Management of the Ruffed Grouse 365 



season in most years. Only in years of catastrophic losses will it he 

 necessary to close the season— but then it should be closed quickly. 

 Ordinarily one or two years' protection are then needed to eflFect 

 sufficient recovery to warrant renewal of open seasons. With grouse 

 we should be able to anticipate an average of eight years or more 

 of open seasons out of ten. 



The limitations on the individual in an open season must be de- 

 termined by existing conditions. In states like New York, New Jer- 

 sey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania where the hunting pressure is 

 generally intense, bag limits must be low. The present New York 

 law of three a day and fifteen a season is probably safe and yet 

 satisfactory to the fair-minded sportsman. Length of season is 

 the subject of divergent opinions in various states. Most experience 

 has shown that a season of moderate length produces little, if any, 

 more hunting than a short, intense season. In most places with good 

 range a season of at least a month is warranted. In years of good 

 abundance it is actually better to lengthen the season and harvest 

 a bigger crop. Two months of continuous hunting might be war- 

 ranted in some years, provided such a hberalization did not add 

 unduly to problems of conservation of other species. 



I think we can fairly say that under modem conditions of hunt- 

 ing the sale of grouse and taking of the birds by means other than 

 gun or bow and arrow are definitely not warranted. 



Refuges. In our discussion of man as a conservationist in his re- 

 lation to grouse, we pointed out that the refuge principle is not as 

 applicable in grouse management as it is to that of some other 

 species. Protection of this type during the breeding season is of 

 little value in most grouse range; if any protection is needed then 

 it is from cattle, fire, or lumbermen, not from the hunter. The es- 

 tablishment of grouse (or game) refuges to protect breeding birds 

 will rarely be justified. Protection from hunting through the means 

 of escape, or "seed stock," refuges will only occasionally be war- 

 ranted, and then in areas of high hunting pressure, or where there 

 is a combination of hmiting intensity with inadequate natural 

 escape cover. In many areas of grouse range it may be desirable 

 to establish refuges primarily for other game species. This discus- 

 sion does not refer to that problem. 



Because of the rather short daily cruising radius of grouse, any 



