Grouse and Skunks Advice

[Jim Pasman]

Visiting the farm this weekend, I had two skunk encounters thankfully neither of which left me any more malodorous than usual. One was the size of a well fed hog and I realized that the only way to get that big it had to eat regularly, like my eighteen year old youngest son - who once ironically had a similarly striped hair-do and according to his mother also posesses the other striking similarity.....

Then I also realized that my grouse sitings this year have improved. Skunks must find grouse nests and their eggs irresistible. I assume, like most members, if my greater preference is for grouse than skunks, I need to control the skunk population.......within the rational confines of local game regulations. I don't want to just take my Parkers for walks. I want to introduce them to grouse.

Any advice on skunk control or should I let nature take her course?

[Bruce Day]

Take Mr. Colt for a little walk and exercise also.

These ground predators eat lots of game bird eggs and young birds. Don't be too close when you pull the trigger.

[Jim Pasman]

Thanks, Bruce - I will keep my distance::bowdown:

[Dean Romig]

A partial list of predators that dine on ruffed grouse here in New England as well as other areas that grouse call home are; barred owl, great horned owl, several species of hawks (the goshawk being the the most deadly) bobcats, foxes (both red and gray) coyotes, skunks, racoons, weasels, fishers, feral housecats, several species of snakes (primarily eat the eggs) red squirrels (again, the eggs) wild turkeys (eggs again). Some of these predators aren't large enough to be a threat to adult grouse but will prey on the chicks and poults while others focus only on the eggs.
All this is to say nothing of the weather when if too wet at hatching time can cause high rates of mortality in the chick populations by causing pnuemonia.

Thankfully there are usually enough left to allow for some good hunting. If the count is down I will limit myself to one bird per day or not shoot at all.

[Ed Blake]

Kill every skunk, raccoon, and housecat you come across. #4s do a great job. And since they are pests, there are no applicable game laws, at least in Va.

[Dave Miles]

Kill every skunk, raccoon, and housecat you come across. #4s do a great job. And since they are pests, there are no applicable game laws, at least in Va.

Ed,
Don't forget to add porkys to the list.
Might not do grouse harm, but they're hell on dogs.

[Jim Pasman]

If I go after everything I won't have time to hunt grouse......thanks for all the advice Dean, Ed and Dave. There is nothing like a dog with a snootful of quills.

[Ed Blake]

Jim - You need a 12-year old boy with an itchy trigger finger. I'll generally give mine a small bounty, and yes, he has carried home a dead skunk.

[Jim Pasman]

Ed - let him borrow and use a camera for proof next time......:rotf:

[Bill Murphy]

On a grouse hunt with our friend 160frame last season in New York, my little Wirehair "started and finished" a rather beefy coon. She didn't seem to have an opinion on the coon's effect on the grouse population. However, she has a similar outlook toward house cats, feral or otherwise. She once ran a cat to the second story of a brick house. When the cat realized it had scaled about twenty feet of a sheer brick wall, he lost his grip and the race was on again.

[Bruce Day]

xxx

[Dean Romig]

My cousin Tim, who manages his farm in Ohio for hunting, will return cats to their rightful owner (when he is able to determine who that person is) only once with the admonition "Lady, you need to keep your cat in the house." to which the common reply is "But my kitty is an outdoor cat, I can't keep her inside." whereupon Tim repeats "Lady, you need to keep your cat in the house."

His meaning is generally taken at that point and he is never concerned with being PC

[Ed Blake]

Another skunk terminated last night by a lead poisoning.

[Jim Pasman]

Dean - Meeting with the Covert Coordinator from UNH in two weeks at the farm in Lisbon,NH. Trying to locate reputable resources to help develop the optimum conditions for grouse. I'm only "one man, one saw." Thus far, the only cats in this neighborhood have been bobcats and lynx (winter tracks). BTW - Dad taught me to shoot a .22 using the mangy barn cats on Grandpa's farm in Richland, MI - only the ones that didn't answer to "here kitty-kitty" - those were Grandma's.

[Dave Fuller]

I'm always amused by how many "anti-hunters" and "environmentalists" own cats. The US Fish and Wildlife service reports the following:

Scientific studies actually show that each year, cats kill hundreds of millions of migratory songbirds. In 1990, researchers estimated that "outdoor" house cats and feral cats were responsible for killing nearly 78 million small mammals and birds annually in the United Kingdom.

University of Wisconsin ornithologist, Dr. Santley Temple estimates that 20-150 million songbirds are killed each year by rural cats in Wisconsin alone.

Cats are a serious threat to fledglings, birds roosting at night and birds on a nest. Research shows that de-clawing cats and bell collars do not prevent them from killing birds and other small animals. For healthy cats and wild birds, cats should not be allowed to roam free.

I wish I could let my Spaniel roam free to cat hunt

[Dean Romig]

To repeat something I've said here before, feral house cats are directly responsible for the EXTINCTION of at least five species of songbirds and small mammals.