Author Topic: who said grouse are down in wi? (Read 521 times)

wijim · « **on:** June 05, 2006, 06:31:40 AM »

have you noticed anything this spring with the numbers? while turkey hunting i had tons of grouse drumming every day. we got a ton and im sure that will increase this year with a few more broods of new chicks.

i completely believe our grouse#s are on the rise again.

EsoxLucius · « **Reply #1 on:** June 05, 2006, 08:58:52 AM »

If it continues to be this dry it will be easy to find them this fall.

jh45gun · « **Reply #2 on:** June 05, 2006, 06:33:26 PM »

Hopefully they will be on the rise. I doubt I or you will see a ton of them though! Partridge hunting has not been really great for a long time. Oh in good years you get a few and think geeze this is great. Still it does not compare to the really good seasons of grouse hunting long ago. Same with Duck hunting yea we see a lot of Geese now days but the days of lots of diver and puddle ducks have passed us by also. On a positive note Deer hunting is much better in fact it is a success story much better than the days of my youth in the 60's and 70's.

wijim · « **Reply #3 on:** June 06, 2006, 07:43:26 AM »

i learned to hunt in the 70s. i saw ducks n geese fall in the 80s....only to recover in the 90s to the present. i have seen the grouse cyclically rise every few years....but i can honestly say...i have never not seen many i couldnt hunt ever on any year. i understand in the 60s the numbers may have been higher....but i tell ya...aybe its just my two chunks of land...buti haven't seen grouse numbers as good as this sspring in a loooong time.

btw...you forgot turkeys jh45....lol. you couldnt even see a turkey let alone get to shoot one in days not too far past. :wink:

seriously, i hope your populations increase soon bud....

jh45gun · « **Reply #4 on:** June 06, 2006, 04:13:50 PM »

Yep Turkeys are a great success story. That and deer. When I talk about Duck and Bird hunting I mean back in the 30's and 40's ect. Now I was not around back then LOL but I remember my Dad talking about hunting then. Besides partridge or grouse there were prarrie chickens and sharptails in abundance yet. This due to most of the timber being logged off and the emerging forest and barren land was ripe for these birds. You want to read good stories about Duck hunting and some Bird hunting Read the books that compile Gordon MacQuarrie. The way he describes the northern flight of divers ect we will never see again I am afraid. That was truely duck hunting back then. I live in Douglas County so I am familular with the areas he writes about. If you have never read the books that have been put together of his stories after his death read them you will not be sorry. Just do a Search on Gordon MacQuarrie and you will find the books I am talking about. Great reading! These are all stories he wrote for the big three sporting magazines in the 30's and 40's Outdoor Life and Sports Afield and Field and Stream. Most of them were for one Magazine but some of his stories appeared in the other two also. Not sure if it was Field and Stream he wrote for the most or Sports Afield. I think it was F&S.

jh45gun · « **Reply #5 on:** June 19, 2006, 06:39:20 PM »

Well just read that the drumming count is up in our area but the local Game manager for the DNR for this area said that was a good sign after 3 years of being on the bottom with little change. He also remarked while the increased drumming is good do not expect to find a bird behind every tree or bush. Still anything is a improvement over the past few years! :grin: