Grouse Log Participation

[trust me]

Who sent in their 2015-2016 grouse log? I did, got the results back today. Also got something that tickled me to death; a kit to take blood samples and feather samples of Kentucky grouse to determine the presence of West Nile Virus. Finally, somebody at Frankfort wants to know what has happened to our grouse!

Last season I passed on a few birds, ended up only taking 2 for the season. I'll be looking to take a shot now that I feel like there may be an effort to find out what is going on.

Many thanks, Zak Danks.

 

[Chessie202]

That's really cool. I'm with you at least someone is thinking. This has also got me thinking. I don't see near as many Turkeys as I did. Wonder if it got them as well and they could possibly be what spread it, they cover a lot more ground.

 

[Deadbeat]

I got the kit as well, and a nice orange hat. I am going to hunt Saturday and see if I can start getting samples as well.

 

[trust me]

I'm going to wait for the deer season to wind down before I take the dogs out. It starts in earnest on Thanksgiving Day.

 

[Feedman]

We got grouse?

 

[Deadbeat]

Actually the weather shows bad now for Saturday so I'll hang out at home. I'm not a real smart guy if they find West Nile in our grouse what can be done?

 

[trust me]

Beats me. But I'm just glad somebody in Frankfort got their noses out of the elk's butt and realized a game bird is disappearing. I hope they do find West Nile, at least then we'll know what it is and can work on a solution, besides just saying "It's lack of habitat."

 

[Deadbeat]

You hit the nail on the head there. I was telling my dad about the kit I got and he said lack of habitat. BS is what I said, there is some excellent habitat out there that has no grouse in it. It is a disease of some kind, not sure what it is. I am so excited that someone is giving it attention that I am going to hunt a lot more this year and try to contribute to the study. No doubt protected predators are not helping but there are predators in WI and they still have plenty of grouse.

 

[Chessie202]

Here is a pretty good read from the study Pennsylvania has been doing. It is interesting.
http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/...G-with-our-ruffed-grouse-PA-Game-News_PGC.pdf

 

[bigbonner]

Beats me. But I'm just glad somebody in Frankfort got their noses out of the elk's butt and realized a game bird is disappearing. I hope they do find West Nile, at least then we'll know what it is and can work on a solution, besides just saying "It's lack of habitat."

I know it is not from habitat . Where I live the woods have been unchanged beside logging and the grouse is gone . This was a place well known to bird hunters for grouse . It was nothing to jump while deer hunting . It has to be coyotes , bob cat , mink , coons etc that have killed them off .We never had this problem until trapping furs got cheap and bob cats and coyotes moved in .

I put out food plots and let fence lines grow up some for quail and they have multiplied . So if it was west Nile , I believe quail and home raised chickens would die off to .

 

[trust me]

Here is a pretty good read from the study Pennsylvania has been doing. It is interesting.
http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/UserFiles/File/Conservation/WHAT'S-WRONG-with-our-ruffed-grouse-PA-Game-News_PGC.pdf

That's a good read right there. I'm extremely gratified to hear that Danks of KDFWR is going to look into this from the Kentucky perspective. Maybe the PA data can help get things started a little quicker. We all need to help in any way we can. I've been pissing and moaning for 10 years and could never get anybody to acknowledge that we had a problem around here.

 

[grouse408]

I got a kit not been out yet been waiting for deer season to go out probably get out this weekend

 

[bah1286]

Anyone get a chance to use those kits yet? I had assumed the decline in grouse was due in large part to the increase in turkey numbers since they go around and tear up ever meat that is the be found on the ground.

 

[barney]

I grew up with them, and really miss them. They disappeared from this farm several years ago.

The last sighting was 4 birds in a blackberry patch in July, 8 or 10 years ago.

 

[Dark Cloud]

Had a son in law almost get attacked by a grouse three or four years ago.He was riding a trail where someone had been feeding corn,that thing flew beside him for a long way if he stopped it would stop,he would start going again it would fly right along with him.Now I've owned dogs and hunted grouse in the seventies and early part of the eighties,and never heard of a grouse doing anything like that.He use to have this on his phone ,I looked at it,but that's been a long time back.Could the dependence of this corn have an influence on grouse and turkeys enough for them to loose some of thier will to survive.