Bad season for Grouse in Region 5?

[drache]

Grouse always 'boom' and 'bust'. In the spring, grouse naturally gravitate towards each other and gather in large groups called a 'lek' for breeding purposes. Then they start to spread out as the year progresses more and more and by the end of fall they can't stand each other and are pretty evenly dispersed over a wide area.

It's believed that often while they're still in large groups, an illness can spread amongst them and wipe out a significant percentage of all the grouse in that area. It then takes a few years for the population to rebuild itself (which grouse are very good at, they have lots of kids and a decent survival rate most years.)

So you can get 'cycles', where an area that is usually plentiful suddenly crashes and there aren't any for a few years, then suddenly they're plentiful again.

And in some years it can take a little longer for them to start to disperse. It's been a hot summer. It might be that you'll see grouse in that area yet in a week or two.

My grandfather used to tell me about cycles like that (sort of like rabbits around here). I've gone through a couple cycles like that where there are so few grouse and yet within a year or two I'd be beating them off with a stick.

 

[holy jumpins]

i haven't seen any around my place this year but my uncle is seeing lots of them and he only lives 10 minutes away

 

['Boo]

In the spring, grouse naturally gravitate towards each other and gather in large groups called a 'lek' for breeding purposes.

Ruffed , Blue, and Spruce grouse don't have Leks.

Sharptails do have Leks but I don't think that was the species Drache was worried about.

 

[Steeleco]

Was out south of Merritt yesterday and saw more grouse than in the last two years combined. The kid got his limit and I got two myself. Some clutches had as many as 8 birds but they tended to too small so we let them go.