On Tue, 20 Oct 1998, Don Baccus wrote:


> Given the scarcity of knowledge of spruce grouse in the state, though, I'm
> a bit surprised at Kelly's claim that they're underutilized. Isn't one of
> the basic tenets of sound wildlife management a thorough understanding of
> their underlying ecology, including things like long-term trends?

I shouldn't have said that they were under-utilized because I don't know
this. I was extrapolating from studies of Ruffed Grouse harvest and
Denny's description of the habitat conditions they are found in.

In considering the establishment of a hunting season, long term trend
information would be good but many times it is virtually impossible to
obtain. The understanding of ecology and habitat quantity and distribution
can be very helpful to assessing the potential affects of hunting.

I don't know that much about Spruce Grouse but I spend some of my
work days trying to catch Oregon Spotted Frogs and I am fairly
obsessed with the pursuit, often penetrating dense Spirea thickets
or bending and kneeling and shuffling down a beaver-created opening
through the dense shrubs and willows. So many of the frogs are in
this dense jungle that 99% of the populace would never go through the
effort needed to get to them even if they tasted just like chicken.
Some game animals enjoy a similar degree of population security just
by virtue of their habitat affinities. It sounds to me like the
Spruce Grouse might be one of them. Perhaps their tameness is an
artifact of protection they enjoy simply because they occupy habitat
where they are difficult to hunt, both by humans and other predators.

Kelly McAllister