# Grouse Reading



## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

This is the list provided to me by Packbasket detailing references for grouse. I plan to get a few of these:

*"The World of the Ruffed Grouse"*, by Leonard Lee Rue

*"Ruffed Grouse"* by John Alden Knight

*"The ruffed grouse,: Its life story, ecology and management"* by Frank C Edminster

*"Ruffed Grouse Habitat Relationships in Aspen and Oak Forests of Central Wisconsin, Technical Bulletin No. 151"* by John F. Kubisiak

*"Oak forest: A management opportunity for ruffed grouse and other wildlife"* by John F Kubisiak

*"The Ruffed Grouse. Life History. Propogation. Management"* by Gardiner; Darrow, Robert W.; Edminster, Frank C.; Crissey, Walter F Bump

*"Seeding and planting hemlock for ruffed grouse cover (U.S. Forest Service research paper NE)"* by James S Jordan

*"Sex and age ratio of ruffed grouse in Massachusetts as indicated by wing and tail samples"* by Winston S Seville

*"A grouse in the hand: Tips for examining, aging and sexing ruffed grouse (University of Wisconsin - Extension, Cooperative Extension Programs)"* by Stephen DeStefano

*" Grouse Feathers" and " More Grouse Feathers" " Grouse Feathers Again" and "Drummer in the Woods"* all by Burton Spiller, THE grouse man himself.

*" The Wildlife Series; Ruffed Grouse"* edited by Sally Atwater Judith Schnell.


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## Bret (Sep 7, 2007)

I'm gonna be busy for a while with all that stuff. :lol:


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## Theekillerbee (Jan 8, 2009)

You'll probably find some good reading, however most of these books were written for and about the eastern grouse. Although they are like ruffies we have around here in looks, they are a completely different animal! Very smart, very cagey, and tough to hunt. If you talk to anyone who has hunted them back east, they say it is one of the more challenging game birds to hunt. Not so around here, where you can kill them with a rock if you have good aim. The hunting strategies for the birds back east will likely not apply for the birds we have around here. Not trying to discourage you from researching the grouse, just trying to save you some jack.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

Thanks. I presume the Ruffeds back east get more pressure, so are more wise to dogs and hunters. I have had a few encounters locally that make me think they're not so dumb, especially in more accessible areas. Those local, mature birds that have been hunted will run, flush wild, etc, so I don't think the eastern birds are genetically more intelligent, but probably just get more exposure to hunters.

I'm not looking so much for hunting strategies, but more the biology of grouse.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

They really weren't any smarter- at least in Michigan-


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## Gordon (Sep 11, 2007)

After you wade through all that can we get a "cliff notes" summary


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## HJB (May 22, 2008)

Theekillerbee said:


> You'll probably find some good reading, however most of these books were written for and about the eastern grouse. Although they are like ruffies we have around here in looks, they are a completely different animal!


My thoughts exactly. Those birds are totally different over there. Reading all those books would be a waste of time thinking that it will help you here. Here, you just have to get out and find the dang birds! Books are worthless when it comes to grouse. I have seen blues in the Desert, I have seen ruffies sitting in pine trees, and I have seen Sage grouse in the middle of a pine forest eating pine needles. These birds are unpredictable and finding them is just a matter of hiking your butt off and looking around. Even if you find some, that doesn't mean they will always be there. I jumped 7 the other day and only shot a few. The next day I went up to the same spot and worked it and all the surrounding area and never saw a single bird. You never know when or where you are going to find grouse.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

I've been hunting grouse for 25+ years, ever since the '83 floods. I know it's mostly a matter of finding them. Sometimes, they hang in the same spot. I have jumped the same bunch of grouse from the same small bunch of pine trees several times over a period of several weeks. And, they do get spookier each time they are hunted. 

My main interest in the reading is to expand my library and learn more about the biology of the birds. Don't know if any of you remember Leonard Lee Rue, one of the authors listed. But his photography was featured a lot in Sports Afield magazine 20-30 years ago. Beautiful work, his images of whitetails were wonderful.


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## Gordon (Sep 11, 2007)

> These birds are unpredictable and finding them is just a matter of hiking your butt off and looking around. Even if you find some, that doesn't mean they will always be there. I jumped 7 the other day and only shot a few. The next day I went up to the same spot and worked it and all the surrounding area and never saw a single bird. You never know when or where you are going to find grouse.


Aint that the truth! This has happened to me several times


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## Bret (Sep 7, 2007)

The reading is more about curiosity than hunting success.

I've hunted them all my life.

Thanks again Paddler


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Packfish said:


> They really weren't any smarter- at least in Michigan-


Same in Ontario, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.


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## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

In the references listed I think I notice a conspicuous absense of information about blue grouse. Ruffs are only one of the two species of forest grouse we have and hunt in Utah. In fact, in the areas I hunt most I think blues are more plentiful than ruffs.


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## coolgunnings (Sep 8, 2007)

campfire said:


> In the references listed I think I notice a conspicuous absense of information about blue grouse. Ruffs are only one of the two species of forest grouse we have and hunt in Utah. In fact, in the areas I hunt most I think blues are more plentiful than ruffs.


In the state, as a whole, I believe that there is a larger population of dusky (blue) grouse. That is because there are mountain ranges that hold dusky grouse and not ruffy's. But in the mountain ranges that hold both species of forrest grouse, I do not believe that is the case.
For the most part, dusky's can be found in the same area every year during hunting season. But I have seen ruffies as low as 5,000ft. and as high as 10,000ft. They will occupy more area, of the forrest, than the dusky grouse.


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## Ryfly (Sep 13, 2007)

campfire said:


> In the references listed I think I notice a conspicuous absense of information about blue grouse. Ruffs are only one of the two species of forest grouse we have and hunt in Utah. In fact, in the areas I hunt most I think blues are more plentiful than ruffs.


That's because the Eastern grouse have a long tradition of hunting and literature.


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