Outdoors
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We had all heard the stories. Bird hunters would hit the North Maine Woods, drive around for a couple of hours and return with their limit of ruffed grouse.
Those tales of bird hunting success always sounded too good to be true, mostly because our group had never enjoyed such an experience. Hunting buddies Chris Lander of Orrington and Bill Lander of Dedham and I decided this fall to find out whether heading farther north might change our hunting luck.
After a poor year of Maine grouse hunting in 2023, when spring chick survival was hampered by rainy, cold weather, we were optimistic about our chances this year.
We would have preferred to be going on a moose hunt, and to have John Holyoke and Tim Lander in camp with us. But with no moose permit in hand, and those two valued companions unavailable, we grabbed the shotguns and headed north.
Chris gathered up his numerous camping supplies, loaded up the truck and we set out for Aroostook County.
Two years ago, we camped in Wildlife Management District 4, off Churchill Dam Road. We saw some birds, but had limited opportunities.
This time, we targeted areas near the western end of the American Realty Road, known affectionately as the “Reality Road,” also in the North Maine Woods.
Chris had scoped out several NMW-authorized campsites — which are equipped with an outhouse, a fire ring and a picnic table — and found a good one not far from Clayton Lake.
We opted to hunt during the lull between the two bull-only moose hunting weeks. That proved a good call, because traffic and any competition were minimal.
Upon our weekday midafternoon arrival, we efficiently erected the large tent and the pop-up shelter that would serve as our cooking station. Then we went for a quick ride to start getting the lay of the land. Billy was the first to get on the board with a grouse.
We returned and Chris cooked up a dinner featuring bear steaks from a boar harvested last month. It was amazing.
Our slumber the first night was interrupted after 1 a.m., first by an unexpected bit of light rain (we hadn’t covered the tent with a tarp), then by rhythmic thumping near the tent. It only took us a few seconds to realize that a moose was clip-clopping its way along the access road 30 feet away.
It was as close as we would get to a moose during the trip. Over four days, we only caught a glimpse of one calf butt as it veered off the road and into the alders.
The next morning, we brewed a quick pot of coffee and hit the road. We saw six birds and shot two before returning for a breakfast of thick-cut bacon and eggs.
Our next foray unexpectedly wound up being more of a scouting expedition as the action slacked. One resourceful partridge mysteriously evaded three blasts from a 12-gauge.
We did lots of driving, and searching, until I finally ended a long drought with a bird at 4:45 p.m. We saw three more, with no shots fired, before retreating for a heaping helping of “Petey pasta” and garlic bread.
We had already put eyes on 14 grouse prior to our second full day of hunting — an all-time best for our group. And it would get even better.
The next day, we were blessed with brilliant blue skies and a gorgeous panorama of peak fall foliage. We suffered two misses out of the gate, then returned to camp briefly for some delicious breakfast sausage and eggs.
When the hunting resumed, at one point we picked up two grouse within a few hundred yards. We saw more than a dozen grouse and downed a handful more.
Our travels took us into new territory in WMD 1, only a few miles from the Canadian border. Our tailgate lunch stop again featured cold-meat sandwiches, on Bangor Rye rolls, and chips.
Dinner was amazing. Chris did his best Gordon Ramsay imitation, searing some Maple Lane Farms filet mignons to perfection, complemented by sliced fingerling potatoes. We savored every mouth-watering bite, leading me to say it was probably the best meat I had ever eaten.
The action slowed significantly on our final day, which included rain in the morning, then overcast skies. We only shot one bird among a handful we saw, but the day’s efforts pushed us to more than 40 grouse sighted, with nine harvested for the trip.
It won’t seem like a lot to some folks, but we came away happy. With only a few misses, most of the birds we saw didn’t stick around long enough for us to get a shot. The camping was comfortable and the weather generally outstanding.
We didn’t come close to getting our limit, but there was ample action.
Our final meal on Saturday night was a charge of “Billy chili,” which hit the spot as we sat by the fire and reflected on our fun and productive trip. We relished the chance to get together again, share old stories and to make some new memories.
There’s no way to know what might be in store for the fall of 2025, but if we’re not moose hunting, there’s an excellent chance we’ll head back to the beautiful North Maine Woods to get a crack at more grouse.
