370 INFLUENCE OF MAN 



that were actually bagged. The average hunter brought to bag about one out of every 

 four birds shot at. (p. 378). 



The general effect of man's hunting on grouse, as currently practiced, is not detrimental 

 and may even have a positive beneficial effect during years of high populations, (p. 379) . 



The number of grouse predators killed by hunters in New York is too small to exert an 

 important influence on grouse, (p. 380). 



The trapping of predatory species for fur, with or without the stimulus of a bounty, is neg- 

 ligible in its effect on grouse abundance, (p. 382). 



Farmers, in the Northeast, are of first importance in determining the condition of grouse 

 habitat, (p. 383). 



Land clearing operations, where not too extensive, have improved the productivity of the 

 range; where too extensive, they have exterminated the grouse from large areas of 

 potential range. The maintenance of openings in the form of farm fields carried on by 

 cropping and pasturing is fundamental in preserving a high grouse carrying capacity. 

 (p. 383). 



Domestic stock, when pastured in woodland and overgrown areas, serve a useful purpose in 

 maintaining desirable openings but in other instances are destructive to grouse habitat, 

 (p. 384). 



Lumbermen have exerted both a favorable and unfavorable influence on the condition of the 

 habitat on which the number of grouse largely depends, (p. 385). 



Proper conservation legislation is a prerequisite to good game management. Proper handling 

 of the grouse harvest requires executive authority in the Conservation Department for 

 the proper regulation of seasons, bag limits and other controls of the harvest, (p. 388). 



Man's tools have exerted a profound influence upon grouse. Primary among these are the 

 axe and the plow. Guns, traps and snares were formerly used to take grouse in great 

 numbers, (p. 392). 



Automobiles and highways have made distant grouse ranges accessible to the city dweller. On 

 the other hand, the abandonment of many rural highways have made local areas less 

 accessible with the more modern vehicles, (p. 394). 



Grouse dogs still play an important part in the day's hunt, although their numbers are less 

 than a few decades ago. ( p. 395 ) . 



While man's direct effect ujioii grouse numbers does not often rank him as a limiting 

 factor, still it inav be said that, within certain limits, the future of the grouse rests with him. 

 Man not only has a direct inllueiicc on grouse numbers through his activities as a hunter but 

 abo exerts numerous vitally important indirect influences. He is a many faceted factor. 



As a hunter, he not oidy kills grouse but affects them through killing their enemies. In a 

 still more indirect sense, his activities serve to increase or decrease the jirimar)- foods of 

 major grouse enemies, notably some of the rodents, and thereby affect the habits of the preda- 



