CHAPTER XVII 



THE MAINTENANCE OF A GROUSE CROP 



By Gardiner Bump, Robert W. Darrow and Frank C. Edminster 



CONTROL OF ASSOCIATED ORGANISMS 



Control of Predators — Control of Buffers — Control of Disease 



RESTOCKING DEPLETED COVERTS 



When to Restock — How to Restock 



REGULATION OF THE GROUSE HARVEST 



Measuring the Harvestable Crop — Determining Grouse Populations — The Proportion 

 of the Crop Available for Harvest by Hunting— Regulation of Hunting 



£i 



SUMMARY 



Most grouse coverts will furnish a sustained yield provided a suitable seed stock is maintained. 



The number which may be harvested safely varies from year to year according to the 



size of the fall surplus. ( p. 668). 

 While no serious disease condition in grouse has been encountered by the Investigation, har- 

 vesting the surplus population each fall by hunting is a practical means of guarding 



against it. ( p. 671 I . 

 Selective predator control may be useful on small areas managed for intensive hunting, 



mainly in reducing nesting losses, (p. 6f'8). 

 The predators of primary concern to the grouse manager in New York are the fox, weasel 



and great horned owl. ( p. 669 ) . 

 Restocking of grouse will be justified only where habitat conditions are suitable and for one 



reason or another an adequate seed stock is not present, (p. 672). 

 A rough, but useful, method of estimating the fall population in local coverts is to count the 



number of broods in late August and correlate this with the average number of birds 



in each. (p. 676). 

 Knowing the fall population density and something of the comparative quality of an area 



one can judge approximately the proportion which can be safely harvested, (p. 677). 

 Refuges as a means of modifying the take are recommended only when hunting pressure is 



excessively high. (p. 679). 



