14 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2018
By Julie Geiser
Knowing where to find prairie grouse takes experience,
keen observation skills and learning what the birds need
during the early and late hunting seasons. Much of the
prairie chicken and sharp-tailed grouse range lies in the
Sandhills, which can mean walking up and down hills
hoping to find birds.
To avoid hours of walking, look for shin- to knee-high
grasses and forbs (broad-leaved weeds) that birds use for
cover from predators and weather and for food. Birds feed
early in the morning and mid-to-late afternoon; doing some
preseason scouting to locate food sources will acclimate
hunters to an area and get them into shape.
Early in the season, birds will feed on insects such as
grasshoppers and crickets along with wild plums, chokecher-
ries and grain crops. Later in the season, look for rose hips,
poison ivy fruit, grain crops and dried seed forbs. On colder
days, birds will warm themselves on southern-facing hill-
sides, and early in the hunting season, so will insects.
Mid-day, grouse can be found loafing along the higher
hill ridges. On warm days, birds will loaf under wild plum,
chokecherry and poison ivy shrubs to keep cool or they'll sit
where there is a breeze out of the sun. On cold winter days,
birds will warm in the sun and out of heavy winds, many
times just below a hilltop or pockets where there is sunlight
and little wind.
Wind can be useful; walk directly into the wind to
approach birds, especially when using a dog so it can pick
up the bird's scent. On very windy days, birds will sit tighter
and will fly into the wind, giving shooters a brief shot.
Also, record your hunting conditions on each trip. Mark
good habitat locations with GPS so you can find them again.
Study where you down a bird, look at the food and cover
sources, and make note the time of day and year, weather
conditions and contents of the bird's crop.
Putting all this together will help a hunter beat the odds
and bag more birds. ■
PHOTO
BY
JULIE
GEISER
Hunting Prairie Grouse
