Shorten WI 2018 Grouse Season? Let your voice be heard

September 6, 2018 by Charlie 5 Comments

Should Wisconsin close the 2018 Ruffed Grouse hunting season early? At the end of this post is a link to the WDNR public input survey about this early closure. I urge a no vote on the early grouse season closure.

Regarding the Closing of WI grouse season early. Nov 30, 2018:

This is a copy of my email exchange with a Wisconsin Dept. Natural Resource biologist.

CE – Biologically, does it make sense to shorten the season? The studies I have read over the years conclude that 80% of upland birds (includes turkeys) are dead within two years whether they are hunted or not?

Answer: From a biological standpoint, there is not much support in the literature for shortening the ruffed grouse season. These are short-lived birds with an annual mortality of 50-70%, so we as hunters are harvesting surplus birds which would likely die of other causes prior to the breeding season. As an example, if you have 100 chicks in a given year, only about 18 would make it to the first breeding season, and of those 18 survivors, only 8 would make it to their second year. So 92 out of 100 birds will die within their first two years, whether that is from a hunter, predator, disease, starvation, getting hit by a car, or any other source of mortality. Hunting has been shown to generally not impact those survival rates. There is some limited research which suggests late season harvest can have negative impacts on a population the closer you get to the breeding season.

CE – And if someone wanted to reduce the harvest it seems to me cutting the bag limit would be more effective.

Limiting bag limit generally does not provide benefits to the population according to the research, partly for the reasons I previously mentioned, but also because we know very few hunters typically harvest a full bag of grouse.

CE – Reading the press reports made it sound like you and your department had nothing to do with the decision.

This motion was ultimately recommended by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress to the Natural Resources Board independent of the department.

CE – Land use in some of the northern prime grouse habitat has been changing rapidly in the last five years. Many of the places we once hunted grouse have been plowed into corn or bean fields; plus the maturing of timber stands; these are more likely the cause of the decrease in grouse and woodcock. Whereas in these same areas the turkey population is on the rise big time.

Habitat and land use is certainly an issue for grouse throughout their range. Here in WI, the effects of forest aging on grouse have been especially prominent in southwestern WI. The driftless area used to host the best grouse hunting in the state, but as the timber industry in the south vanished and the land was parceled out and active management declined, our southwestern grouse population plummeted. Habitat can definitely explain long-term declines we’ve seen in many places throughout the grouse range.

The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS)

Appreciates the attention the Conservation Congress, NRB, and DNR are giving to this issue. While there was a decline in ruffed grouse drumming activity from 2017 to 2018 (despite the next anticipated peak cycle peak expected to occur around 2019-2021), such a decline during the increasing phase of a grouse population cycle is not unprecedented. Further, drumming increased in other parts of the state, and drumming was stable or increased on 22 of the 43 northern region survey routes. Finally, the number of ruffed grouse drums observed per survey stop in the northern forest region in 2018 were still within the historic range of variability on this survey.

Given the level of information available, RGS does not support the proposed emergency rule instating closure on November 30. RGS would support season changes if data suggested a pressing conservation need. We do not believe that is clearly the present case.

Public comments on the proposed early closure will be accepted now through 11:59 pm on September 12, 2018, via an Online Survey, Please see the video for background information relating to the proposed early closure.

Grouse 2016 Wisconsin Outlook; Ruffed Grouse Drumming Survey

July 24, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Audubon painting

Excerpts from 2016 Wisconsin DNR Ruffed Grouse Drumming Survey

Wisconsin statewide ruffed grouse population indices increased 1% from 2015 to 2016, based on the number of drumming grouse heard during roadside surveys. Changes in breeding grouse populations varied by region and the statewide mean number of drums per stop were not different from 2015 to 2016. Drummer densities on the Sandhill Wildlife Area in Wood County showed an increase of 2%.

