Sharptails

JDThorstad

JDThorstad

New member
Hey folks,

Anybody hunt sharptails in MN? I never have but I here that their range is expanding. Also I was on the DNR website and stumbled on a group called the Minnesota Sharptail Grouse Society, it looks like they've been active for 18 years but only have about 300 members....Its kind of a neat site if you find it. I guess I dont even really know where sharptails live in MN? Anybody chase em?
 
I've taken a few. I'm pretty hesitant to shoot to many just because thier numbers always seem to be low. But there are some out there. Learn to indentify habitat and you'll probably run into birds. Seeing them and getting some are two different things though. They dont seem to be hunted real hard in this state just because of the Ruff being King. I remember the days when we would walk across my Grandparents land and shoot a limit of Sharptail and a limit of Ruff. Fun times! This past season was my first to hunt Sharptail in many years. I took 6 birds in two hunting days.
 
I hadn't heard that habitat was expanding. Much like chickens, I believe that they are just hanging on. I've never hunted them but thought that a trip up to the NW would be fun sometime to try it out. I've hunted sharpies on the prairies of the Dakotas but believe sharpies inhabit different habitat here. Brushlands I believe? With small children and limited time, though, taking a trip for sharpies in Minnesota for me is low priority.

You can apply for a license to shoot two chickens. The short season coincides with the SD pheasant opener and therefore I've never applied. There is a limited range along the old Lake Aggaziz shoreline in West Central and NW Minnesota. According to Outdoor Bound last night, the thinking is that there is about 50,000 chickens in Minnesota.
 
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