Frank BeFay
Active member
anyone have any info. on the Wisconsin crash in ruffed grouse population?
in 1997 about a million were harvested, 2015 about 200,000. been a steady decline along with greatly reduced "cycles" which were about 10 years. its a disturbing trend that mimics my observations while hunting. the link attached has the harvest report info. license sales have dropped as well which could account for some of the decline. Drumming reports show some decline in some areas, dramatic decline in others. Drumming reports do not account for nesting success, diseases etc. that might account for the decline in harvest. I hunt in north east Wisconsin from the green bay area to antigo up to mercer over to pembine area. been at it for 35 years, running 2 springers and the number of contacts has become dismal. My brother has a cottage in mercer, usually a good area, he said he didnt see a bird last year. Also, I am a Member of the Brown county sportsman's club in Green Bay, wi. there are a good number of hard core grouse hunters reporting similar poor bird numbers. There have been a few 'pockets" of good bird numbers, but after 6 to 10 days of hunting 8 to 11 covers a day not a lot of birds around.
The DNR has begun to look at the issue, west nile virus as a possible problem.
https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/documents/reports/smgameharv.pdf
in 1997 about a million were harvested, 2015 about 200,000. been a steady decline along with greatly reduced "cycles" which were about 10 years. its a disturbing trend that mimics my observations while hunting. the link attached has the harvest report info. license sales have dropped as well which could account for some of the decline. Drumming reports show some decline in some areas, dramatic decline in others. Drumming reports do not account for nesting success, diseases etc. that might account for the decline in harvest. I hunt in north east Wisconsin from the green bay area to antigo up to mercer over to pembine area. been at it for 35 years, running 2 springers and the number of contacts has become dismal. My brother has a cottage in mercer, usually a good area, he said he didnt see a bird last year. Also, I am a Member of the Brown county sportsman's club in Green Bay, wi. there are a good number of hard core grouse hunters reporting similar poor bird numbers. There have been a few 'pockets" of good bird numbers, but after 6 to 10 days of hunting 8 to 11 covers a day not a lot of birds around.
The DNR has begun to look at the issue, west nile virus as a possible problem.
https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/documents/reports/smgameharv.pdf