GROUSE MANAGEMENT 



By Gardiner Bump 



Game management is the process of putting together known facts to produce, maintain and 

 use the game crop. 



The days when this had to be done largely "by guess and by gosh" are gradually becoming 

 a memory. In their place, for species after species, research is beginning to supply a blue- 

 print; management to translate, and implement this to produce the desired results. 



The Investigation, therefore, has sought to marshal the pertinent facts about the ruffed 

 grouse which could be used as a sound basis for grouse management throughout the State. 



In New York, on the Conservation Department rests the responsibility for fixing, each year, 

 the hunting regulations for grouse. In addition it is called upon to manage some eighty 

 thousand acres of game lands, most of which represent grouse cover. It also attempts to make 

 some provision for game management on approximately half a million acres of submarginal 

 farm land bought for reforestation purposes and on which grouse and other species of game 

 represent a valuable, secondary crop. 



At the same time there are millions of acres of grouse cover in private ownership. More- 

 over, an ever-increasing proportion of this is finding its way into the hands of people who 

 place a high value on recreational op|)()rtuiiities which such lands can provide. These people 

 seek, and are entitled to have, advice in the development of their land to improve and main- 

 tain a game as well as a forest crop. New York is now, and probably always will be, pri- 

 marily, a forest and woodlot game state. Among the small game species, none is so highly 

 prized as the rutled grouse. Conse(|uenll). its encouragement, by applying appropriate 

 measures on State or private lands, is highly desirable. 



Management, to use the vernacular, is the "pay-off" on the investment in research. Inevi- 

 tably, this pay-off will come in installments over the years. There are a number of reasons 

 for this. First, it would be presumptuous for the authors to assume that thev have found out 

 everything worth knowing about grouse and have completelv mined the accumulated data for 

 every conceivable productive application. Secondly, while many of the findings have been 

 translated into practical suggestions which have been field-tested, sufficient time has not 

 elapsed to permit full evaluation of all the results. Application, too. is dependent ujjon interest 

 in the problem which bids fair to grow with the years. 



In the preceding chapters on research the authors have made every attempt to meet scien- 

 tific standards to the best of their ability. In the ensuing chapters, in attempting to translate 

 the findings and the personal experience gained into management suggestions, this will not 

 always be possible. Here, in order to make the most complete contribution, it is often neces- 

 sary to state the case as we now see il. In doing this it is understood that, in the light of 

 future experience, modifications are inevitable. 



