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Establishing soft or hard mast for gamebirds and improve your hunting in the bargain

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By Mark Herwig (originally printed in Covers magazine – Spring 2019)

A few years ago, a buddy and I made an interesting “discovery of the grouse kind” while hunting a state forest near my recreational land in northern Minnesota. We discovered what we later named “The Mountain Ash Covert.” Every time we passed a single, mature mountain ash tree on the trail, we flushed grouse and sometimes even bagged one. They were both in and around the 30-foot tree, eating its nutritious red berries.

The covert inspired me. “I should establish some mountain ash on my land!” Give to the grouse, and they will give to you come autumn!

But, where should you start?

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Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society partner with onX Hunt to support our mission for healthy forests and abundant wildlife

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CORAOPOLIS, Pa. (April 5, 2021) — The Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society are excited to announce a new corporate partnership with onX Hunt. onX Hunt is a mapping app that enables users to know where they stand, and features multiple disturbance layers where grouse and woodcock thrive. The onX Hunt partnership will directly contribute to the RGS & AWS mission, supporting healthy forests, abundant wildlife, and conservation ethic in 2021. RGS & AWS will also work with onX to increase access and opportunity afield.

onx logo and rgsaws logo
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Pennsylvania Wilds Upland Bird Hunt: The Ruffed Grouse and American Woodcock Society Celebrate the Upland Lifestyle

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Recapping the fun and fervor of the Upland Bird Hunt hosted annually in the Pennsylvania Wilds.

Upland hunting is a lifestyle. The conscious uplander is part hunter, conservationist, art lover, biologist, chef and storyteller. When people gather at the Ruffed Grouse Society’s Upland Bird Hunt (UBH) in the Pennsylvania Wilds, they celebrate that lifestyle, contribute to scientific research, and have a positive impact on the local community. 

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Becoming a Member of the Ruffed Grouse Society

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Improving the community and investing in the future of the ruffed grouse and American woodcock

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Photo by Zack Griswold

Like many age-old notions in life in which we can never remember the exact instance of discovery or introduction, I cannot recall the moment or setting in which I first learned of or heard about the Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS). The organization as I knew it was innately synonymous with the ruffed grouse, bird hunting and conservation altogether. Although ruffed grouse and bird hunting were not an integral part of my upbringing, the day would come when the “the birds” and the “organization” would become something extremely near and dear to my heart.

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Early Successional Habitat Creation Project in Vermont

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early-successional-habitat

Featured in Fall 2020 issue of Covers Magazine.

Authored by: Brent Rudolph, PH.D and Anthony Giattino

People born east of the Hudson River extend this prayer of John Winthrop’s when hunting grouse in the west: “May the Lord make it like that of New England.” Writers like Burton Spiller and William Harnden Foster helped enshrine New England as a “City Upon a Hill” for grouse hunters. Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society members in New England recognize that much work needs to be done if the revered heritage memorialized by Spiller and Foster are to endure. Fortunately, other partners also understand the serious conservation needs that demand commitment to this work.

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RGS & AWS Proudly Partner on Pyke Gear Original Film “Get Busy Living”

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RGS & AWS are among a list partners including Backridge Ammunition, Limb Lab, Wilderness Athlete and K9 Athlete in collaboration with Pyke Gear to present their original film, “Get Busy Living”.

About the film: “Randy Herlein never expected his life to change the way it did. He was an active upland hunter and outdoorsman that hit a bump in the road, but it didn’t stop him. In fact, he found a renewed longing to conquer each new challenge in the road ahead . Randy wasn’t about to let the cancer that took his leg keep him from a Get Busy Living state of mind. We hope Randy’s story inspires you.”

Chris Dorsey Highlights RGS & AWS in Forbes Article and Sporting Classics Podcast

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RGS & AWS President and CEO Ben Jones talks healthy forests and abundant wildlife with Sporting Classics’ Chris Dorsey.

During a recent trip to Wisconsin, RGS & AWS President and CEO Ben Jones met with Chris Dorsey of Sporting Classics. The time spent together and conversation between the two ultimately led to the RGS & AWS mission being featured on two widely distributed media channels.

An article featured on Forbes.com outlines the issues and threats facing our forests and wildlife. And the conversation continues via the latest episode of the Sporting Classics Podcast.

Read | One Conservation Organization Warns Aging Forests Could Spell Doom For Many Species

Listen On | Apple | Spotify | Anchor | Google

Modern Carnivore Podcast Features RGS & AWS

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Join Mark Norquist, host of the Modern Carnivore Podcast, for an interview with RGS & AWS President and CEO, Ben Jones.

LISTEN | Modern Carnivore Podcast – Episode #15

About The Episode | Modern Carnivore

“Just days before the pandemic required our country to close down I was able to sit down with Ben Jones who is the President and CEO of two hunting conservation organizations: The Ruffed Grouse Society and the American Woodcock Society. We were at Pheasant Fest which is the annual meeting of the organization Pheasants Forever, and great conservation partner of both Ben’s organizations and Modern Carnivore. We talk about forest health and how proper management can help replicate natural disturbances that have been eliminated as the human population continues to expand across our continent.”

Public Land Provides Pandemic Remedy

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Public land hunting is often synonymous with ruffed grouse and woodcock hunting here in North America. We are incredibly fortunate to have free and easy access to a multitude of public lands rooted in the foundation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Established on the recognition that wildlife and wildlife-based recreation are an inherent public resource, this system ensures that wildlife and habitat will be managed and used for the benefit of the people.

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Bird-In-Hand | A Ruffed Grouse Hunting Essay by Mark Parman

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A hunter’s reflection on the complexities and associated emotions of the moment we find ourselves bird-in-hand…

In the closing minutes of the last day of Wisconsin’s ruffed grouse season, I shot a beautiful mature gray bird that flushed wild high out of a mature aspen. Holding that improbable bird, part of me wanted to let out a wild barbaric WHOOP, one which would rip through the surrounding woods, but doing so never seems quite right to me in this sober moment when I have just ended the life of such a wildly noble creature. On top of the elation, I felt regret, twinges of guilt, I even foolishly wished we hunters had a shoot-and-release. Part of me wanted to throw that bird in the air and watch it fly away, but hunting requires pulling the trigger or at least the intent to do so, otherwise it isn’t hunting. It’s something else, I don’t know what, but it’s not hunting.

[Read more…] about Bird-In-Hand | A Ruffed Grouse Hunting Essay by Mark Parman