters take in any given chunk of national forest, you’d probably notice that about 80% of them are centered on access trails and logging roads. This goes for the folks who just want a clear-ish shot at a bird without having to bust brush, and the folks who spend most of their grouse season puttering around on ATVs. While plenty of birds are killed along trails and logging roads, the hunter looking for a grouse limit is often going to have to get his dogs off the easy stuff. This is hard for many folks to stomach in the early season, because they know the flush-to-shot ratio is going to be pretty dismal. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it.