I've hunted leased land in New York's Adirondacks for over 40 years and this is property that is managed either for timber harvest or pulp wood harvest. It is regularly clear cut according to the land owner's harvest needs and goals, generally a 20 - 40 year cycle. Despite this the grouse numbers are nothing like they were even 20 years ago. Not sure why because from what I can see the habitat has been maintained to be well suited for grouse. I remember when you could hunt them and they would hold for a point and allow the hunter to move in to flush the bird. Now it seems you get within 30 yards before the dog has scented them and you hear them flush. Something has them on edge and I always assumed predators such as foxes or coyotes. There are Barred Owls there, but I haven't seen a Goshawk in 30 years or more that I can recall. I would guess that coyotes and perhaps a few bobcats are the major predators. Not sure at all about the prevalence of West Nile Virus in the Adirondacks.
Same in one area of the Southern Tier where I hunt on state land. This area is 12,000 acres of actively forested and managed property specifically to produce and maintain deer and grouse; some turkeys have moved in over the past 20 years too. The state follows a cycle of clear-cutting 10 acre blocks and will often replant specific tree species. The schedule of cutting is known to the public so you can hunt different 10 acre blocks where you know how long since they were clear cut. The idea is that you can learn how many years after clear-cutting the habitat becomes suitable and the birds to move in. And, you can tell how old the habitat is when birds stop using it. This way you can focus your hunting in areas that are most likely to hold birds. But the same outcome...very few deer, turkeys and grouse there. No sign of predators that I can see, even coyotes, but you hunt through acres and acres of what looks like prime habitat and find very few if any birds. It's been puzzling and frustrating.
I posted in the Hunting sub-forum that I expanded my search for grouse to the western edge of the Adirondacks. We found birds there and they behaved much more like they used to, but 11 flushes over three days, about 20 hours of field time, is not a lot of birds. I would have considered that a good day 20 years ago in my home areas. But at least the birds we found held and flushed much closer so maybe they were less pressured.
|