We hope everyone is ready, today we’re launching the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society (RGS/AWS) 2020 Conservation Calendar Contest. Dust off the best photos of your grouse and woodcock dogs and let’s see ’em. Everyone loves a bird dog, right?
[Read more…] about Enter To Win | Bird Dog Photo Contest
Coraopolis, Pa – The Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society (RGS/AWS), a leader in forest wildlife conservation, have hired Britney Booth of Booth Media Group as editor of the award winning Covers Magazine (Formerly Ruffed Grouse Society Magazine). She will facilitate and develop story ideas with staff and other members of the communications team in order to broadcast the conservation mission of RGS/AWS via its quarterly membership publication.
[Read more…] about Britney Booth Hired as Editor of Covers Magazine
There’s something special about that feeling you get in the grouse woods in springtime – that moment when you pause and can’t quite hear anything, but actually feel something thumping in your chest (besides your heart). Finally it becomes clear that it’s actually a grouse drumming from a hundred yards away. Drumming is done by male grouse as they beat their wings from an elevated log, stump, rock, or other platform. Contrary to what many people believe, they’re not hitting their wings against their breast – it’s actually caused by the vacuum of air left behind from their rapid wingbeats. Scientists use this behavior to conduct drumming surveys each spring.
Most hunters keep tabs on drumming surveys when they come out each summer, and get excited (or dismayed) about the results. The surveys have been used reliably for several decades. But in recent history, there seems to be somewhat of a disconnect between spring drumming counts and fall harvest numbers/observations. So what is their purpose and what can we still learn from them?
[Read more…] about What We Can Learn from Grouse Drumming Surveys
We would love for you to Join Us at Grouse Camp in Eagle River, WI September 27th -29th. Now you have a chance to do so for free by entering our active video contest.
Thanks to generous donors, winners (up to 10) will receive free entry to Grouse Camp 2019 which includes event registration and some meals ($150 value). This does not include lodging.
[Read more…] about Video Contest | Join Us at Grouse Camp
(New member will receive a coupon code to activate a 12-month subscription to onX Hunt. The code can be used at any time to activate a new subscription.)
onX Hunt is the world’s most comprehensive digital mapping system for hunters. onX Hunt combines land ownership information, with topography, satellite imagery, weather, timber harvest data, game bird management info and much more!
Now is your chance to try onX Hunt free for a full year, when you sign up as an RGS | AWS member. If you’re anything like the rest of us, once you hunt with onX, you’ll wonder how you ever hunted without it.
Earlier this month, RGS/AWS President & CEO, Ben Jones was featured on the East To West Hunting podcast.
Joining host Todd Waldron, the two discuss all things RGS/AWS from wildlife and habitat conservation to recruiting new upland bird hunters.
Are you or someone you know interested in supporting the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society mission via the production and coordination of our award winning COVERS magazine? If so, we would love to hear from you. See below for complete details.
Request for Proposal: Managing Editor/Magazine Production Coordinator
The Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society seek a qualified individual to serve as an independent contractor to oversee production of their quarterly magazine, Covers.
[Read more…] about RGS/AWS Seeking COVERS Magazine Editor
RECENT VICTORIES
John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act
In February, the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society celebrated Senate and House approval of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (S. 47). The president later signed S. 47 into law on March 12, 2019. The bill included permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). LWCF has invested over $16 billion in conservation and outdoor recreation since originally passed in 1964. RGS/AWS staff, along with a coalition of our conservation and forest industry partners, worked to secure a $425 million LWCF appropriation in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, a 6.25% increase over the previous year. However, LWCF authorization expired despite a 50-year track record of successfully conserving habitat and expanding recreational access.
[Read more…] about Conservation Policy Update | July 2019
RGS/AWS President and CEO, Ben Jones was recently a guest on the Project Upland Podcast. Hosted by RGS/AWS member Nick Larson, the two were joined by Creative Director of Northwoods Collective and Project Upland, A.J. DeRosa.
[Read more…] about Ben Jones Featured on the Project Upland Podcast
“Golden Ages” come and go. Consider for a moment why the term even exists. The idea itself can be relative. My ‘Golden Age’ can be different than it might be when examining a larger timeline. The individual elements that define my Golden Age may vary greatly compared with those of others. This story reflects some of those moments, but the term relative seems to be a much more relevant word . . .
[Read more…] about In the Time of Ruffed Grouse…