While grouse populations ebb and rise on a nine to eleven-year cycle, a longer term downward trend can be noted for the Wisconsin Grouse population since the inception of this survey. Grouse highs are not as high as they have been in the past and the population seems to be slower to recover from cyclic lows. The long term aging of Wisconsin’s forest are likely playing a role in these changes. Not all regions of the state see these changes in forest aging occurring at the same rate, with the more commercial forests of the Northern and Central regions aging at a slower rate than the more privately owned forests of the Southwest and Southeast regions. It is likely this trend in grouse numbers will continue to occur until our forests reach a stasis in their aging process.

Early spring conditions were above average for temperature with most of the snow melted before the start of the survey in the spring of 2016. No major weather events should have affected surveyors during the survey period, but more typical weather returned during the second part of the inquiry period and may have reduced surveyor’s evaluations. Overall survey conditions were “excellent” on 45% of transects run, while 65% rated the overall conditions as “excellent” in 2015. Conditions were rated as “Fair”, the lowest available weather condition rating, 5% of the time in 2015 and 7% in 2016. Survey conditions do influence drumming activity and may cause grouse numbers to be over or under estimated.

View the complete 2016 Ruffed Grouse Survey here 2016 grouse drumming survey Survey contains drumming locations, charts, and graphs of the drumming data.

Update September 9, 2016; Wisconsin’s 2016 brood counts. The following excerpt provided by WDNR.

Statewide, ruffed grouse broods seen per observer hour were down 17 percent compared to 2015 and 43 percent below the long-term mean. Ruffed Grouse production was down in two of the three regions that compose the primary range: Central (11.1 percent decrease), northern (14.2 percent decrease), and Southwestern (43.3 percent increase). Ruffed grouse brood size fell from 4.2 young per brood in 2015 to 4 in 2016.”Breeding grouse numbers were up slightly this spring, while brood production in the primary ruffed grouse range showed a decrease,” said Dhuey. “Several severe rain events likely caused declines in brood survival in the areas they occurred — while there were losses in these areas, these events were not wide-spread, and it is probable that brood production in Wisconsin is patchy, with areas of good and poor brood production and survival. While some areas of the primary ruffed grouse range will be better than others, it appears that ruffed grouse numbers will be similar or slightly worse than last year.”

Ruffed grouse are currently in a cyclic low population cycle. While an increase in breeding grouse is a positive sign, it will likely be a few years until Wisconsin returns to the birds’ cyclic high. (courtesy of WDNR)

Wisconsin Grouse Drumming Survey 2014

June 15, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Update August 2016: Grouse 2016 Wisconsin Outlook; Ruffed Grouse Drumming Survey

Wisconsin Ruffed Grouse wintered well. Ruffed grouse are designed for survival in deep fluffy snow which northern Wisconsin had a lot of during 2013/2014 severe winter. The 2014 Drumming Survey is complete and indicates only a 1% decline in spring drumming activity statewide.

Excerpts from 2014 Wisconsin Ruffed Grouse Drumming Survey

Wisconsin’s ruffed grouse population indices decreased between 2013 and 2014 (Table 1). This is the third decrease in the ruffed grouse indices since 2011. Survey indices show a decrease in drumming grouse in two of the four regions of the state (Fig. 1-6). Statewide, overall changes in results were not significant (P= 0.93) between 2013 and 2014. Transects completed in both 2013 and 2014 were compared to detect population changes. Transects were considered to have changed from last year if the change was greater than two drums per transect. The number of transects with decreased drumming outnumbered by 26 to 23 those that showed increases, with 65 transects unchanged.

Breeding grouse and grouse brood production were down during the spring and summer of 2013. This probably set the stage for a decline in breeding grouse numbers in 2014. Wisconsin’s primary grouse range, the Central and Northern Forest regions, showed mixed results. The Central Forest had a decrease in breeding grouse of 23.5% this spring, while the Northern Forest had a small increase of 3.1%. Wisconsin is well past the peak in the grouse cycle and appears to have settled into the bottom of the cycle; it is likely that declines in breeding grouse numbers will continue for a few more years until we start to see numbers go up till the next grouse high.

