Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Ruffed Grouse

The ruffed grouse cycle is 10 years and is most evident in northern coniferous forests. Gordon Gullion studied this cycle extensively. If you examine spring drumming count data it is very obvious. The disturbing point is that the lows of the cycle are lower and the highs of the cycle are lower. "Ruffed Grouse" by Sally Atwater page 212 and "Grouse of the North Shore" by Gordon Gullion.

I don't hunt late season grouse anymore. But when I did in Northern Pa along the New York border at times, I would find them in Aspen lots. They love quaking aspen and sawtooth. In deep snow years I'd flush a lot that were buried in snow. I'll never forget the first time I witnessed this many many moons ago. Scared the [bleep] out of me.

The amount of aspen on the landscape is shrinking & that aspen is getting older. Habitat is declining, even in the upper great lakes

I'd be interested in seeing any scientific research that supports this because the research I've read seems to indicate little or no evidence of turkeys destroying grouse eggs or keeping them from getting the food they need.

I grew up in the grouse/turkey woods of Northern Pa. and saw them coexist for decades. What I do know is that winged raptors like horned owls and some hawks take a lot of grouse and we've had a significant increase in numbers in these predators as well as furbearing predators that do raid nests and kill birds. Habitat availability also has a huge effect since grouse thrive in edge cover and forestry/farming practices have changed over the years in our area such that I rarely see the large clear cuts and new growth that grouse can survive in. As cuts grow up, there's less cover and food for grouse so I don't expect to be able to go back to the same spots for 10 or 20 years unless some cutting or planting has been done to replenish preferred grouse habitat.

Bas, exactly.

What I witnessed over the years in southern Pa Laurel Highlands area is encroachment by man. To much of the Mt. Has been sold off and developed. My father and grandfather had tons of grouse hunting here in their lifetimes. You can spend all day with dogs and be lucky two have two or three birds flushed. I haven't hunted grouse in this area for over a decade now. Why would I when we have a camp in Potter Count. Two totally different world's when it comes to grouse hunting. I've also discovered once you get above interstate 80 in Pa you get into better grouse numbers. I've found high numbers in McKean, Potter, Cameron, Elk and Tioga. The best three of those counties are Mckean, Potter and Tioga from my experiences anyhow. The other thing I witnessed is the state must practice diffe r nt forestry practices as well. Alot of our southern woods are all mature forest or poll stage whereas up north there are way better grouse woods with nasty thick covers I love. Our flora and fauna differs in those two parts as well.

I started hunting grouse 50+ years ago here in western , N. C. I have noticed a definite cycle down, down, down, In my early years plenty of grouse wouldn't consider traveling to hunt , zero Turkey population, Turkey introduced now almost zero grouse population . Started hunting U P and Wis. before I saw any Turkey' Grouse hunting great, started seeing turkey Grouse flushes down about 1/2. Just my what I've seen in past 50 years in areas I've hunted. So here I am with the best dogs I've ever owned and no birds to hunt!

In the late, snowy season we find them in the spruces quite a bit. But still not too far from the tag alders and wet areas we find them in the fall. If you can come up on em in the evening they seem to be grouped up pretty well.

I'm no grouse expert but I do hunt them every year until freeze up in NW Ontario. One thing I have noticed is that grouse are plentiful along roadsides eating clover and strawberry if the daytime temperatures can stay above freezing, but once the temperature drops and that clover stays frozen they won't eat it and generally disappear from the roadsides except the occasional visit to eat gravel for their gizzard. With freezing weather, I believe grouse move to eating catkins in the tree tops or south facing hillsides with a good food source that will thaw out on sunny days.

when there were some grouse here when it got cold you would find them along branches and seeps as there were some greenery along them for protein and also temperature slightly warmer in these lower lying spots.

Grouse and Turkeys don't mix well. Why I don't know, but my guess is Turkeys scratch out their nests.

As far as consistently finding and killing Ruffed Grouse, a good set of legs is your best asset.

Truer words were never spoken!

Encroachment by man (both physically and chemically), burgeoning predator populations, and new growth coverts turning into old growth stands= decline in grouse numbers, no matter the population cycles. We can't go back to the way things were in 1965.

If you can't climb up and down all day then Brother Ruff isn't for you

Yup. My gimpy butt can't take much of that anymore. I've started an exercise regimen that hopefully will belie the notion that my best grouse hunting days are behind me.

1) The frosty cold morning of opening day of deer season: not to be missed.
2) The first squirrel of the year lying warmly in the game bag: nostalgic beyond measure.
3) A Canada goose flaring over the decoys: be still my beating heart.
4) Traipsing through the grouse woods on a crisp Indian Summer day: heaven on earth, and all of the above wrapped into one.

It is my understanding that the fall in quail numbers is more habitat related than anything. In my area there are few overgrown fence rows and the preponderance of fescue has more impact than turkeys. It is so thick that the chicks can't move thru it. There is a saying that quail won't walk where they can't see their toes.

Interesting. I've never hunted NC or even been there for that matter, but I have read about some good Mt streams for fly fishing for trout. I'm not bashing you, I just can't see it being turkeys, but I'm no wildlife biologist or anything. Like one of my previous posts and the gentlemans post right before mine that lives in northern pa. Mts Stated we have huge grouse populations as well as huge turkey populations coexisting in exact same areas and both birds numbers are terrific and have been for along time. I can tell you how many times I had 20 to 30 grouse flushes a day in many different areas two years ago and going back the last decade in Allegany Mts areas. 2g and 2f have been incredible areas to hunt grouse and turkey.

In fact, it was so good I'm getting sick thinking about it because I haven't hunted it in two years now. Looks like I won't be anytime soon either having just moved to North Dakota. These ring necks are going to be in trouble this year though....lol

Yeah, and I've always heard that a quail has to dust himself pretty often too, so some bare ground is necessary close to escape cover (which by the way we have no, repeat no, shortage of). I think the nesting habitat is where the problem lies. I have seen adult quail still paired up, and hens on the nest, as late as early September in eastern NC. This tells me that earlier nesting attempts failed. Birds should be at least half grown by Labor Day.

Molonlabe41 Thanks for the info!

I haven't hunted Ruffies in the East but here in Alberta I often find them in the Aspen stands where the Aspen and Pine come together in the Foothills and lower edges of the mountains.
Quite often there is a mix of Ruffed and Spruce grouse in there.
Early AM finds them along the edge of logging roads.

Further away from the Foothills into the Boreal region they hang out in the Aspen stands as well. As well, find a berry patch and you have Ruffies. I have on occasion run into Black bears in the same berry patch as Ruffies. That gets your attention I can garuntee you!

In the Prairie region where I live they are found in the major river valleys in Cottonwood stands. Occasionally I find them on the grassland above the river mixed in with Sharptail grouse and Huns.

They are quite an adaptive bird! Lots of fun to hunt and probably one of the tastiest too.

Late season blue grouse favor evergreen needles. Seems to make the flesh kind of strong. For that reason we don't shoot them much after about December 1st or so. Ruffs eat so many things, they eat well through the end of our season. (on 12/31).