Grouse Finder Find the young woods before you leave the truck.
For hunters, birders and wildlife photographers. Grouse Finder reads how long ago the woods near any New Hampshire address were cut, what's growing back, and where the conifer cover and wet ground are, then ranks the cover ruffed grouse and woodcock are most likely to live in. Each spot is explained in plain English: whose public land it's on, the way in over public ground where it can be checked, and how far it is from the nearest house. It maps terrain, not property rights or legal access.
Grouse Finder checks a map against set criteria and shares waypoints where the habitat is most likely to offer a chance to see ruffed grouse and American woodcock. It reads the land and water only, not whether animals are there today. A spot is not permission to hunt, fish, enter or cross any land.
Ruffed grouse and American woodcock, New Hampshire
Beta testers
Sign in, or create a free account. Beta testers with an invite code get everything free this fall.
Most of the woods aren't grouse woods
Grouse and woodcock live in young forest: the thick regrowth that comes back for a couple of decades after a cut. In New Hampshire most of the woods are past that age, and from the road it all looks the same.
Cuts grow up and grow out
A cut that was thick and full of birds ten years ago can be pole timber now. Knowing when each patch was last cut is most of the job.
The right trees, and cover close by
Aspen and birch regrowth, with conifers nearby for weather and winter. Woodcock add moist soils and alder runs. The strongest mix is scattered in small pieces.
Whose land, and how far from houses
National forest, state forests, wildlife management areas and town land each have their own rules, and some allow walking or watching where they don't allow hunting. New Hampshire law bars shooting within 300 feet of an occupied house without permission (RSA 207:3-a).
Getting in is half the battle
Some cover is a short walk from a road. Some is behind a gate or a long way from anything, and you'd rather learn which at home.
Real screens from the beta build, near Jefferson, NH. Shown with every spot on (Pro).
What Grouse Finder shows you
Search an address or tap your location. You get the highest-ranked cover around it (2.5 miles on Free, 5 on Starter, 30 on Pro), each spot explained in plain English.
-
Why each spot ranks
How long ago it was cut, what's growing back, conifer cover nearby, moist soils and alder, and openings, and whether it favors grouse, woodcock or both.
-
How to get in
Where a cover can be reached from a listed public lot over land open to the public, you get the lot, the walk-in on public ground and driving directions, on every plan. Routes stay on listed public land, state and town roads and Forest Service roads and trails. If any part can't be checked, there's no route, and the spot says so. Never a route or parking to private land. Pro adds Guide me in, a GPS arrow from the truck to the cover.
-
Whose land, and how close the houses are
The public land each spot sits on, such as the White Mountain National Forest, a state forest or a wildlife management area, with a reminder to check its rules, plus the distance and direction to the nearest building.
-
Which winds it's sheltered from
Based on the tall cover around each spot, so you can match the spot to the forecast.
-
A flush log that works with no signal
Pin grouse flushes, woodcock flushes, photos you took, or "walked here, no flush." Pins stay private on your phone unless you choose to share them.
Put it on your phone
Grouse Finder installs straight from this site to your home screen. There's nothing to get from an app store, it takes a few seconds, and it's free to install.
- Opens full screen from its own icon, like any other app.
- Spots and map you looked at at home still work in the woods with no signal.
- Updates itself. Nothing to download again.
- Open this site in Safari.
- Tap the Share button at the bottom (top right on iPad).
- Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.
- Open this site in Chrome.
- Tap the menu ⋮ at the top right.
- Tap Add to Home screen (or Install app), then Install.
Grouse Finder is on your home screen. Open it from there.
What it can't tell you
Grouse Finder reads forest age and cover only, not whether birds are there today. Weather, food that year, the spring hatch and hunting pressure decide that, and nothing replaces walking the cover. It has weak spots you should know about:
- Satellite cut dates miss light partial cuts, and can't see how old a stand is if it was cut before 1985.
- It doesn't know about apple trees, old orchards or recent storm damage.
- It's still being checked in the field this season by beta testers.
Use it to choose where to look, then trust your eyes. Whether you carry a shotgun or a camera, confirm who owns a spot and what its rules allow.
The rules are on you. You're responsible for learning and following the laws, seasons and land rules wherever you go, and for identifying any animal before taking it. In New Hampshire you may not discharge a firearm within 300 feet of a permanently occupied dwelling without permission of the owner or occupant (RSA 207:3-a). Building distances in the app are estimates from public data and can miss houses. Woodcock hunters need a free HIP certification. Check seasons and rules with NH Fish and Game each year.
A spot is not permission to hunt, fish, enter or cross any land.
How we check it
Beta testers log their flushes this fall, and the covers they walk with no flush. We compare Grouse Finder's spots against the covers testers pick on their own. If the ranking doesn't beat that, we won't charge for it.
Results are pending. We'll post them here when the season's checks are done.
Know what you're looking at
Spruce grouse or ruffed grouse?
Spruce grouse live in some of the same northern woods, and they're easy to mistake for a ruffed grouse, especially a gray or red-phase hen. There is no open season on spruce grouse in New Hampshire (RSA 209:4) or Maine. Be sure of the bird before you shoot, and enjoy them with binoculars or a camera.
How to tell them apart (Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife)
Free this fall, by invitation
We're opening Grouse Finder to a small group of New Hampshire grouse and woodcock hunters, birders and photographers this season. Use it, log your flushes, photos and empty walks, and tell us where it's right and where it's wrong.
Not ready to ask? Make a free account: movement tracking, waypoints and 5 spot searches, each showing the top 3 covers on listed public land within 2.5 miles, with the public lot, walk-in and driving directions where they can be checked.
The Finder apps
Grouse Finder is one of the Finder apps from Northwoods Investment LLC, each reading the land or water for a different kind of wildlife, for hunters, anglers, watchers and photographers alike. Each says what it reads, never that animals will be there.