Ruff Grouse 2011 harvest report comparison

[laker1]

Overall in the Crow wing and Cass county area I thought birds was down from last year. I just not see the broods at all. Crow wing county was terrible.

[Matt Breuer]

Around the Bemidji area I'm noticing less birds. My logs show less birds encountered, but roughly the same harvest as the last 3 years. I'm not complaining. Seen some nice covey's this year, and oodles of doubles. Didn't see any young birds through Sept. and most of Oct. Now the last 5 birds I've seen fall have been lightweights...

[Pinusbanksiana]

Young to old bird ratio is around 50-50 for me this year. You have to know what you are doing to determine age accurately. Measuring feather length is not a method for aging but can be used to help determine male from female.

[brittman]

My annual harvest is more related to how many times I get out to hunt. First half of October was too hot in the afternoons (for my dogs) and reduced dramatically how many times I will grouse hunt this year. Statistically I average 1-2 birds per day (usually 3 -4 hours of actual hunting) in low years and 2-4 birds per day at the high end of the cycle.

[Matt Breuer]

Young to old bird ratio is around 50-50 for me this year. You have to know what you are doing to determine age accurately. Measuring feather length is not a method for aging but can be used to help determine male from female.

Pretty easy to tell most juveniles from adults. Obviously some are tough to tell. I try to age and sex each bird for my logs, and I feel like I know what I'm doing... Look at the wings, feel the bird, and check the tail. Wings are the biggest tell... Tail length is a good indicator early in the season, as a lot of juveniles haven't fully developed most years.

[brittman]

ND Game and Fish HSOforum has some good information on sexing and aging upland gamebirds including sharptails and ruffed grouse.

[tacklejunkie]

When I was in HS we had a science teacher that mentioned, if I remember, that the wingtips on older birds would be more round looking than pointed.

Something about the birds hitting trees when they fly with their wingtips getting worn over time. Unless he was pulling our legs

[Matt Breuer]

The outer feathers on the wings will be smooth and rounded on adults, shaggy-looking on juveniles. It's a molt thing...

[setterguy]

Matt thats interesting, I've been seeing the same thing. Early in the year no young birds, now recently they have been showing up. Where the hell were they the first month of the season?

[life=outdoors92]

Matt thats interesting, I've been seeing the same thing. Early in the year no young birds, now recently they have been showing up. Where the hell were they the first month of the season?

watchin mommy gettin peppered off the road first