Grouse Finder Find the young woods before you leave the truck.
Grouse Finder ranks ruffed grouse and woodcock cover within 5 miles of any New Hampshire address. It reads how long ago the woods were cut, what's growing back, where the conifer cover and wet ground are, and explains each spot in plain English: whose public land it's on, how to get in over public ground, and how far it is from the nearest house. It maps terrain, not property rights or legal access.
Reads forest age and cover only, not whether birds are there today.
Ruffed grouse and American woodcock, New Hampshire
Beta hunters
Sign in, or create a free account. Beta hunters 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 best 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 New Hampshire keeps you 300 feet from occupied houses unless you have permission.
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 within 5 miles, each spot explained in plain English.
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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.
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How to get in (Pro)
A walk-in route that stays on listed public land, state and town roads and Forest Service roads and trails, and parking only where a lot is listed as public. If any part can't be checked, there's no route, and the spot says so.
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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.
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Which winds it's sheltered from
Based on the tall cover around each spot, so you can match the spot to the forecast.
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A flush log that works with no signal
Pin grouse flushes, woodcock flushes, or "hunted 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 hunters.
Use it to decide where to scout, then trust your eyes. Always confirm who owns a spot and whether hunting is allowed there.
The law is on you. 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 on the map is not permission to hunt there.
How we check it
Beta hunters log their flushes this fall, and the covers they walk with no flush. We compare Grouse Finder's spots against the covers hunters 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.
Free this fall, by invitation
We're opening Grouse Finder to a small group of New Hampshire grouse and woodcock hunters this season. Use it, log your flushes and your empty walks, and tell us where it's right and where it's wrong.
Not ready to ask? Make a free account: the cover map and 5 spot searches, each with up to 3 public spots.