First time grouse hunter, a question...

Keller

Keller

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
8   0   1
Location
NE Ontario
Question for you guys. I have 160 acres east of Sudbury with lots of Ruffed Grouse on it. I also have lots of crown land within a 30 minute drive.

Being new to grouse hunting, and hunting in general, should I hunt the grouse on my property, or leave them alone and go to the crown land?

Is it possible to unintentionally thin out the population on my property, or will their numbers bounce back every year?
 
Might depend on the weather, snow depth (they’ll sleep under the snow when really cold), food, pred populations, lots of things.

Cyclical populations are common the more north you go (sometimes doesn’t matter what happens or what you do).

they’ll get gun/people shy the more you pressure them.

How bout being a steward of your 160 acres. You be surprised what a little work will do.

Don’t be like a “poor” farmer with his sh*t woodlot that’s been in his family for generations
 
Keller said:
Question for you guys. I have 160 acres east of Sudbury with lots of Ruffed Grouse on it. I also have lots of crown land within a 30 minute drive.

Being new to grouse hunting, and hunting in general, should I hunt the grouse on my property, or leave them alone and go to the crown land?

Is it possible to unintentionally thin out the population on my property, or will their numbers bounce back every year?
Click to expand...
We all should be so lucky ;)
Shoot what you need to eat/enjoy and leave some for another day.
Habitat improvement will increase bird population and shooting a limit a week will decimate said bird population.
Just my thoughts as I am not a ornithologist, but rather a practicing conservationist.
 
Last edited:
m1008 said:
How bout being a steward of your 160 acres. You be surprised what a little work will do.

Don’t be like a “poor” farmer with his sh*t woodlot that’s been in his family for generations
Click to expand...
Funny you should say that, the property we bought was poorly maintained with junk all over the place. It truly was someone's "Sh*t woodlot" a couple of owners ago. We've been busy this summer taking metal for scrap, removing moldy old camper trailers, picking up hundreds of old beer and water bottles, and generally just improving everything about the property. It baffles me how someone could treat a property like a personal dump. The last time the kitchen was renovated, the old kitchen was taken out back and dumped in the bush; the dump is a couple km away and allows for 2 free truckload dumps a year. There's no excuse for that.

I don't plan on decimating the grouse population, and I highly doubt that I'll even hit bag limits; just one or two every couple weeks at most. Who knows, maybe they won't even provide me that. I'll have to wait and see.

Thanks for the input.
 
Last edited:
bbobie said:
they go in cycles ,enjoy them now they will taper off ,lots of grouse equals more predators also
Click to expand...
Can confirm. Maybe 10 years ago, I couldn't walk 2 miles without being able to limit out. Now I'm lucky to see them so I don't bother hunting them. Same with rabbits here. Some coyote and wolf pressure around but not enough to fully explain where they went.
 
jlovie said:
Can confirm. Maybe 10 years ago, I couldn't walk 2 miles without being able to limit out. Now I'm lucky to see them so I don't bother hunting them. Same with rabbits here. Some coyote and wolf pressure around but not enough to fully explain where they went.
Click to expand...
Weather has a massive influence on grouse populations. Too much rain in the spring is really hard on the chicks for example.
 
Keller said:
Funny you should say that, the property we bought was poorly maintained with junk all over the place. It truly was someone's "Sh*t woodlot" a couple of owners ago. We've been busy this summer taking metal for scrap, removing moldy old camper trailers, picking up hundreds of old beer and water bottles, and generally just improving everything about the property. It baffles me how someone could treat a property like a personal dump. The last time the kitchen was renovated, the old kitchen was taken out back and dumped in the bush; the dump is a couple km away and allows for 2 free truckload dumps a year. There's no excuse for that.

I don't plan on decimating the grouse population, and I highly doubt that I'll even hit bag limits; just one or two every couple weeks at most. Who knows, maybe they won't even provide me that. I'll have to wait and see.

Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...
That’s good but get in touch with people who know trees or educate yourself. Proper thinning, trimming/elevating removing balsam fir and burning, pretty much all the info you’d need is on YouTube, running a saw or a brush/clearing saw hands on experience. A legit brush cleaning saw like a stihl FS 460 or husky RTX 555 will be way more productive than using a chainsaw

I was speaking more about the bush
 
you should see the piles of old cars ,trucks, skidoos hidden behind a few trees on the island. Shoot the government land and save yours as a “larder”
 
Zero commercial value, rot prone, weak wood(we had one clown on here building a cabin and using still standing stumps as foundations lol he wouldn’t listen). They r easily storm damaged and not long lived (think of your kids/grandkids) Kevin outdoors has some decent videos on utube.

Trees don’t heal they seal. Probably the most common misconception i encounter, best to remove branches/elevate and trim trees when young. All you’ll do making large cuts is set up the tree to die from rot (might take decades, but it’s still a poor practice).

A “Christmas” tree shape can never really be “fixed”IMG_7820.jpeg

This white pine grew in the open and was attached by weevils

You’ll see stuff like this all the time in central Ontario (plantations that never got thinned out) wait too long and the crowns become small and the trees will die, bend over a good example at hwy 35 and the 115 junction south of pontypoolIMG_7821.jpeg
 
The last pic above is a wildlife desert, that would be difficult to fix.

You want transitional zones and bush/trees you can see/walk/sled through
 
definitely keep some of the balsam fir brushy areas... managing your property for maximum timber volume will leave you with a lot less wildlife.

a mix of things is the best approach and you'll soon see patterns that will guide you to what you ultimately want to achieve with your 160 acres.

but to the main question - hunt both areas! just don't overdo it ... numbers will fluctuate irrespective of whether you shoot some birds or not.
 
m1008 said:
The last pic above is a wildlife desert, that would be difficult to fix.

You want transitional zones and bush/trees you can see/walk/sled through
Click to expand...
Yeah, there's no place on the property that looks like that. Our bush is quite young and pretty diverse. Lots of aspen and birch as well as many kinds of conifers. There are some maple trees, but not many, most are very young and might need some help to grow among the dense aspen.

1000050695.jpg1000050660.jpg1000050064.jpg
 
Well - Suggest you try shooting them on the wing, rather than ground-swatting. Much more challenging, and satisfying when you hit one. I doubt your efforts will impact upon the population. ;)
 
Consider the seminal disaster novel 'Lucifer's Hammer.' People gathered at a US Senator's ranch after a comet strike on California and got ready to survive through some very hard times, nuclear winter-wise. One rule was that nobody was allowed to shoot any game anywhere near the main house out to quite a distance from it, the unstated idea was that game there could be protected until it was really needed, at which time it would be easy to find and shoot. As people have already posted here, ruffies are a little tricky that way, what with their boom and bust cycle, but the principle is probably good to keep in kind.
 
Keller said:
Question for you guys. I have 160 acres east of Sudbury with lots of Ruffed Grouse on it. I also have lots of crown land within a 30 minute drive.

Being new to grouse hunting, and hunting in general, should I hunt the grouse on my property, or leave them alone and go to the crown land?

Is it possible to unintentionally thin out the population on my property, or will their numbers bounce back every year?
Click to expand...
Curious what gun you plan to use during your hunting?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom