674 



THE MAINTENANCE OF A GROUSE CROP 



Measuring the Harvestable Crop* 



If the maintenance of a seed stock were the only motive for iiicasurin^' the grouse crop it 

 might be debatable whether the results would be worth the effort. One lould easily "take what 

 the gods send along", shooting birds when they arc aimiulant and passing them by when but 

 few can be found. But the preservation of a seed slock is not the sole reason. Only by 

 knowing their size can above-average crops be utilized to the best ad\antage. And con- 

 versely, such knowledge enables an administrator to make necessary allowances for a vear of 

 poor productivity to prevent an unwarranted open season from cutting into the brood stock. 

 Furthermore, in addition to the Inmtable surplus, a record of po|)ulation trends from year 

 to year is also important in evaluating the results of past regulations. .And, perhaps most 

 significant of all on managed areas, the measurement of the grouse crop is the yardstick by 

 which the productivity of habitat improvements may be appraised. 





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But it is seldom an easy job to determine, with even fair accuracy, the harvestable crop of 

 any game species. Leopold"' singled out the ruffed grouse as "conspicuously difficult to cen- 

 sus by ordinary methods". The adults do not covey like quail or form packs as do prairie 

 chicken. In the fastnesses of their range, where they are little hunted, they are easily trapped. 

 But where they have come to know hunters their wariness and trickiness is legendary. 



During the fall and spring, the most significant census periods, many birds frequent 

 heavy cover in which, while often heard, they are seldom seen. Nor are the sex ratios easy to 

 ascertain becau.se the birds look so nnicii alike. While they are not migratory and exliibit no 

 extended seasonal movements, they are mobile over fairly large territories, thus scattering the 

 individuals widely enough to make finding them often difficult. To comiilicate matters 

 further they are predictably unreliable as to their decision to lly at one's approach or to lie 

 close. 



Furthermore, adjacent coverts of comparable quality, even though exhibiting similar trends 

 in abundance, are usualK at different relative population levels in anv one year. One covert 



* By Cflrdiner Bump 



