From the online version of Project Upland Magazine. The sad fact is that all bird populations are declining here, not just ruffies, but for sure they never seem to have a good series of years anymore.
Bill and his Brittany gave me a great introduction to ruffed grouse hunting. He sensed my interest and gave me a copy of The Upland Shooting Life by George Bird Evans. Bill was quick to point out that Mr. Evans was somewhat of an enigma for the WVDNR. He was a gifted writer and enthusiast for upland game bird hunting. Evans was a strong critic of late grouse seasons. He maintained that late season hunting suppressed grouse populations.
Due to his notoriety, Mr. Evans had a lot of influence in his home state of West Virginia. His writings were repeated throughout the region by outdoor writers and avid grouse hunters whenever grouse populations fluctuated. It turned out that his book and theory of hunting effects on grouse shaped my career.
I was fortunate to be the first Virginia Tech graduate student in this investigation. My advisor, Dr. Roy Kirkpatrick, directed me to begin studying the nutritional ecology of grouse in Virginia. I specifically examined food quality and grouse condition. I found grouse were able to build body fats on diets of soft mast in the summer and fall, and acorns in the fall and winter. We hypothesized that winter survival and reproduction could be impacted without high-quality foods.
Years later, I became Virginia’s Ruffed Grouse Project Leader. The question of the impacts of late season grouse hunting persisted in the upland bird hunting community. The fundamental question was whether late season hunting was additive or compensatory mortality.
Regrettably, wildlife studies have concluded different results on hunting effects on ruffed grouse populations. One explanation is that ruffed grouse ecology and hunter pressure vary widely across its range. After all, it is the most widely distributed resident game bird in North America. Key factors wildlife managers ideally want to know before drawing any conclusions about hunting impacts include survival rates, hunting mortality rates, and reproductive rates. Knowledge of the impacts of weather, predation, diseases, and habitats on all these parameters are important considerations for managers. Thus, it is understandable that different conclusions have been reported about hunting and other factors limiting grouse populations across the range.
Nevertheless, decisions must be made about setting seasons, with or without expert knowledge. Criticism and complaints from concerned users come when populations and harvests are less than satisfactory. Joe Coggin had felt the heat. Now it was my turn as concerned grouse hunters continued to raise the question about hunting impacts.
Concerned hunters wanted to know if those hens harvested in late season would live and reproduce, thereby increasing the population.
The Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project
Together with Jeff Sole, Upland Game Bird Project Leader in Kentucky, we conceived a research project to address these concerns. It took several years of planning and coordination, but we eventually realized our wishful thinking of a cooperative multi-state research project to investigate hunting and other factors limiting grouse populations.
The project started small, but interest in grouse was high in the region. Eventually, seven state wildlife agencies joined the project. The project was titled the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project (ACGRP). Six years later, we had caught and radio collared 3,118 ruffed grouse at 12 study sites in eight states. A total of 17 graduate students at eight universities worked on the project.
As part of our primary objective, we closed the hunting seasons at three study sites over the project’s final three years. We compared survival rates in the closed areas to four control sites where hunting continued into February.
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Insights from a career grouse biologist on the factors impacting eastern ruffed grouse survival.
As an aspiring wildlife biologist, I was extremely fortunate to spend a semester of my undergraduate studies in an internship program with Mr. William K. (Bill) Igo, a biologist with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR). Among the many influences Bill had on my life was his passion for upland game bird biology, management, and hunting.Bill and his Brittany gave me a great introduction to ruffed grouse hunting. He sensed my interest and gave me a copy of The Upland Shooting Life by George Bird Evans. Bill was quick to point out that Mr. Evans was somewhat of an enigma for the WVDNR. He was a gifted writer and enthusiast for upland game bird hunting. Evans was a strong critic of late grouse seasons. He maintained that late season hunting suppressed grouse populations.
Due to his notoriety, Mr. Evans had a lot of influence in his home state of West Virginia. His writings were repeated throughout the region by outdoor writers and avid grouse hunters whenever grouse populations fluctuated. It turned out that his book and theory of hunting effects on grouse shaped my career.
Initial Investigations of Virginia Ruffed Grouse
Following a sharp decline in grouse flushing rates in 1976, the Virginia Game Commission shortened the grouse season by two weeks. Mr. Joe Coggin, then-Supervisor of Game Research, told me George Bird attended the regulation hearings and spoke in favor of a shorter grouse season. But Joe was not sure late season hunting was limiting Virginia grouse. He asked researchers at Virginia Tech to begin an investigation.I was fortunate to be the first Virginia Tech graduate student in this investigation. My advisor, Dr. Roy Kirkpatrick, directed me to begin studying the nutritional ecology of grouse in Virginia. I specifically examined food quality and grouse condition. I found grouse were able to build body fats on diets of soft mast in the summer and fall, and acorns in the fall and winter. We hypothesized that winter survival and reproduction could be impacted without high-quality foods.
Years later, I became Virginia’s Ruffed Grouse Project Leader. The question of the impacts of late season grouse hunting persisted in the upland bird hunting community. The fundamental question was whether late season hunting was additive or compensatory mortality.
Is Late Season Ruffed Grouse Hunting Additive Or Compensatory?
The basis for sport hunting is that hunting losses are compensated by fewer natural mortalities. Thus, post-hunting populations compare to unhunted populations. Wildlife managers also considered a third hypothesis—that hunting was compensatory up to some threshold where it then becomes additive. The obvious concern was that hunting would cause a decline in breeding populations and result in long-term population declines.Regrettably, wildlife studies have concluded different results on hunting effects on ruffed grouse populations. One explanation is that ruffed grouse ecology and hunter pressure vary widely across its range. After all, it is the most widely distributed resident game bird in North America. Key factors wildlife managers ideally want to know before drawing any conclusions about hunting impacts include survival rates, hunting mortality rates, and reproductive rates. Knowledge of the impacts of weather, predation, diseases, and habitats on all these parameters are important considerations for managers. Thus, it is understandable that different conclusions have been reported about hunting and other factors limiting grouse populations across the range.
Nevertheless, decisions must be made about setting seasons, with or without expert knowledge. Criticism and complaints from concerned users come when populations and harvests are less than satisfactory. Joe Coggin had felt the heat. Now it was my turn as concerned grouse hunters continued to raise the question about hunting impacts.
Concerned hunters wanted to know if those hens harvested in late season would live and reproduce, thereby increasing the population.
The Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project
Together with Jeff Sole, Upland Game Bird Project Leader in Kentucky, we conceived a research project to address these concerns. It took several years of planning and coordination, but we eventually realized our wishful thinking of a cooperative multi-state research project to investigate hunting and other factors limiting grouse populations.
The project started small, but interest in grouse was high in the region. Eventually, seven state wildlife agencies joined the project. The project was titled the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project (ACGRP). Six years later, we had caught and radio collared 3,118 ruffed grouse at 12 study sites in eight states. A total of 17 graduate students at eight universities worked on the project.
As part of our primary objective, we closed the hunting seasons at three study sites over the project’s final three years. We compared survival rates in the closed areas to four control sites where hunting continued into February.
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