Hunting prairie chickens in Minnesota is totally different than hunting them in the Sandhills. In Minnesota a hunter chooses a zone which is around 20 miles by 20 miles. With-in that zone is typically just a few public hunting areas. So the strategy there is just walk the public till you find some chickens.

In the Sandhills a hunter has to know the ways of the prairie chicken because there is likely habitat in all directions.

I had a gap in my work schedule the first week of September so I thought I’d head for the Sandhills for a combo dove, prairie grouse hunt. We had a tough time finding smaller family groups of prairie grouse. If we found one, we found 20 or more. I think it was due to a bad hatch and the adults just formed big groups. So the dogs were having trouble locking down solid points.

Caytee my young at the time wirehair and I were walking a pasture next to an ag field. I could tell she was catching scent. But not enough to point. After so many wild flushes prior to this point, I commanded here to whoa. I walked a big loop and walked in from the side of where I suspected the birds would flush. It was a huge flush of chickens at the edge of range. I swung on a bird and folded it, then swung on another but did not shoot as it was already too far.