Minnesota Grouse and Woodcock Hunting Report: Nashwauk & Deer River Action

 

Hunt Overview

• Date: October 14, 2026

• Locations: Nashwauk, MN & Deer River, MN (Itasca County Public Lands / Chippewa National Forest region)

• Target Species: Ruffed Grouse & American Woodcock

• Dogs: Sweep (pointing dog) & Tasha (14-year-old veteran pointing dog)

Morning Session: Hitting the Trails North of Nashwauk

We returned to a few tried-and-true spots north of Nashwauk, Minnesota, hoping to bag our first ruffed grouse of the day. With Sweep well-rested after a few days off, she got the first call.

When we arrived at the trailhead, an ATV hunter's truck and trailer were already parked. Sure enough, shortly after releasing Sweep, we crossed paths with the rider. He mentioned a slow morning, noting he hadn't seen any grouse yet and that overall numbers felt low in the area this season.

Working the Cover Lines

We pushed past the main trail onto a smaller, quieter side spur.

• First Encounter: A quick woodcock point, but the bird held too tight and flushed without offering a clean shooting lane.

• First Harvest: A bit farther down the trail, Sweep locked up on a second woodcock. This time, I connected, dropping the bird cleanly. Unfortunately, a ruffed grouse flushed at the sound of the shot, but thick cover kept it hidden from view.

• Dog Work Highlights: Sweep did an exceptional job tracking down the downed woodcock, finding it much closer than expected. Finding fallen birds she didn’t directly watch drop has been about a 50/50 split for her, so this was a great win.

We pushed deeper into uncharted territory for this specific run. We flushed one more woodcock without a shot opportunity, and worked our back to the main trail empty-handed on grouse. Back on the main artery, Sweep bumped a single grouse—forgivable given the tricky tailwind working against her nose.

Back at the truck, a second ATV trailer pulled up looking for the first hunter (reminding us just how sketchy cell reception can be in the deep Itasca County woods). After loading Sweep into her kennel, we shifted gears toward Deer River.

Afternoon Session: Deer River Woodcock and Senior Dog Adventures

For the afternoon hunt, we headed near our place close to Deer River, MN. After a successful run there last week featuring plenty of woodcock contacts, the primary goal was getting my 14-year-old pointing dog, Tasha, on some solid points.

• Quick Success: Within the first five minutes, Tasha delivered a textbook point on a woodcock. I connected on the flush, adding another bird to the bag.

• Pushing Deeper: We worked the trail further than our previous outing, managing a wild flush from a ruffed grouse. With zero wind in the timber, it was no surprise Tasha didn't catch scent in time to establish a point.

• The Senior Dog Challenge: On the return trek, Tasha went on point. My Garmin tracking watch initially showed her just 35 yards into the thick brush, but quickly ticked up to 100, then 150 yards. Dealing with a nearly deaf senior dog makes redirection tough. I tapped the vibrate mode on her collar to turn her around, but she pushed out to 300 yards. Navigating the heavy cover quickly, I managed to break back onto the trail. She had closed to 70 yards but veered the wrong way. After another chase reaching 250 yards, she finally turned, trotted back like nothing happened, and got leashed up for the walk back. Despite her age and range mishap, lasting a full hour of strong hunting in heavy cover is incredible for a 14-year-old dog.

Post-Hunt Recovery

The next morning brought wet, gloomy weather, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Both Sweep and Tasha were limping slightly from the previous day's mileage, so giving the hard-working hunting dogs a mandatory rest day was an easy call that didn't waste any prime hunting weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Season Grouse and Woodcock Hunting in Minnesota: A Sunday Hunt with My Bird Dog Sweep

Early Season Grouse Hunting on a Minnesota Grouse Management Area

My English Setter, Sweep and I squeezed in a Sunday grouse and woodcock hunt before kickoff of the Minnesota Vikings game. At 60 degrees it was warmer than I prefer, but that’s early season bird hunting in Minnesota. We headed to a Grouse Management Area (GMA) near our house. One truck was already parked there, but the hunters were finished and deciding where to go next, so we had the area to ourselves. Another truck pulled in as we hit the woods, but that was just a deer hunter checking his stand and hanging trail cameras.

