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Working Lands for Wildlife: In Pursuit of the Shifting Mosaic

February 11, 2021 by admin

Join RGS & AWS for this forestry-focused virtual event on February 25 , 2021 from 10:30 am – 1:30 pm.

Register today for a unique opportunity to explore and discuss working lands conservation. This FREE webinar will educate landowners and natural resource professionals on working lands conservation programs intended to benefit wildlife species and promote forest diversity.

This webinar has been approved for 2.5 Category 1 CEU’s by the Society of American Foresters; please register to receive credit.

[Read more…] about Working Lands for Wildlife: In Pursuit of the Shifting Mosaic

Filed Under: Events, Habitat, News, Watch Tagged With: aws, rgs, rgs & aws, working forests, working lands, working lands for willdlife

WHY WE HUNT: Member Christian Fichtel, North Carolina

August 25, 2017 by Ruffed Grouse Society

“To those devoid of imagination, a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.” ~ Aldo Leopold

Christian Fitchel photo (2) (940x1280)

I’ve always believed that hunting should be difficult. The act of killing, whether avian or ungulate, carries with it a weight of responsibility that should not be forgotten too quickly. In the Southern Appalachians, the mountains in which I wander, the hunting of the ruffed grouse is, at the very best of times, an exercise in patience and effort.

Each year, my home state of North Carolina collects data from participating hunters and publishes the North Carolina Avid Grouse Hunter Survey. After a peak around 1990, the likelihood of success in our southern mountains has declined in a dramatic way. The odds weren’t good 25 years ago, and even a masochist like myself would have found past numbers sufficiently challenging.

[Read more…] about WHY WE HUNT: Member Christian Fichtel, North Carolina

Filed Under: Hunting, Read, Why We Hunt Tagged With: american woodcock, American Woodcock Society, appalachians, aws, forest habitat, forest management, Grouse, grouse hunting, hunt, hunting, north american model of conservation, north carolina, rgs, ruffed grouse, ruffed grouse society, southern appalachian, theodore roosevelt, upland hunting, why I hunt, Why We Hunt, Woodcock, woodcock hunting, young forests

Okay, so it’s public . . . Now what?

August 9, 2017 by Brent Rudolph

By Brent A. Rudolph, Ph.D., RGS & AWS Director of Conservation Policy

RGS and AWS are among the most passionate organizations defending the overall benefits of public lands, but we are one of the few voices working to raise awareness and prompt action regarding the poor conservation performance on federal properties with respect to providing young forest habitat.

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine

Approximately 1,459,940 comments were received in response to the “Review of Certain National Monuments Established Since 1996” (regulations.gov). You may know this better as “The Bears Ears Brouhaha,” though there’s a chance that only I call it that.

The referenced review is being conducted by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in response to an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump in April. The review will assess designations of 27 national monuments established since 1996. Other than Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument (Katahdin Woods) in Maine (see picture above), all monuments to be reviewed are located in western states or are marine national monuments.

[Read more…] about Okay, so it’s public . . . Now what?

Filed Under: Habitat, Hunting, Read, Wildlife Ecology Tagged With: american woodcock, American Woodcock Society, aws, conservation, forest, forest conservation, habitat, national monuments, public lands, rgs, ruffed grouse, ruffed grouse society, secretary of interior, young forest habitat, zinke

GROUSE AND WOODCOCK HUNTING GATEWAYS

August 6, 2017 by Matt Soberg

A focus on simple gateways to grouse hunting can recruit our next generation of hunters.

By Matt Soberg, RGS/AWS Editor & Director of Communications

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We always hear about perceived barriers to entry purportedly inherent in grouse and woodcock hunting. “There are no birds around, and it’s hard to find them. The cover is so thick, too hard and strenuous. When you do find birds, the shots are impossible. Guns are intimidating, and I don’t know how to train a bird dog.” Blah, blah, blah.

Grouse hunting is not that scary. Trust me.

