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The Future of Upland Conservation: Dr. Ben Jones on Gamebird University

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To listen to the full episode, visit apple podcasts here

Young forests, bird dogs and the future of upland conservation, this episode of Gamebird University has it all.

Hosts James Callicutt and Mark McConnell welcome Dr. Ben Jones, CEO of RGS & AWS, for a field-tested look at what it really takes to sustain ruffed grouse, American woodcock and the people who care for them.

From GPS tracking and habitat management to shifting public perception and the rise of bird-dog culture, this conversation cuts to the heart of young-forest conservation in the South and why it matters across the range.

Upland Focus: Acre by Acre, Hope Grows for One of New Jersey’s Last Wild Game Birds

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Read the original article in The Upland Almanac Every day on the southern tip of New Jersey, a stream of trucks and cars lines up for passage on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, which has been carting passengers across the Delaware Bay since the 1960s. Cape May has also been a rendezvous point for American woodcock since long before there was a ferry — or a city — at the spot. “When woodcock are coming south, they sort of bunch up before they cross the Delaware,” says Ben Larson, a forest conservation director for the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society. New Jersey’s...

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DANGER AHEAD! – Teach your dog to make the right decision

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Training Tips from NAVHDA Dog Handlers by Nancy Anisfield with Bob West When asked how many times his German shorthaired pointer Riley got into porcupines, RGS board member David Kuritzky replied, “Too many times.” Of course, that answer could also be that once is enough. Riley was a pro when it came to porky lust. Dave estimated Riley tangled with porcupines roughly 18 times. Most of those encounters caused no long-term problems, but one was eventually blamed for intermittent lameness. “There seemed to be a calcified quill in the front bottom leg, first joint above the paw, that would shift now and...

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First Bird

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by Jens Heig In our family, every bird we take is on the wing. It creates equality in the pursuit, allowing grouse and woodcock to engage their natural defenses for a worthy escape and honor the tremendous instincts of our dogs. More often than not, they exit the standoff with our English setters and pointers unscathed, fit to strengthen their species with offspring even more likely to humble us. We take this requirement seriously. However, we do allow one exception. The first. The first bird you harvest can be hidden among the boughs of a spruce tree or perched high in an...

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The Dewclaw Debate

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by Seth Bynum, DVM The spring thaw began its slow ascent from the valley floor to our favorite grouse covers in the timber. The dogs and I, wound tightly in the grips of a long and snowy winter, needed to stretch our legs and take stock of the resident flock of wild turkeys who shared this same habitat as we painfully inched closer to the start of the spring gobbler season. An old impoundment, frozen along its southernmost shaded half, served as a meeting place for much of the wildlife in this drainage, so I wasn’t surprised when the eldest of my...

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Upland Honors

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Story and Images by Perri Masotti Hunters are traditionalists. To varying degrees, of course, and most of our cherished activity occurs in the fall or winter, depending on where one lives. The shortening of days and the attendant environmental changes wrought by the decrease in sunlight affects us profoundly. There are, also, other aspects of our cherished upland life which change us deeply. Deer camp is as social and as bird camp, but the hunting itself is more often solitary. Sometimes we seek partners with whom to chase birds, and sometimes we inherit those people. They’re our kin. When we have the...

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