How to Approach a Bird Dog Pointing Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock

Pro tip from Terry Ides with Ides Guides in Wisconsin

Let’s start with the obvious. Gunning for ruffed grouse and woodcock is different from hunting game birds that live in open fields and prairies.

Ruffed grouse and woodcock live in stands of young, thick timber with lots of branches and brambles that catch gun barrels, obscure birds from a wing shooter’s vision and block pellets from shot strings sent in the direction of the departing, airborne quarry.

It all can be intimidating to upland hunters accustomed to swinging a bead on a flushing pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, or bobwhite quail when they approach a dog on point in ruffed grouse and woodcock cover. Overcoming the challenges drives wing shooters to experience the magic of connecting with the king of game birds.

“I get hunters coming here from all over the country,” said Terry Ides with Ides Guides, who has been guiding ruffed grouse and woodcock hunters since 1977. He and his guides regularly record 20 ruffed grouse flushes per day for their clients on public and private lands around their base of operations in Park Falls, Wisconsin.

“While we’re having coffee before going out, I’ll explain to our hunters what to expect during the hunt,” said Ides. “Our guides don’t carry guns and we usually have two hunters per guide. I’ll handle the dog in the middle and have one hunter come in from the left of the dog on point and the other approaches from the right to pinch the bird between us.”

His number one tip to increase success in downing a woodcock or ruffed grouse flushing in the Northwoods cover?

“Look for windows,” Ides says is his key advice. “When you’re walking in on the point, look to get an open shot. Get around that balsam tree the bird could use to block its escape. Stay put if you have a very nice window where you have an open shot.”

Ides says he can usually tell if his dog is pointing a ruffed grouse or a woodcock. He hunts with five Vizslas he owns. The seven to nine guides he employs each season use a variety of gundog breeds including English pointers, an American water spaniel and English setters.

“When we’re in cover that looks ‘grousy’ I’ll have the hunters look 45 feet in front of the dog for the flush,” Ides said. “If I suspect a woodcock, I’ll advise them to expect the flush to come about 15 to 20 feet or closer in front of the dog’s nose.”

On a typical day, Ides and his guides will spend the first one to two hours in the morning getting their clients 3-bird limits of woodcock then spend the rest of the day concentrating on bagging grouse.

“I keep meticulous records, and over the years the average success on ruffed grouse in the bag has stayed consistent at 1.2 grouse per two-hunter team per day,” said Ides. “Every year one or two hunters gets a daily limit of three woodcock and five grouse. We give them a shirt with a patch for the achievement.”