Hunting Woodcock and Grouse with a Tailwind

We started with a tailwind, and within the first few minutes we had a wild woodcock flush. I’m not usually a big woodcock hunter, but I decided to take a shot at one if I could, to reinforce my bird dog’s training.

Not much farther down the trail, a grouse flushed wild from the opposite side from where Sweep was working. That made me wonder whether the tailwind was carrying the sound of her bell too far and warning the birds of our approach. If you hunt with a bell or beeper collar, wind direction is worth considering when planning your route through grouse cover.

Bird Dog Points: First Woodcock and a Nice Grouse

Soon after, Sweep went on point on another woodcock, and this time I harvested it. She did a great job finding the bird on the ground after it dropped.

After a couple of corners, Sweep locked up on point again. This time it was a grouse, and we took it. It was the nicest grouse of the season so far, and I was feeling great about the hunt.

Working the Wind on the Return Loop

At the far end of the trail, as we looped back, Sweep swung into the wind and flashed a point as a grouse got up. I shot, and the bird went down. As I stepped in to retrieve it and Sweep closed in, it flushed again, stronger than before. I was so surprised I never got off a second shot. It’s a good reminder to always mark a downed grouse carefully, since a wing-tipped bird can run or flush again.

Our First Multi-Bird Day of the Season

We kept hunting and got a couple more woodcock points, though I didn’t get shots off. Even so, it was our first multi-bird day of the season. Sweep covered just over 10 miles in just under 2 hours, so she’ll sleep well tonight.

English Setter Sweep with Woodcock and Grouse

 

Grand Rapids MN 2026 Ruffed Grouse Opener Eve

I haven't hunted the grouse opener in quite a few years.  But I'm going to give it a try this year.  I've been scouting a fair amount looking for new places to hunt.  My two biggest concerns tomorrow are finding a spot that doesn't have too many trucks and that it will be warmer than what I like to hunt in.

To celebrate the opener eve I decided to hit Florios for the Friday Night Fish Fry.  Pro-Tip... make a reservation... 

Quail Release For Dog Training 2026

I got 26 quail from my Realtor’s daughter.  I think she was raising them for a 4H project or something.  I should have waited a day to release them as we had a pretty big storm the night that I let them go.  I let out 6 in some good cover pretty close to the house and then the other 20 were in our 25 acre field underneath some raspberry bushes.

The next morning I found a pile of feather where I am assuming one of them became a meal.  A little later I had the bird in the photo start to follow me around.  They were  raised as pets and didn’t have any fear of people.  I’ll check on the other 20 and see if the dogs can find them when I take them for a run in the field at the end of the week.

 

Deer Fly Mania Dog Run

I ran the dogs for 30 minutes in the field next to our house.  The cover is fairly decent but we haven’t released any birds yet so we were just running for exercise.  The flys were driving me crazy so I attached a Deer Fly Strip to my hat and it made the run a lot more enjoyable.  It ended up being out last run before the mega heat kicked in.  

You can pick up Deer Fly Strips @ https://deerflypatchstore.com/categories/deer-fly-patches

Besides Backing I asked Jerry @ Northwoods Bird Dogs to work on Sweep’s Whoaing.  She does ok but can sometimes break when there is a lot of action going on like other hunters or dogs.  Just got this picture of Sweep on a whoa.  She is doing it much better now and I also know that if need be I can put on a belly band and she will be more diligent about it.

 

 

 

Bird Dog Training Steady To Point and Shot

Just got the latest picture of Sweep from our trainer, Northwoods Bird Dogs, one of the things that I asked to have Sweep tuned up on was backing. We don’t hunt with other dogs but it is nice knowing that they will back if we do hunt with someone else or if I run her with one of our other dogs.