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Article: Grouse don't have to be scarce. (game bird management)
- Article from:
- Outdoor Life
- Article date:
- April 1, 1984
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1984 Bonnier Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the late 1800s, ruffed grouse were sold in New England markets by the thousands and, in the 1930s, Minnesota hunters still shot grouse from trees with small-bore rifles, carefully shooting the lowest birds first so those falling from above would not disturb the others. In that manner, a limit could be taken from a single, feeding flock.
those were the good old days and ruffed grouse have not been as abundant since. In some parts of the formerly productive New England coverts, a man and his dog can hunt all day without flushing a bird. Some hunters in the Great Lakes states complain that they have to drive 50 to 100 miles of forest roads to bag their daily limit ...