hunting grouse, bear & deer  at
Hungry Jack Lodge and Campground

During the fall Hungry Jack Lodge and Campground offers outstanding opportunities for hunters who live and come to Minnesota.  Grouse is the bird of choice for small game hunters and big game such as bear and moose thrive in the lake studded aspen and pine forests of the Hungry Jack Lodge and Gunflint Trail areas of northeastern Minnesota.

Both grouse and bear hunting licenses and permits are available to residents and non-residents of Minnesota.  Hunting licenses for grouse are available "over-the-counter" and can be purchased at Hungry Jack Lodge.  Black Bear licenses/permits are available to both residents and non-residents of Minnesota by application and drawing.  For more information about Minnesota licenses and permits for black bear and season dates please go to the Minnesota DNR website.  Moose hunting permits are for residents of Minnesota only and there is a "lottery" drawing for the few permits which are available each year.

Minnesota's small game season usually starts around September 15th of each year.  Black bear hunting usually begins on September 1st and runs through approximately October 15h.  BE SURE TO CHECK THE MINNESOTA DNR WEBSITE FOR EXACT DATES, REGULATIONS AND LICENSE INFORMATION PERTAINING TO HUNTING.

GROUSE HUNTING

Minnesota is the top ruffed grouse-producing state in the U.S. No other state harvests as many ruffed grouse each fall or provides as much public hunting land containing ruffed grouse.  Surrounding Hungry Jack Lodge and Campground you will find heavy amounts of aspen trees, which is the preferred habitat for Grouse.  Though also found in oak, maple, and other woods, ruffed grouse in Minnesota prefer aspen (also called popple).

As a result of the excellent success that grouse hunters have at Hungry Jack Lodge and Campground, it's no wonder that grouse hunters return year after year to Hungry Jack Lodge and Campground for unparalleled grouse hunting, great food and of course the unequaled hospitality.  Rarely if ever are grouse hunters disappointed.  Hunting licenses for grouse are available "over-the-counter" and can be purchased at Hungry Jack Lodge.

The following are excerpts are from an article by Tom Dickson of Helena, Montana:

"Just as birders dream of a midwinter trip to Costa Rica, and trout anglers pine for Montana rivers, ruffed grouse hunters across the United States fantasize about spending an October weekend in northern Minnesota."

"In Minnesota during the good years, you can have up to 40 or sometimes even 50 flushes per day," he says. "That's just unheard of anywhere else in the country. When you add that to all your public forest land, Minnesota really is the nation's best ruffed grouse state."

"Minnesota is awash in aspen and other grouse habitat, much of it in county, state, and national forests. In fact, Minnesota has more grouse habitat than any other state. According to the DNR's ruffed grouse management plan draft, 11.5 million of the state's 16.3 million acres of forest are grouse habitat."

Below you will find excepts from the Minnesota DNR 2007 Grouse surveys which was published June 25, 2007.

"Annual harvest varies from approximately 150,000 to 1.4 million birds and averages 500,000 birds."

"Based upon the drum count index, ruffed grouse densities in northeastern Minnesota during spring 2007 were likely greater than spring densities during 2001–2006. It appears that this is the second year of a cyclical increase in the population."

"The Northeast survey region was the only one in which counts increased."

bear hunting

Hungry Jack Lodge and Campground is smack dab in the middle of some of Minnesota's prime bear hunting territory.  And, because Hungry Jack Lodge has a campground with electric and water hook-up's the campground at Hungry Jack Lodge and Campground makes an ideal "base camp" for your bear hunting trip.

By using the Hungry Jack Campground as your base camp you'll have plenty of space to park and plug in your trailer with your on-board freezer or refrigerator (if you use one), have the convenience of hot showers and of course be able to have some of the great (all you can eat) meals served in our main lodge.  Hunting stories of course are always welcome in the Logger's Lounge over a "cold one".

Today Minnesota has more than 20,000 bears -- up threefold from the 1980s.

Hungry Jack Lodge and areas adjacent to the Gunflint Trail that are outside the BWCA(W) are in Minnesota's Bear Management Unit (BMU)  #31, which had a 33% success ratio in 2006 and was the highest success ratio of any BMU in 2006.  The 2006 success ratio for black bear hunters in 2006 was 15% higher than in 2002.

The BWCA(W) area adjacent to Hungry Jack Lodge is located in Minnesota's Bear Management Unit (BMU)  #22, which in 2006 had a success ratio 10% higher that the 2003 success ratio.  Many of Minnesota's other BMU's have had a decrease in success ratio during that period of time.   

Black bears were originally found throughout Minnesota, but now are found only in northern woodlands. The multitude of various types of berries found in the Hungry Jack Lodge area are a haven for black bears because the black bear is omnivorous, eating grasses, fruits, berries, buds or leaves, nuts, insects and their larvae, and on small animals, deer fawns, and carrion.

Black Bear licenses/permits are available to both residents and non-residents of Minnesota by application and drawing.  For more information about Minnesota licenses and permits for black bear and season dates please go to the Minnesota DNR website.

Cook County Star  10-23-04 

Bear season ended October 17 and according to most hunters, it was a successful season. Local guide Stacy Houglum of Grand Marais guided 16 hunters and said he was "16-for-16." The highest bear registration was at Buck's Hardware in Grand Marais with 98 bears registered. Mike's Holiday in Tofte had the second highest number with 44 bear registered, 26 female and 18 males. Other registration stations are Lockport General Store in Lutsen which had 6 bear registered; Windigo Resort, up the Gunflint Trail with 8 bear; and the Post Office in Hovland with just one bear.

deer hunting

Though the area around Hungry Jack Lodge and the Gunflint Trail are not know as a deer hunting hot spots there are a fair number of deer in the area.

The deer shown at the left was taken by Ericka Blaschko, who is a staff member at Hungry Jack Lodge. This was the first deer that Ericka had ever taken. I'm sure you will agree that her first deer rivals bucks taken in pretty much any good deer hunting hot spot in the midwest.

Because there are not extremely high numbers of deer in the area, deer hunters must work a little harder than they might have to elsewhere. But, the reward of a really nice buck, like Ericka's, can be yours in areas near Hungry Jack Lodge, if you are willing to work to get it.