Pennsylvania Game News - September 2016 - 9

examining this option. The bedrock
assumption of sustainable wildlife harvest
is that hunters remove only "surplus"
animals from a population.
With WNV on the landscape, are surviving birds still a surplus portion of the
population? Does grouse hunting matter?
The number of grouse hunters dropped
78 percent between 2000 and 2014, and
hunter success has never been very high
with ruffed grouse.
The vast majority of grouse hunters
bag just one bird per year.
With hunter numbers and harvests
already relatively low, will further reducing hunting mortality have any true impact
on populations?
This is not easily answered with a
hard-to-study species like ruffed grouse.
In the 2016-17 season, we will repeat
blood sampling from hunter-harvested
birds to increase our sample and our
confidence in the data. We also will
work with population modelers to shed
more light on WNV's impact on grouse
populations.
We will present this information at
several meetings where grouse biologists
from across the country can review the
data and discuss appropriate management
options. WNV had spread throughout
the United States by 2005, so this virus
might be an unrecognized factor in grouse

BECOME A COOPERATOR

Several hundred hunters help the Game
Commission manage grouse by keeping a
log of their daily hunting activities.
This survey, conducted since the
mid-1960s, helps track grouse status and
hunter success.
Participating hunters record number of
flushes and hours hunted.
To participate, download forms from
the Ruffed Grouse page in the Hunting
Section at www.pgc.pa.gov, or write or call
the Game Commission's Bureau of Wildlife
Management, 717-787-5529.
After your first year as a cooperator,
you will be added to the Grouse Hunter
Cooperator list and receive through the
mail the From the Coverts newsletter,
which is loaded with information about
the previous year's grouse harvest and
grouse population status.
In addition, you'll receive flush-report
cards and a postage-paid envelope for
sending in your forms.

declines in other states.
Finally, we will keep Pennsylvania
grouse hunters and our partners apprised
of new information.
This research was made possible only
by the passion of our grouse hunters and
our many partners who donated their time
and talents. It is this passion that drives
us to gather the information we need to
make management decisions necessary
to sustain our ruffed grouse.

Cover Painting by Dana bellis
Sitting stoically on a log within a dense, green understory
soon to change colors, Pennsylvania's state bird, the ruffed
grouse, long has faced varied challenges to its survival.
Maturing forests provide less cover for grouse, limiting
their ability to flourish. Harsh winters and wet springs
affect recruitment of young. Now, West Nile virus, which
has been shown to kill ruffed grouse, presents yet another
obstacle our grouse must overcome.

SEPTEMBER 2016	

9
http://www.pgc.pa.gov
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - September 2016
