The males of some species, such as sharp-tailed grouse and prairie chickens, will use the same lek year after year to perform their ritualized mating dances to attract hens.
I use my own blind on private land with permission from the owner for both sharp-tailed grouse and ring-necked pheasants. I also use it when photographing ruffed grouse on their drumming logs. But most of my sharptailed grouse and prairie chicken images were taken from blinds that one needs to reserve for a morning or two.
While many of the places that have blinds to reserve were closed in 2020-2021 because of the pandemic, by 2022 I was able to reserve a couple of mornings on a sharp-tailed grouse lek. These public blinds fill up fast, and many may not begin to take reservations until January or February for the coming spring. Most of the blinds that I reserved were large enough for two or three people, but some locations may have blinds for larger groups.
The general guideline for all blinds is to be sure to arrive very early, at least an hour before sunrise, for the males come to the lek very early in the morning. Stay in the blind until the birds have all departed the lek, generally around 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.
PRAIRIE CHICKEN BLIND
This location is in far northwest Minnesota at Bluestem Prairie SNA (Scientific and Natural Area) that is operated in partnership with the Nature Conservancy. I have been to this location many times to photograph prairie chickens. The link in the sidebar includes information on reserving this and other blinds located throughout Minnesota.
This story is from the Spring 2023 edition of The Upland Almanac.
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This story is from the Spring 2023 edition of The Upland Almanac.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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