104 THE SPECIES—ITS TAXONOMY. RASGE. BIOLOGY. & ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 



the take to be about 170,000 birds, it is safe to say that the actual miiiihcr sliot would ap- 

 proximate 300,000. Field studies conducted by the Investigation in certain Southern Tier 

 ( N. Y. ) counties over two successive years, indicate that about 17 per cent of the fall pop- 

 ulation of adult grouse in that region are killed by hunters in a season of average abundance. 

 A take (jf 300.000 birds, then, would indicate a p<)|)ulation of approximately a million and 

 three-quarters in i\ew York alone. From an inspection of license records, one finds three to 

 be the number of grouse reported most frequently taken by individual \ew York State hunters. 

 Yet the number is undoubtedly lower in actuality, for most grouse here are so hard hunted 

 and wary that some grouse hunters are entirely unsuccessful and thus make no report. Rut, 

 if one accepts three as the average kill it follows that there are upwards of 10(1.000 grouse 

 hunters in this State alone. 



Over its entire range, based on a canvas of existing records and estimates, a reasonable ap- 

 proximation of the annual kill during a year of average grouse abundance, would amount to 

 at least 1.900.000 birds. If, by way of a very rough inference, one were to apply New York's 

 kill ratio to this, an estimated total population of 12,600.000 would result. 



Yet it is well known that these birds are tamer and, therefore, easier to kill in many parts 

 of their range than they are in the Northeast. To compensate for this the hunting pressure is 

 probably less. Thus, should grouse hunters over the whole area occupied bv the species aver- 

 age four birds each per season, one might conjecture that there are perhaps 500,000 sportsmen 

 who make grouse hunting their hobby. 



Those who know New York grouse will agree that the estimates presented for that section 

 well reflect conditions as thev exist. In perhaps six or eight f)ther states the figures covering 

 the annual kill of grouse are equally indicative. For the rest it has been necessary to fall back 

 on the ofttimes unreliable method of "best estimates". But. in spite of the obvious inaccu- 

 racies which beset such efforts, the picture is significant. The ruffed grouse, unlike its Scotch 

 cousin, represents a crop, the size of which is still controlled largely by the whims of nature. 

 Yet it furnishes recreation to perhaps half a million hunters instead of the comparatively few 

 who are able to enjoy this sport in the British Isles. Furthermore, the actual revemie derived 

 from hanesting the crop is appreciable. An expenditure by each grouse hunter of only about 

 816.00 a year for guns, ammunition, hunting clothes, travel and lodging would roughly equal 

 Great Britain's revenue from the rental of its grouse moors. 



Sai.k of Breeding Stock 



Grouse for restocking depleted coverts have brought prices well ;ib(i\c those paid fur most 

 native game birds for many vears. Though current prices (19-12) for wild trapped birds are 

 S6.00 to SIO.OO apiece, they ha\e run both above and below these figures. l'tMha|)s 1.(^00 birds 

 have been tra|)ped. mostlv in Canada, transported and released to restock dciilrtcd coverts 

 and bring in new blood -an idea widely, though probably erroneously, accepted as necessary. 



Hand-raised birds, too. are at a ])remium. for there are but one or two places where breeders 

 have succeeded in establishing a strain that will do more than reproduce itself in captivity 

 without frequent additions of birds or eggs from the wild. Such hand-raised birds have 

 brought prices of from $10.00 to S.SO.OO a pair, with but few birds for sale. Artificial grouse 

 propagation, at least in its experimental stages, is costly and the present supply of hand- 

 raised breeders is. therefore, largely concentrated in the hands of a few jiublic agencies, not- 

 ably New York State. 