Despite a late arriving spring with much of the north with snow cover for the month of April, survey conditions for 2014 were similar to those in 2013. Surveyors rated the overall survey conditions as “excellent” on 56% of transects runs, while 58% rated the overall conditions as “excellent” in 2013. Surveyors rated the conditions as “Fair”, the lowest available weather condition rating, 6% of the time in 2013 and 7% in 2014. Survey conditions do influence drumming activity and may cause grouse numbers to be over or under estimated.

Table 1. Ruffed Grouse drumming results 2013-2014, drums per stop (routes run), %

change, and some routes with a change of greater than two drums per route from 2013 levels.

Region	Drums/Stop 2013(routes run)	Drums/Stop 2014(routes run)	%Change	# of Decreasing Routes	# of Increasing Routes	# of Routes with No Change
Central	0.85 (26)	0.65 (27)	-24%	8	3	15
Northern	1.70 (41)	1.76 (43)	3%	15	18	8
Southeast	0.01 (30)	0.02 (30)	100%	0	0	30
Southwest	0.21 (17)	0.19 (17)	-10%	3	2	12
Statewide	0.84 (114)	0.83 (117)	-1%	26	23	65

Wisconsin 2013 Ruffed Grouse Report

June 25, 2013 by Charlie 1 Comment

photo courtesy of NPS

Update 2016: Grouse 2016 Wisconsin Outlook; Ruffed Grouse Drumming Survey

June 25, 2013, Wisconsin DNR Ruffed grouse survey indicates slight population decline in the recently completed roadside survey of ruffed grouse.

WDNR Press Release, MADISON, WI –

“The index that Wisconsin uses to track ruffed grouse decreased 9 percent between 2012 and 2013,” said Brian Dhuey, Department of Natural Resources wildlife surveys coordinator. “This decrease isn’t unexpected at this point in the population cycle. Ruffed grouse populations are known to boom and bust over a nine- to 11-year cycle. Grouse populations in Wisconsin tend to be at their peak in years ending in a nine or zero.”

This survey has been conducted by staff from the DNR, U.S. Forest Service, tribal employees, numerous grouse enthusiasts and volunteers since 1964. Surveyors begin 30 minutes before sunrise and drive along established routes, making ten stops at assigned points and listening for four minutes for the distinctive “thump, thump, thump” sounds made by drumming male grouse. Results from this survey help DNR biologists monitor the cyclic population dynamics of ruffed grouse in the state.

The number of drums heard per stop in 2013 was down 9 percent statewide from the previous year. One of the primary regions for grouse in the state, the central region, showed an 18 percent drop in the number of drums heard per stop, yet the other primary region in the north showed a 2 percent increase.

According to Scott Walter, the DNR upland wildlife ecologist

“Ruffed grouse are closely linked to young forest habitats that develop following large disturbances, notably logging activities,” Walter said. “While we often focus as hunters on grouse numbers in a single year, it’s important to remember that the long-term health of grouse and other early-successional wildlife is dependent upon our ability to create the dense young cover they require. Lacking significant, broad-scale forms of natural disturbance such as fire, we need to ensure that intensive timber harvests remain a component of our forest management activities.”

Regarding the slight increase in northern Wisconsin, Gary Zimmer, coordinating biologist for the Ruffed Grouse Society, points to the weather.

“Weather, especially during the brood rearing period in late May and early June, plays an important role in ruffed grouse numbers,” said Zimmer. “The slight increase shown in this spring’s northern region drumming counts, even in a downward cycle, can definitely be tied to 2012’s excellent brood rearing conditions with its lengthy dry, warm period in June.

“Unfortunately, this spring’s weather is not following the same pattern and it is doubtful fall grouse numbers will be comparable to last year in the north woods. However, even with lower populations, Wisconsin still has some of the best grouse hunting in the country,” Zimmer said.

Complete survey results can be found by searching the DNR website for “ wildlife reports.”