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Healthy Forests, Abundant Wildlife, Conservation Ethic

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ruffed grouse

What We Can Learn from Grouse Drumming Surveys

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ruffed grouse drumming - Steve Oehlenschlager
Photo Credit | Steve Oehlenschlager

What exactly does a drumming survey tell us…or not tell us?

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?

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Your Voice Improving National Forests through RGS | AWS

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[Read more…] about Your Voice Improving National Forests through RGS | AWS

Video Contest | Join Us at Grouse Camp

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Tell Us Why You Want to Attend Grouse Camp?

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

Know Where You Stand with onX Hunt and Ruffed Grouse Society

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Join RGS | AWS today and receive a one-year subscription to onX Hunt for FREE.

(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, to extend a current onX Hunt subscription or to add an additional state map to a current 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.

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Public Comment | Wisconsin Grouse Season

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The Wisconsin Ruffed Grouse Management Planning Committee has finished its first ruffed grouse management plan draft.  This plan will serve as a tool for managing ruffed grouse in Wisconsin and includes information on ruffed grouse ecology, management history, and proposes future management goals for ruffed grouse in Wisconsin.

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Ben Jones featured on East To West Hunting Podcast

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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.

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FILM TRAILER | Live For October

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Watch the latest trailer for an upcoming Ruffed Grouse Society film.

Follow RGS/AWS Northeast regional director, Joe Levesque through the October woods as he shares the experience with Zach Hein of CZ-USA and Alex Costa of ANR Design.

This is a story about the grouse woods, unpredictable weather, witty birds, first hunts, and friends. Join RGS/AWS as you feel the experience and Live For October.

Full Film to be released August 2019

New Jersey Grouse Season Closure

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Ruffed Grouse - Photo Credit: Steve Oehlenschlager
Photo Credit: Steve Oehlenschlager

At their regular meeting on July 17, the New Jersey Fish and Game Council unanimously voted to close the ruffed grouse hunting season statewide.

The Ruffed Grouse Society was disheartened to hear of the New Jersey ruffed grouse hunting season closure announced last week. The NJ Department of Fish & Wildlife’s population monitoring clearly justifies the move. Ruffed grouse are a bellwether of forest health. Their decline mirrors that of other forest wildlife in New Jersey including golden-winged warbler, blue-winged warbler, cerulean warbler, wood thrush, and American woodcock.

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Why Fire is So Important for Wildlife and Habitat

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Fire habitat management
Photo Credit | Jon Steigerwaldt

Looking Back on Fire History to See the Future

What’s the first thing most people think about when they hear the word fire? It often has a bad reputation as a purely destructive, terrible force that ruins the environment and drives out all wildlife. You see it represented that way in popular culture (e.g., Bambi) or even on the news. It’s true – wildfires can be very dangerous and often threaten lives and property. But even when it comes to prescribed fire, many people are still cautious. So how can we turn that negative perception around? I chatted once again with Jon Steigerwaldt, Ruffed Grouse Society Regional Biologist for Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa. It turns out Jon’s Master’s thesis was on fire history, ecology, and implementation. So who better to talk to about this topic? 

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Conservation Policy Update | July 2019

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Maine grouse hunting

A look into the current habitat, wildlife and conservation issues that matter to RGS/AWS members right now.

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