[Read more…] about GROUSE AND WOODCOCK HUNTING GATEWAYS

Filed Under: Dogs, Hunting, Mentored Hunting, Read Tagged With: american woodcock, American Woodcock Society, art, aws, bird dogs, editor note, from point to flush, Grouse, grouse hunting, habitat, hunter recruitment, hunting, Mentored Hunting, r3, reactivation, recruitment, retention, rgs, ruffed grouse, ruffed grouse society, ruffed grouse society magazine, shotguns, upland hunting, Woodcock, woodcock hunting, young forest habitat, young forests

THE LITTLE THINGS – EDITOR NOTE

June 29, 2017 by Ruffed Grouse Society

The thought of losing the little things we love about grouse and woodcock hunting reveals truly what’s at stake for the future of our sporting traditions if we don’t strive to create healthy forests now.

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On a Friday evening this past February, I rounded into the entryway of my home and spied my blaze hunting vest hanging on the wall in the same place I had  it after every hunt since September. I stood there for a moment while numerous memories from October and November flooded through my mind and honestly felt sad knowing the season was over. That unfortunate and inevitable time had come to put it away until next year.

[Read more…] about THE LITTLE THINGS – EDITOR NOTE

Filed Under: Habitat, Hunting, Uncategorized Tagged With: american woodcock, American Woodcock Society, forest, forest habitat, forests, Grouse, grouse hunting, habitat, rgs, rgs magazine, ruffed grouse, ruffed grouse society, ruffed grouse society magazine, Woodcock, woodcock hunting, young forest habitat

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – ONWARD AND UPWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY

June 28, 2017 by Ruffed Grouse Society

tech 2

ONWARD AND UPWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY

Maybe it is just that I have gotten a little older, but during the last grouse season it seemed birds flushed and accelerated away from me a lot faster than ever before. Of course, if you talk to my hunting partners, they would probably say it slightly different – they would tell you that I am missing them by a wider margin now than ever before. But, after very thorough questioning, I’ve been assured by our great team of RGS and AWS biologists that the birds we are hunting today are not any faster than their ancestors.

[Read more…] about PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – ONWARD AND UPWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY

Filed Under: Habitat, Hunting, President's Message, Read Tagged With: american woodcock, American Woodcock Society, birds, conservation, dogs, Grouse, Grouse Camp Tour, grouse dogs, grouse hunting, gun dogs, guns, hunting, hunting dogs, rgs, rgs magazine, ruffed grouse, ruffed grouse society, shotguns, technology, Woodcock, woodcock hunting

WHY WE HUNT, Member Payton Gunby

May 31, 2017 by Ruffed Grouse Society

I grouse hunt because it’s in my DNA. Surprisingly, it doesn’t have to be passed down through genetics. Take a stroll through the grouse woods and you might find it quickly imprinted in yours.

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The story of grouse hunting for me starts somewhere in the Deep South . . . in a part of Georgia, oddly enough, where there are no grouse. I’m still a third generation bird hunter – Every winter from December to the middle of January, we hunt the bird every grouse hunter knows: woodcock.

At a young age I was always with the bird dogs in the kennels until I was old enough to go and watch, then shoot. Prior to grouse hunting, I had hunted quail, chukar, pheasant and woodcock. Most of my hunting was with my dad, so grouse was the only bird he had hunted that I hadn’t. He made his first trip to grouse country a couple years before I did. The bird dogs are my world, and when I found another game bird to hunt, I wanted to burst with excitement.

[Read more…] about WHY WE HUNT, Member Payton Gunby

Filed Under: Dogs, Hunting, Read, Why We Hunt Tagged With: american woodcock, American Woodcock Society, aws, bird dogs, bird hunting, dogs, forest, forests, Grouse, grouse dogs, grouse hunting, gun dogs, habitat, hunting, national forests, rgs, ruffed grouse, ruffed grouse society, upland hunting, Woodcock, woodcock hunting, young forests

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