Trying to predict ruffed grouse hunting prospects is a tricky business, at best, because the forest birds aren’t readily visible along roadsides or open terrain most of the year. Instead, managers historically have relied on spring drumming count surveys – listening for the unique “drumming” sound male ruffed grouse make by rapidly beating their wings to mark territory and attract a mate – and anecdotal brood sightings to give hunters a glimpse of what they might expect come fall.

Despite that uncertainty, there’s at least a glimmer of optimism when Minnesota’s grouse season opens Saturday, Sept. 13.

Grouse season also opens Sept. 13 in North Dakota.

Perhaps even more than drumming counts, weather conditions during the crucial breeding season in late May and early June drive ruffed grou

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