WidenersTitan ReloadingMidSouth Shooters SupplyLoad Data
Inline FabricationLee PrecisionReloading EverythingPBcastco
RotoMetals2 Repackbox
Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 61 to 80 of 84

Thread: Where have all the grouse gone?

  1. #61
    Moderator


    Minerat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Jefferson County, CO
    Posts
    9,514
    I thought this was a grouse discussion, not coon. We have Ptarmigan, sage and blues and prairie chickens. The politically correct now call blues (fool hens) dusky.

    The seasons for blues run thru big game season the rest are very limited and you don't see many of them. You can usually get a couple of blues if so inclined but I don't hunt them exclusively only harvest a few if seen during elk season.
    Steve,

    Life Member NRA
    Colorado Rifle Club member
    Rocky Mtn Gun Owners member
    NAGR member

  2. #62
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    Well, in all my trap checking traps I haven’t jumped or heard one grouse drum in my area yet. I think it’s time to move my traps to the other side of my property as they have finally started to run dry after Sixteen raccoon, one possum, and a mystery foot left in my dog proof trap. Hopefully if I get some grouse back in the area now and their eggs will not be vandalized.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 07-25-2020 at 10:49 AM. Reason: Spelling

  3. #63
    Moderator


    Minerat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Jefferson County, CO
    Posts
    9,514
    The light bulb just went on, now I see why the coon discussion. They eat eggs, thus affect the grouse populations in your areas. Sorry guys.
    Steve,

    Life Member NRA
    Colorado Rifle Club member
    Rocky Mtn Gun Owners member
    NAGR member

  4. #64
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    Yep! I read this article and started to go to town...

    https://www.fieldandstream.com/story...urkey-hunting/

    Don’t know if it will work but it’s worth a try. Our local neighborhood duck population never came back after a good 35 coon were remove in two years. We do have red fox in the neighborhood making their daily rounds they should be eliminated eventually. I think the main reason the predators moved into the neighborhood was was there use to be a family at the end of the Avenue that owned bear dogs. He would let them loose to run on the end of the Avenue which is a wooded parcel longer then the Avenue itself. I believe they cleared out everything that walked. The family passed away about 8 or 9 years ago, the dogs were sold, and house knocked down and all that wooded land was donated to fish and wildlife.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 07-25-2020 at 10:57 AM.

  5. #65
    Boolit Grand Master
    white eagle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    718 miles E. of Wall Drug
    Posts
    6,149
    coon have been around as long as the grouse have been
    I see no correlation between coon and grouse populations
    there has to be more to it than one predator species doing ALL the harm
    I don't buy it
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  6. #66
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    ^^^ I’m sure it’s a combination of a lot of predators. I have mink in my area. Started seeing them by my creek on and off about 20 years ago. Every once in a while I’ll have mink run by chasing squirrels by while bow hunting on top of my ridge. Ive seen a Wiesel as Well. Coyotes moved in pretty good about 15 to 20 years ago. Grey fox have Disappeared But red fox have always been around. Saw my first bobcat last week. There is also an abundance of raccoon and possum. I also have seen two skunk over the Years. Plenty of of hawks and bald eagles. I had a big red tailed hawk almost nail my turkey decoy this year and veered away when it was 2/3 feet from it. One was called in while calling coyotes about 10:30 at night and was eliminated. So there are a lot of predators on my property as well as everyone else’s. I’m just trying to do some predator management as an experiment. If I can eliminate some of “legal” to remove population imo I believe it will help.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 07-25-2020 at 11:09 AM.

  7. #67
    Boolit Master



    atr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Vashon Island WA
    Posts
    2,286
    up at my place in the North Central Cascades, WA state I used to have a large population of both ruffed grouse and turkey. BUT, there is also a large amount of coyotes here as well and they seem to be the ones doing the most damage to the grouse and turkey population. I have also seen weasel which will also got after the birds. My palace is in a higher elevation than is comfortable for quail, so I never see any of those about. I suspect, but can't prove that the free-range cattle also impact the grouse and turkey population as they destroy the undergrowth habitat that the birds favor.
    atr
    Death to every foe and traitor and hurrah, my boys, for freedom !

