Ruffed grouse counts similar to last year

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MN DNR
(Released June 29, 2015)

Minnesota’s ruffed grouse spring drumming counts were unchanged this year compared to last year, according to a survey conducted by the Department of Natural Resources.

This follows a significant increase of 34 percent from 2013 to 2014, said Charlotte Roy, DNR grouse project leader. “While it can be tenuous to compare the results of only one year to the next, we suspect the cold, wet spring of 2014 may have hurt grouse production,” she said. “We also had comparatively little snow last year for roosting, which may have influenced overwinter survival.”

Drumming is a low sound produced by males as they beat their wings rapidly and in increasing frequency to signal the location of their territory. Drumming displays also attract females that are ready to begin nesting.

Compared to last year’s survey, 2015 survey results for ruffed grouse showed no statistical change in all regions of the state. In the northeast survey region, which is the core of grouse range in Minnesota, counts were 1.3 drums per stop; in the northwest there were 1.0 drums per stop; in the central hardwoods, 0.7 drums per stop; and in the southeast, 0.4 drums per stop.

Ruffed grouse populations, which tend to rise and fall on a 10-year cycle, are surveyed by counting the number of male ruffed grouse heard drumming on established routes throughout the state’s forested regions. This year observers recorded 1.1 drums per stop statewide. The averages during 2013 and 2014 were 0.9 and 1.1, respectively. Counts vary from about 0.6 drums per stop during years of low grouse abundance to about 2.0 during years of high abundance.

Drumming counts are an indicator of the ruffed grouse breeding population. The number of birds present during the fall hunting season also depends upon nesting success and chick survival during the spring and summer. For the past 66 years, DNR biologists have monitored ruffed grouse populations. This year, DNR staff and cooperators from 12 organizations surveyed 126 routes across the state.

Sharp-tailed grouse counts remain steady
Statewide sharp-tailed grouse counts were similar in 2015 compared to 2014 on both the regional and statewide levels. Observers look for male sharptails displaying on traditional mating areas, called leks or dancing grounds.

This year’s statewide average of 9.8 grouse counted per dancing ground was similar to the long-term average since 1980. The 2009 average of 13.6 was as high as during any year since 1980. During the last 25 years, the sharp-tailed grouse index has been as low as seven birds counted per dancing ground.

The DNR’s 2015 grouse survey report, which contains information on ruffed grouse and sharp-tailed grouse, is available online. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/grouse/index.html

[h2ofwlr]

Good spring could boost grouse numbers in Minnesota

But a survey finds drumming counts unchanged from 2014.

July 5, 2015 — 12:17am
By Doug Smith, StarTribune


Minnesota’s ruffed grouse hunters could find more birds in the woods this fall.

If they do, it will be a sign that the ruffie population — which fluctuates on a 10-year boom-to-bust cycle — is on the upswing after bottoming out in 2013.

“I’m hoping we’re heading back up,” said Ted Dick, Department of Natural Resources forest game bird coordinator.

Though this spring’s ruffed grouse drumming counts, announced last week, were unchanged from last year, there are reasons to expect more birds this fall. The spring count only estimates the adult grouse population and doesn’t reflect the reproduction that occurs later.

Last spring’s drumming counts were up 34 percent from 2013, but officials believe lousy weather resulted in poor reproduction, which would explain why this year’s drumming counts are nearly identical to last year’s.

“We had a really cold, wet spring last year, and that usually hurts hatching and survival of young,” said Charlotte Roy, DNR grouse project leader.

Said Dick: “The spring survey is one thing, but a lot of fall hunting success depends on weather just after the chicks hatch. And the weather’s been much better this year.

“I flushed a brood with at least eight chicks last week, and they were big. I’d say reproduction looks good so far.”

Grouse hunters could use some good news. The number of ruffie hunters generally tracks the grouse population, declining when bird numbers fall and increasing when bird numbers rebound in the mysterious cycle.

In 2013, when the grouse population likely hit bottom, the DNR estimated that about 81,000 hunters sought ruffed grouse, the lowest in eight years. Likewise, the grouse harvest hit an eight-year low, too.

Hunter numbers and harvest estimates from 2014 aren’t available yet, but Dick expects both to show improvements.

“The majority of hunters I talked to had a better season last year than the year before,” he said.

For the survey, officials count the number of drumming grouse they hear at “stops” along 126 established routes throughout the state’s forested regions. In the northeast — the core of grouse range — the counts were 1.3 drums per stop; in the northwest, it was 1.0; in the central hardwoods, 0.7, and in the southeast, 0.4.

The statewide average was 1.1 drums per stop. In 2009, the last peak in the population cycle, the average was 2.0 — a 37-year-high.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s ruffed grouse population also appears to be similar to last year’s, but officials there believe the population has hit the low point in the cycle.

“We should start to see increases in the next few years as the grouse population moves toward the next peak,” survey coordinator Brian Dhuey said.