Finding the Most Productive Ruffed Grouse Habitat

In Partridge Shortenin’, a book privately published in 1949 by Gorham Cross, the author, known as “Grampa Grouse,” details the killing of three limits of three grouse each by 11 a.m. Cross, H.G. Tapply (of 
Field & Stream’s “Tap’s Tips” fame) and the legendary uplander Burt Spiller were the hunters, so you know that they had some serious bird hunting cred.

“One at a time, five partridges left those pine tops,” the account goes. “We fired, loaded, screamed and fired some more in frenzied bursts. When the skirmish was over, we hung three fat partridges in the car’s game net and drove north.”

By my count, the three hunters killed their nine grouse while moving about 120 total birds in a scant number of hours. These days, 20 starts on grouse in the Northeast is considered a solid day.

If you asked Cross about the trouble with grouse in 1949, he’d say that the dodgy birds typically outfoxed hunters. Ask that question in grouse camp this fall and the odds are good that you’ll hear a chorus of “there aren’t enough of them.” If you need proof of low flush rates, just look at the 2022-2023 New Hampshire Small Game Summary for insights. In the northern part of the state, about 175 grouse were moved in 100 hunting hours for 1.75 birds per hour of hunting, or 14 starts in an 8-hour day. The southwestern region of the Granite State tells a totally different story. Downstate hunters moved an average of 20 birds in 100 hours, or less than two birds in an 8-hour hunting day. So what’s causing the population decline, and what do we have to do to put some feathers in our pups’ mouths?

FROM BOOM TO BUST

The Golden Age of grouse hunting that Cross et al. experienced was created through a perfect combination of factors, says Ben Jones, the President and CEO of the Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS).

“The cultural and socioeconomic shifts of the era created an entire landscape that created a boom for grouse,” Jones says. “Forests were regenerating from the timber boom cuts of the 1920s and 1930s. A shift away from an agrarian life meant the regeneration of pastureland. A smaller population meant less urban or suburban areas, and that low development left large tracts of contiguous forests. From the 1940s through the 1970s, we saw a regular creation of young forests.”

Sportsmen like young forests because they create ideal conditions that increase populations of grouse, woodcock and rabbits, but they are home to more than 500 other species of birds, pollinators and animals, too. A present-day lack of cutting and an increase in fire suppression has created the mature forests that typify the East region. Add in the fact that the East is heavily urbanized and developed, and it’s easy to see why grouse numbers are down. It’s a trend, too, says Jones.

“After many decades of ideal habitat, we’re starting to see some attrition,” he says. “With mature forests come increases in big game animals and turkeys, and that comes at the expense of a lot of small-game animals. Managing lands for a healthy balance of young, middle-age and mature forests ensures that game populations are healthy in both quantity and quality.”

It should be noted, some states are doing worse than others.

“Indiana has listed the Ruffed grouse as an endangered species,” says Jones. “New Jersey does not have an open grouse hunting season. Ohio is exhibiting similar environmental characteristics to those two states, which is a cause of concern. Add in that the open land in the Southern New England states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts is mostly large quantities of small parcels, and management practices become more challenging.” Jones and the RGS work in all 38 states where grouse live, and he sees good opportunity in northern New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

“Those states have large tracts of both publicly and privately owned land, and they provide the best opportunities for successful land management,” Jones says. “Those states are a major focus of ours.”

DON’T QUIT NOW

When grouse hunting gets tough, the tough go hunting. To increase bird contacts this fall, find habitat that is between 10 and 30 years of age. Regular logging is essential to birds, so if your favorite covers are getting long in the tooth, look for new areas to hunt.

Both private and public lands are logged, so identifying those that were cut 10 years ago is important. Scout-N-Hunt (mobilehuntingmaps.com) shows cuts in all states and is a good resource. The U.S. Forest Service site contains lots of useful information, too. For example, you’ll see that Vermont is about to log 43,000 acres in the Green Mountain National Forest, and that will be good for future hunting. OnX Hunt is another subscription service that contains information about cuts. Finally, land owned by paper or lumber companies always has some prime turf to explore.

While hunting 1,500 acres of young forest in a remote area is the goal, don’t overlook pocket coverts. The average home turf for a ruffed grouse ranges between 6 and 40 acres, so if your large forests are mature, look for smaller areas to hunt. Many properties of 100 acres or less in the East are privately owned, so asking for permission to hunt during the offseason is key.

Research conducted by RGS biologists indicates that male grouse spend their lives in an area 1.8 to 4 1/2 miles from where they were hatched. Hens travel farther before they settle down and can relocate up to 15 miles away. Looking for small pocket coverts that are near a larger tract of land is ideal. One note of caution is to harvest appropriate to your bird counts. Shooting out a small cover is easily done, so resist the temptation for one banner day that creates a poor future.

William Harnden Foster, creator of the clay target game skeet, field trialer and author of New England Grouse Shooting, wrote, “The grouse has always prospered best close to rural civilization, the farms and orchards and pastures of the New England countryside.”

So, there are two reasons to lace up your boots this fall and winter. First, you’ll need them for walking. When grouse numbers are down, you’ll find more of them by logging more miles. Second, you can find more grouse in coverts you create yourself. Join a Ruffed Grouse Society chapter and do some habitat work. It’s a great way to be part of the solution.

GROUSE GROUNDS

• Habitat improvement brightens the future.

Todd Waldron, the Ruffed Grouse Society’s forest conservation director for the northeast region, is working tirelessly to create more habitat for us to hunt.

“The Northeast’s 51 million acres of forest have long been recognized as an incredible landscape for grouse and woodcock,” says Waldron. “For generations, the Northeast’s northern hardwood and conifer covers have been highly celebrated for their incredible bird hunting opportunities. However, declining forest diversity is creating major, region-wide conservation challenges. Together, our members, supporters and partners will focus on solving these issues through active forest management. To be successful, we can use all the help we can get from hunters interested in working on conservation all the way to strategic partnerships.”

Looking for quality places to find birds? Here are some recent projects that Waldron and the Ruffed Grouse Society have put into motion that represent the future of quality ruffed grouse hunting, as well as for woodcock, rabbits and big-game animals. RGS announces new projects as they come online. Currently there are 13 in the Northeast region.

Green Mountain National Forest Early Successional Habitat Creation Project (Vermont)

Begun in 2020, the project centers on harvesting 15,000 acres of timber and turning it into an early-successional habitat over 15 years. The goal is to increase the acreage of regenerating age class (0 to 9 years old) forest. The Ruffed Grouse Society is developing an ecosystem monitoring tool to understand how species respond to changes and how the species can be supported for future health.

Helderberg Forest Resiliency Initiative (New York)

Made possible by a U.S. Forest Service Landscape Restoration Grant, this initiative in Albany and Schoharie counties is designed to promote habitat management work of 6,954 acres across public, private and conservation easement ownerships, as well as produce new monitoring and mapping capacity to analyze forest age and diversity at a landscape scale.

Figure 8 Public Use Area (New York)

The Ruffed Grouse Society is working with partners to expand hunting opportunities on 3,939 acres in the Sable Highlands Conservation Easement Area. The goal is to open access roads for bird hunting during the fall season.

This initiative began during the Summer of 2022 and is a public/private lands partnership between RGS, the American Woodcock Society, Mass Wildlife, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Mount Grace Land Trust and the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF). Its goal is to restore and enhance wildlife habitat diversity on over 2,000 acres across central and western Massachusetts.

In the winter of 2022-2023, 31 acres of young forest habitat restoration was completed in the Downeast Lakes Community Forest near Grand Lake Stream, Maine.

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• This article was featured in the November 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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