The following is an excerpt of an article originally published in the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News Sun, and Journal News.
Some of my favorite annual outings used to be the tail end of Ohio’s October-to-February Ruffed Grouse season. I’ve seen reports that hunter success was greatest in October and February in that stretch. This hunter’s efforts were not an additive factor to grouse mortality.
A snowy weekday outing stands out in memory. We left with an empty game bag, but an exhausted dog and a satisfied hunter.
That’s not an available option anymore. Beginning from a peak in the 1980s, Ohio’s Ruffed Grouse jumped the track on the bust of a 10-year boom-bust cycle and never boomed again. In 2009, the month of February was dropped from the season. Later changes were made eliminating most of January.
This most recent season was confined to one month — from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1 — with a daily limit of 1 bird, in select counties only. There were questions if there should be a season at all. In this way, the Ruffed Grouse has followed a very similar path in Ohio to the Bobwhite Quail.
Read the complete article here: Ignore the cold weather and get outside: It’s Cottontail rabbit season and fish runs in the local rivers start soon
Resources Cited in Article:
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources - Ruffed Grouse
- Ruffed Grouse Society | American Woodcock Society
- Distribution and Relative Abundance of Ruffed Grouse in Ohio
- Ruffed Grouse Population Declines in the Eastern United States Prepared by the Eastern Grouse Working Group – December 2020
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