how do you guys feel about the December Grouse season hear in Michigan some guys are against that too.
I say let the so called experts decide if I can hunt or not if there is a season for birds I'm going to go out and hunt.
Many sadly feel the same way...one reason why some portions of the ruffed grouse range have increased decline issues.
"Experts" often have political state jobs and do not like to anger hunters.....good decisions do not always track with them.
Michigan tho has an advantage with snow, both for roosting and limiting access to coverts.
Ohio, for example, has no weather issues and little snow with coverts often easily accessed from roads above and below....birds would get slammed to 40% of the total harvest being in February...often by skirmish line post deer season deerhunters.
Thankfully, the ODNR shortened the season one month, to alot of hunter whining...too little and too late it was, but a good deal it was as well.
No, it is not a major decline factor, however when the birds are on a low portion of the decline curve then true late season hunting's significance increases dramatically.
Problem with the ruffed grouse is far too many folks believe the bird faces equal conditions across it's large range. They look at the upper great lakes and make assumptions for the central appalatchians...dumb, and speaks to little knowledge of the bird and what it faces rangewide. RGS deserves a large part of the blame for bad info but so do grousehunters who prefer the "it's legal, I can, I want, I will" school of grousehunting.
As a result, the ruffed grouse suffers further in some areas.
"Kill 'em while we got 'em" is not rare to hear.
I do not expect that selfishness to ever change.
Late season ruffed grouse has little comparison to late season pheasant, whole different bird and population dynamic.