584 



GROUSE MANAGEMENT 



Of all the factors, man, today, probably leaves the strongest impress on the grouse. But 

 his interests are so diverse, his activities so complex and the results so varied as to make 

 generalizations exceedingly difficult. 



As a sportsman, his annual kill, when a shootable surplus exists, takes for sport a sub- 

 stantial proportion of the crop which otherwise would be lost to predation or would disperse. 

 Furthermore, where the birds are very abundant, hunting mav function advantageouslv by 

 reducing the population density before disease has had a chance to l)econie important. Con- 

 versely, in a period of grouse scarcity, hunting may slow down recovery by subtracting from 

 the population many birds that might better be left to breed. There is. though, some evidence 

 to indicate that the annual kill, during periods of substantial decline or increase, affects the 

 trend of abundance much less than is generally believed. 



As a trapper (and hunter as well) man tends to reduce the abundance of [iredators, par- 

 ticularly if they are present in considerable numbers. 



Much more important, however, are the farmer and the lumberman, for they create, con- 

 trol the development of or destroy the habitat itself. Plow, cow and axe determine the size 

 of the grouse crop in New York State over a period of years to a far greater extent than do 

 trap and gun. Today's best grouse coverts largely result from the abandonment of poor farms 

 and from small woodcutting operations. To subtract these influences from the picture would 

 be to sacrifice, after a period of years, the variety of vegetation and the interspersion of 

 cover without which grouse can never become really plentiful. It follows, then, that those 

 who wish more grouse must, in the long run, encourage such activities or be prepared to pay 

 the cost of the cultural operations necessary to maintain similar conditions. 



Here is where man's role as a conservationist enters in. No longer is it sufficient merely to 

 regulate hunting pressure. One must also learn to produce and maintain environments in 

 which grouse will thrive. To accomplish this requires organized effort on the part of a public 

 informed on the problem and on the benefits to be derived from solving it. 



A closely related factor is the ])racticability of n'.slorkinii dpi)leted coverts with hand- 

 raised birds. These are. at best, costly to raise and difficult to produce in any numbers. Nor 

 is there, to date, any indication that, with properly constituted coverts, it is necessary unless 

 the seed stock of birds has been completely eliminated. 



Throughout this section the emphasis on providing the proper food and shelter is inescap- 

 able. Accordingly in the management section, emphasis has been placed on how to design and 

 manage grouse coverts and on how to maintain tlic crop of liirds. The liroad picture is out- 

 lined in the first chapter uilli intensive management being discussed in tlie succeeding pages. 

 The final chapter deals witli conrdinating and utilizing the forces that large!) must be relied 

 upon lo carry out the work. 



Coordination nf all f>f the above mentioned forces should result, over a period of years, 

 in maintaining a population Ie\el that will provide a large shootable surplus during most 

 years. It mav ameliorate but will not |)re\enl. however, vearh niiclualions in gmuse abun- 

 dance in any inilixiiinal covert. Our goal. then, sliouki be to build U|> and inainlaln as nian\ 

 high-producing coverts as possible so thai in atn one \ear tbei<' vvill alwavs be an abnndani-c 

 of these carrying a shootable surplus. 



Tluis reads the formula for nuin\ a niemoiable dav afield. 



