Grouse Reports ! ! !

Let us know where youre finding the birds, what were the conditions, what type of terrain.

Lets here some good dog stories as well.

Can we attach pictures in this forum now?

​Funny ​​​

Chuckdog, looks like the bird had conjunctivitis. Pretty common in finches and other bird species that hang out in groups and at feeders.  My guess is just overall health and parasite presence lead to it contracting it.   

Here is a necropsy report from the DNR. I sent in a bird that was very thin.
Attached is the final necropsy report for your grouse submission. The bird was harvested in 2018. The picture that was added was from a bird taken in 2016 in Clam Lake. Not sure what happened to the Grouses eye.
 
This thin, harvested grouse was negative for WNV.  It was positive for EEE (eastern equine encephalitis) and had associated clinical disease based on histopath.  There were also multiple parasites present which may have contributed to its poor nutritional condition.
 
Some information on EEE:
-Exposure to EEEV was first detected in grouse and numerous other Wisconsin wildlife in the late 1950s.  See attached paper.  This historical information suggests that the likelihood of EEEV having population-level impacts on grouse is low.
-EEEV is transmitted by mosquitos and can affect humans and horses in addition to certain species of birds.
-EEEV is considered a native virus. Clinical signs in birds are indistinguishable from those of WNV, and can include tremors, weakness, and loss of coordination.
 
Since the bird was harvested, we do not know if the bird could have survived the infection of EEE or if it would have progressed to death.
 

Sam, I had the same thing a couple of years ago my pup caught a bird figured it had to be a cripple. When I cleaned the bird, I could find no evidence that it had been shot, there was almost no meat on the breast.  Clearly, it was sick.  I agree that disease is probably a bigger killer than road hunting but road hunting is not a fair chase because the vehicle confuses the birds.  People don't drive around and shoot turkeys out of the roadside ditches; people shouldn't be doing it with grouse either.

Grace on point,  I believe that WNV and EEE are causing more of a decrease in bird numbers than road hunting. In 21 my old springer caught a grouse, not uncommon in her youth, but not at 12, cleaned the bird wasn’t a cripple, sent it for testing, positive for WNV. In 20 I had ensiflaities, dam near killed me, terrible crap

Was there verified virus in those grouse?  Wildlife being transferred and transplanted to another state are rigorously screened for diseases.  Then there is the money transfer issue.  This is an expensive and disciplined process. Capturing 300 birds, keeping alive, screening for viability then transporting consumes huge amount of planning and man hours of labor. So "take the money and run"  not accurate. 

I don’t mean to beat a dead horse or start a rift but it Doesn’t help the 300 birds that went to Missouri either. Then considering the virus in the birds that they just moved to another state ? But hey Wisconsin got $ for “grouse habitat” ….( land grab harvest lumber take the $ and run)…But you can’t bait deer because CWD because it transfers  over bait and not over a scrape or licking branch ? What do I know though I’m just a dumb Wisconsinite who spends more $ on license’s , permits and launch fees that go towards “conservation”

Historically grouse numbers can decline 90% from peak of cycle to the trough of cycle. So declining numbers should not be a surprise.  

I hunted 30 days this year mostly Iron and Ashland counties. Observed flushes and roadside sightings seem to be  down but not in any alarming amounts. 

I would hunt an area and see nothing. The following week hunt the same area except 200 yards away and flush several birds.  So observations in my first hunt would tell me that bird numbers are down and the next hunt would tell me to hunt harder, smarter and more often because the birds are there just not where you expect. . 

I have not missed a year since 2000 and this was by far my worst year.  I hunted every day from Oct 2- Nov 2 for about 3.5-4 hours avg 8 miles per day. I have 2 setters one is excellent tons of grouse shot over him, the other is green but has had grouse shot over him.  Both field trial grouse bloodlines so they cover some ground. I only hunt one at a time to keep from completely wearing them down over the course of the month.   So with that said I had many days of only 2-4 birds, 7-8 flushes were good days, had a few days of double-digit flushes.  I'm hoping it was a combo of the bottom of the cycle and bad hatch.  Having watched the birds disappear in my home state of KY, and on my in-laws property in New Hampshire, I'm paranoid that WI birds could be on that same path.  KY never had great bird but their population crashed over a 3 year period. New England, NY and PA had good grouse hunting and birds are now scarce there.   Buddy of mine hired a guide and hunted 2 days in PA they moved less than 10 birds.  Biologist are beating the habitat drum because that is something that can be controlled but they also know that disease (WNV and EEE) are impacting populations.  I would like to see WI take a proactive approach, if birds don't cycle back up in the next couple years like they are supposed to.  Reduce bag limit from 5 to 3, try to change the road hunting culture so people aren't just driving around ground swatting them.  

Danger. 

I concur. My experience this season was disappointing. The last two days out, according to my GPS watch, we hiked 8-10 miles in more than 6 hours a day. We had two wild flushes both of those days. Way back in the thickest stuff where we couldn’t see them or get the gun shouldered. Frustrating.  

The best grouse and setter man I know lives in the middle of the Northern Highland Forest. He owns 160 acres that he manages for grouse. He is in the woods every day chasing grouse more than fifty years and said this was the worst nesting and brood season he’s seen in his lifetime.  Heavy rains in the spring and early summer washed them out.  He thinks  it’s gonna be a couple of years before we recover.  He knows more than I’ll ever know about the birds and the woods. I hope he is wrong. 

Danger,  I hunt a bunch. Although numbers were down Id still say it was a good season.   I've experienced far far worse seasons.    I do move around a lot and hunted Florence, Oneida, Langlade, Marathon and Lincoln counties mostly.   

I was able to get out about three weekends this past season and have to say this was by far the lowest amount of birds I have ever seen/flushed in more than 20 years of hunting. I am always thankful to get out hunting but it was disappointing many times to say the least. I generally hunt in Marinette and Oneida counties. Since I didn't get out hunting as much as prior years I had plenty of time to read these reports all the way to the beginning of this post in 2003!! I was trying to determine if there ever was a comparable season in recent times (past 20 years) with such low numbers observed. The closest I could find based off posts was the 2017 season. This year there was clearly an issue with the hatch or young birds surviving before the hunting season. I am just wondering what everyone else's thoughts were this past season?

I’ve been still tromping around the woods in search for “the king”, prior to thanksgiving we were putting up birds, but they were super skittish with the lack of foliage , so I removed the bells and that seemed to help get closer flushes. Hunted my bday weekend in hopes of a birthday bird to eat on thanksgiving, which happened to be my oldest girls 11th bday . My wishes came true, had one bird flush and it read the script perfectly , now post snow it’s been difficult to locate birds. I am sure the cold weather isn’t helping any. I did have a couple balsam top jumpers , the one my gun got hung up on some alders as it flushed offering me the most scenic memory and an easy shot opp that I couldn’t even pull up on  . 

47 grouse contacts this week.  First 38 with only a couple distant shot opportunities.  Crunchy forest floor made it tough!   That changed Friday with rain the night before.  4 of 9 birds handled well and two nice drummers were delivered to hand.   4 yr old Birdie and 6 month old Howie pictured 

Saw 18 birds at my cabin in western UP Friday-Sunday. All times was I was enroute to or from the deer stand. Birds were in all cover they inhabit. Flushed one high in a tree, presumably eating buds. Heard birds flying from tree to tree in a tag alders/ cedar swamp behind the bow stand. Flushed a group of five birds in one spot. These birds have had zero hunting pressure all season. I traded the bow for shotgun on Sunday and went for a walk. Saw no birds on that walk.