Grouse

I believe a great portion of the decline in ruffled grouse numbers is loss of habitat , the surrounding area where i hunt at use to be farm land has now been turned into a sub division , infact there use to be a second hunting preserve about a mile from the club where i go to , that is now a sub division , but the club owner where i hunt use to have wild quail , grouse , pheasant and other animals . now you only see deer , squirrel once in a while , a flock or so of geese , some ducks , very little doves in the area .

WHAT quail and pheasants?

I've not seen nor heard either in 10 years (minimum. More like 20?) and I don't remember the last TRACK of either seen in the snow in an area where I commonly shot 100 plus quail and a half dozen roosters annually for more than a decade and a half years back.

The area I have deer hunted since 1975 used to have deer seasons with me seeing pheasants almost daily from the stand yet I did not bird hunt that area and only deer hunted. I cannot recall the last cackle I've heard there.

Just the status up North here.

God Bless

Now this is just my personal opinion here,, and I am no expert by far! But I don't think increased turkey numbers has reduced grouse numbers. But it is fact we have increased turkey by ALOT! I think its loss of habitat and bad winters and such for the loss of grouse,, where as the turkeys are way better at adapting to the situation!! But that is just my uneducated guess also? Pheasant and grouse and quail are just not as hardy and tough like the turkeys are. The turkeys are like roachs,, meaning they can survive anything!!!! I remember not to long ago that we did not even have any turkeys around my parts,, now they are everywhere getting into peoples trash cans and everything!!!

The way things are going, I feel more likely to see a cougar in the woods than a grouse. The other day a quail walked across the road in front of my truck and it was a 'Wow!' moment. Indiana could be a really good state for hunting if we had a decent wild game bird population.

Hunting isn't the problem with bird population. Habitat is. Not enough hunters to even make a difference one way or another.

^^^^
THIS

Woody, I began hunting grouse in 1986 at Morgan Monroe. My veteran grouse hunting buddy and I each took a grouse that October day. We moved and missed quite a few more. Over the next twenty years I hunted them all over their range in the southern half of the state. Morgan Monroe, Yellowwood, Owen Putnam, and the Hoosier National all had good bird numbers. Back then, there was plenty of hardwood regrowth on public ground in Indiana. I think my best year was in '99 when I hunted 25 days, averaged putting up around 2 birds an hour and killed 12 grouse. They aren't easy even when they're there. Seemed like the bird numbers on my public ground covers plummeted around 2003 or 2004. I think my last grouse hunt was around 2007. I remember not moving any birds in what had once been great grouse cover at MM and not being able to find any cover worth stopping and hunting, so I gave it up.

Last spring I took a trip down memory lane and drove through MM. I was surprised to see some good looking grouse cover as a result of the cutting that's been done over the past several years. If there were any grouse left in the forest prior to cutting, there may be huntable numbers now and in the near future as habitat improves. My feeling is the DNR should consider a limited hunt via an application and fee process similar to what Wisconsin does for their sharp tail grouse hunting. Each year, the Wisconsin DNR takes a census of their sharp tails and provides the public with a limited number of tags. Our DNR could do something similar for our ruffed grouse hunters. The down side is that an accurate census would cost the DNR and I have my doubts about them considering anything more difficult or expensive than closing the season.

Best.
Setterman