256 



The Ruffed Grouse 



Effect of Hunting on Grouse Populations. Since hunting has been 

 attributed by many to be a serious factor in reducing grouse num- 

 bers ( "Its arch enemy, man, has shot and snared it almost to extinc- 

 tion," Bent, 1927), an analysis of this problem is of utmost impor- 

 tance. Among the means of analysis is the reported game take 

 required of each hunter annually in some states, including New York 

 and Pennsylvania. While these figures are open to many criticisms, 

 they are consistently arrived at and are valuable in shov^ing trends. 



425.000^°°'°22 580,000 



Total Reported Kill -Pennsylvania 



" " " -New York 



Computed average Bag -New York 

 " " -Penna. 



Fig. 11. Reported Take of RuflFed Grouse by Hunters 



Pennsylvania 1915-1943 



New York 1923-1940 



(The New York figures used for average seasonal bag for the years 1923—1931 

 obtained by multiplying take-per-licensee by 3.5 to get an estimated take-per- 

 game-reporting licensee. Those for 1923-1925 are based on hunting licensee 

 figures; those for 1926-1940 are based on 80 per cent of combined hunting, fish- 

 ing and trapping licenses. Pennsylvania figures are based on numbers of hunting 

 licenses. ) 



These records arc shown in Fig. 11 for the years 1915-43 in Pennsyl- 

 vania (taken from Ryder, 1944) and 1923-40 in New York (taken 

 from N. Y. S. Cons. Dept. Ann. Reports). 



Any interpretation of these figures must weigh several pertinent 

 relations. The daily and seasonal bag limits were three per day and 

 fifteen per season in New York, two and ten generally in Pennsyl- 