  8. #68
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    I’ve watched coyotes and red fox chase turkeys off the field while coming to my call more times then I care count. I have eliminated quite a few that way as well. The turkeys don’t gobble as much In my area anymore and I believe it’s from getting flushed by coyotes to many times. They are next on my list. I just don’t want to catch a neighbor dog on my traps. I have warned the neighbors several times to keep their dogs off my property and have called the sheriff on them twice now. I also posted my land last year which one of my other neighbors called and yelled at me to tell me the signs were offensive and I should turn them around so I would see the signs and not them.lol...they had a tree strand 10 yards off my Property line facing my land and shooting deer a 100 yards into woods. They Finally got the hint and removed their stand half way through season last year. I guess if I catch a dog it isn’t like they haven’t been warned enough. Both neighbors are “kinda of” new. One move in about a decade ago...the ones who let their dogs run loose and the other one moved on 5 years ago thst hunted my property line. I’ve had some calm face to face conversations with both before I went to the extreme but Imo some people just don’t have any common sense, respect, or care, live in their own worlds, irresponsible, Ect. I have the dogs on my game cameras chasing deer and turkey...they have ran past my stand while bow hunting as well. I also had another neighbor trespassing and running dogs every night on my property for coons during rut. So I have two and four legged predators and trespassers that I have trying to get a handle on. The neighbors with the loose dogs brother in law works for the sheriffs department so he hasn’t been ticket which riles me up. They are never going to learn till they get fined or One of their trespassing dogs get caught in a trap imo.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 07-25-2020 at 11:37 AM.

  9. #69
    Boolit Grand Master
    white eagle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    718 miles E. of Wall Drug
    Posts
    6,149
    with all due respect while your property may have all these predators that still doesn't explain the state wide reduction in grouse populations
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  10. #70
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    ^^^ makes me feel a little better...or worse...that is it’s just not my property.

  11. #71
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    NE Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,438
    It’s all about Habitat.I am holding out hole as the logging has increased and we have a few huge storms that took out large trucks of pine and popple as those growths regenerate the habitat for all wildlife is increased exponentially. Populations will begin to come back.

  12. #72
    Moderator Emeritus


    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    SW Montana
    Posts
    12,435
    https://www.denverpost.com/2019/09/2...l%20Science%20.

    Article deals with the wild bird population and a huge drop in the last 50 years. This is overall birds not just game birds.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  13. #73
    Banned
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    761
    We got a lot of yotes around here I have busted them in my back yard one was out by the fence line looking at my blue tick as soon as I pulled that revolver down on him he was gone quicker than the irs getting my money.

  14. #74
    Boolit Master Ozark mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    1313 mockingbird lane
    Posts
    1,098
    We lost a big population of game when the idiots in dc thought wolves should come back
    Those who would trade freedom for safety deserves neither and will lose both

  15. #75
    Boolit Grand Master
    white eagle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    718 miles E. of Wall Drug
    Posts
    6,149
    yeah I hear that was out in Idaho a few years back and was told that the elk pop had been decimated due to the reintroduction of the wolf
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  16. #76
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    Imo there is/was no reason to bring the wolf population back. We finally started getting our 1995 project of 25 original released elk up to a heard of 250 or so....So the DNR had a stupid idea to release wolves to kill them back off. Imo the only good wolf is a dead wolf. BTW, I’m up to 19 coon and one possum now. Hopefully it makes a difference next spring on my turkey polt hatch.

  17. #77
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,491
    I went up yesterday to check my cameras and traps. I have a picture on my deer cam that looks looks like a young grouse! I also had something that ran about five yards in the brush an stop when I walked down my mowed trail. Didn’t know what it was so I kept walking through the brush about 10 yards in front of it to check my traps and saw something out the side of my eye run and heard what sounded like a grouse making wing thumping noises when it was fleeing from me through the brush. I did get another Possum heated. So I’m up to 21 raccoon and two possum now...and new bird activity I haven’t had in the area for a long time.

  18. #78
    Boolit Master Ozark mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    1313 mockingbird lane
    Posts
    1,098
    Human activity like logging and turning the woods into fields for cattle or subdivisions doesnt help out here in the wilds of montana with all the predators we got i can find grouse anytime i feel like it but we also got hundreds of untouched miles of forest just in this county alone
    Those who would trade freedom for safety deserves neither and will lose both

  19. #79
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    SE Ohio
    Posts
    2,361
    I live in SE Ohio. This was prime Grouse country. My dad kept at least two bird dogs. More than bird dogs they were Grouse dogs. English Setters mostly. Dad came home from work we could get in an hour hunt. We didn’t limit every time but if we didn’t it was because we missed. Then winter of 76-77 we had several blizzards and worse were ice storms. Birds frozen in bushes and trees so you can imagine impact on grouse. This just about wiped them out. We quit hunting them to give them seed time. They have made so feeble comebacks and I think Coyotes were no help. They weren’t even in these parts back in 77. Some blamed Turkey but I don’t buy that. As far as food there is plenty. To shoot a turkey use to be an hour job if you were serious. The Coyotes put a hurting on them too. Ohio needs to invest in some native species that will reproduce instead of wasting resources on put and take species like pheasant and trout. Need so new blood stains too.

  20. #80
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    NE Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,438
    Mowed roads are you seeing the correlation logging equals habitat especially clear cuts of aspen. Roads cut and mowed and planted with clover attacked and help grouse eat and populate healthy. Habitat habitat habitat

Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check