Pennsylvania Game News - January 2016 - 23

stately status since 1931. I know not the
selection processes of how a state bird
is designated. But I do know one thing,
whether credit is owed to a statewide vote
of school children or a panel of scientific
experts, they got it right.
Comparing a grouse to just about any
other bird is like comparing an Appalachian peak to the hill at the local park.
Within the one pound of impeccable
camouflage and trained muscle, ruffed
grouse possess a mysterious wildness
about them.

'' '' ''

Remembering a curious boy who had
so much to learn about everything, I now
chuckle about my first grouse encounter.
Home from another successful hunt, my
father fanned the gorgeous tail and told me
the creature's name. For days, I bragged
to all my schoolyard friends how Dad
got a rough grouse. I just assumed a bird
so tough should have a fitting title. In
fact, efforts to raise ruffed grouse often
are unsuccessful and prove expensive. I
am not surprised a species epitomizing
wildness cannot call an enclosure home.
Had an artist been given the task to
conjure an animal using only feathers of
brown and gray, the ruffed grouse would
be the masterpiece. Pennsylvania's four
seasons possess a clear, vivid distinction,
so, too, does its ruffed grouse. As effortlessly natural a transformation as fall
foliage, the grouse morphs from brown
to gray. Like royalty, the grouse sports
a crest atop its head. Distinguished ruffs
on the sides of its neck gives the ruffed
grouse its name.
The grouse, a non-migratory bird, has a
strong sense of place. Among other northern states, its home is Pennsylvania. This
fact does not make all grouse equal. Call
me bias, but I feel our birds are smarter,
faster, and wilder than those in other
JANUARY 2016	

states. The only proof I can offer supporting such claims is my hunting crew.
A longtime hunting partner, one who
has flushed two decades worth of ruffed
grouse in the Keystone State, has yet
to retrieve a bird on home soil. Yet, on
a recent trip to Minnesota, he shot two
birds within 15 minutes of getting out of
the truck. And we certainly have flushed
similar numbers back home.
This harmonious chase between hunter
and grouse is referred to as upland bird
hunting for good reason. The welcome
mat sprawled out before a ruffed grouse's
habitat often leads to the hardiest terrain
and most impenetrable thickets. You're
not in Kansas anymore. This grouse
country is called Pennsylvania.

'' '' ''

Unbeknownst to many, the ruffed
grouse has a deep-snow move reminiscent
to that of a school-aged child on a welldeserved snow day. For protection, grouse
will "burrow" in the drifts, creating what
are known as snow holes. Little evidence
is left for sly predators or keen hunters.
Joyfully recollecting many late winter
flushes, I can only boast to have witnessed
such flaky phenomena once.
If the graceful dance exhibited by a
crane is the classical music of the bird
world, the shocking explosiveness in the
wake of a grouse could only be rock 'n'
roll. The thunderous flush is accompanied
by a drum set. Such stages are referred
to as drumming logs. Venues for these
concerts are the most remote and least
disturbed places on the map.
The ruffed grouse's flush is the most
beautifully startling, perfectly unexpected
sound I know. A close second is their
trademark drumming. The only reason
it lags behind as runner-up is the fact it
occurs more frequently during spring
months, when grouse are recent memories
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - January 2016
