Dusky (blue) Grouse Range Expanded to Mogollon Rim by Arizona Game and Fish
September 19, 2008
Chicken-sized bird offers upland hunters and bird-watchers a unique opportunity
PHOENIX — The dusky “blue” grouse’s population and range are increasing in Arizona due to recent translocation efforts by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to offer upland hunters, bird watchers, and outdoor recreationists another area to enjoy this unique bird.
Over a two-week-long effort in July, Arizona Game and Fish biologists, wildlife managers and interns worked tirelessly in the field to capture 20 birds near Moab, Utah, and then 12 more from the north Kaibab Plateau in Arizona. Thirty-two blue grouse in total were captured, banded, and some fitted with transmitters, and then released near the Rim Lakes on the Mogollon Rim.
“This first translocation went very well. Many thanks go to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, who allowed us to capture grouse from their state. Utah has a much more robust dusky grouse population, and we were able to capture a lot of birds in a short time,” states Ron Day, small game, predator and furbearer biologist for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Dusky grouse, previously referred to as blue grouse, are the second largest of the grouse family. Males can weigh up to 3 pounds. They are a dusky blue-grey color and, like most grouse, exhibit the broad fan-tail with a distinctive band across the feathers. Their habitat consists of subalpine mixed conifer forests of Douglas fir, spruce, aspen and grassland meadow areas for foraging. Before this translocation, blue grouse could only be found on the North Kaibab Plateau, the highest peaks of the White Mountains, and a very limited range atop the San Francisco Peaks.
“Our research determined this area of the Mogollon Rim has a large amount of contiguous mixed conifer habitat that is very suitable for grouse,” says Day. “Our goal is to bring this unique bird into sustainable populations to offer sportsmen and wildlife watchers a closer location to enjoy these birds.”
In the second year of a five-year effort to expand the range of the blue grouse to this region, additional translocations may involve up to four different release sites and, when established, should provide for sustainable populations for years to come.
The project is funded through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Restoration Program, which generates its funding through excise taxes on firearms, ammunitions, archery equipment and arrow components and then apportions the funding to state wildlife agencies.
However, grouse hunters should note that Unit 4A and 5A are closed hunting areas. There is no hunting allowed in the area of a translocation for five years after the last transplant date. For example, if this were the last translocation, these birds could not be hunted until 2013.
Also, turkey hunters in Units 4A and 5A are cautioned to be certain of their target. Blue grouse look very similar to a young turkey.
For future hunters, the prospect of hunting this challenging bird and then taking in some trout fishing on the Mogollon Rim will be well worth today’s efforts. Science-based translocation programs follow the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and are designed to increase diversity of wildlife populations throughout the state and beyond to the benefit of all citizens.
For more information about the Arizona Game and Fish Department, visit www.azgfd.gov
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Where to go Small Game Hunting in Eastern Colorado
August 14, 2008
Join the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) for a free evening seminar to explain the Walk-in Access program that provides small game hunters with places to hunt in Eastern Colorado. Learn about places to hunt in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the state, with a particular focus on dove season. Biologists and wildlife managers will provide information on dove hunting, how to best use the walk-in access program, and a short update on new regulations. Pre-registration is required and space is limited.
What: Small Game Hunting Access Program and Dove Hunting Seminar
When: 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Where: Hilton Fort Collins, 425 W. Prospect, Fort Collins – directly west of the DOW office
How: To register, please email the Division of Wildlife at Julie [dot] kallenberger [at] state [dot] co [dot] us or call 970-472-4447.
Or
When: 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Where: DOW Hunter Education Building, 6060 Broadway, Denver
How: To register, please email the Division of Wildlife at Meaghan [dot] doyle [at] state [dot] co [dot] us or call 303-291-7386.
For more information about the Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.
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Ruffed Grouse populations continue slow rise
June 11, 2008
MADISON – Each year since 1964, state biologists, foresters, wardens, federal foresters and members of the Ruffed Grouse Society have driven survey routes stopping to listen at predetermined locations for the unmistakable sound of drumming ruffed grouse. These drumming counts and observational data on breeding success are used to estimate grouse population changes and season outlooks
Statewide the ruffed grouse population increased about 7 percent between 2007 and 2008,” said Scott Hull, upland game biologist with the Department of Natural Resources.
“The northern and southeast regions showed the greatest increase in drumming activity over last year, with 12 percent and 33 percent increases, respectively,” says Hull. “The central region showed a slight decrease of 3 percent and the southwest region showed a decline of 20 percent fewer drums than in 2007.”
Ruffed grouse drumming surveys are divided into four regions around the state. A map of the regions can viewed on the ruffed grouse page of the DNR Web site.
Biologists note that while the 7 percent statewide increase over last year supports the idea that the population is growing, the change is statistically not significant and may be due to random chance.
“These are great survey results and I’m very optimistic that we’ll have a great grouse season in 2008,” said Hull.
More birds generally lead to more hunting days in the field and higher success rates, say wildlife managers. During the 2007-08 grouse season, about 101,000 hunters reported spending 826,000 days in the field hunting grouse.
“Hunters reported harvesting roughly 482,000 grouse in 2007,” said Hull. “At the time of the last population peak, back in 1999, they reported taking about 768,000.”
“For reasons not well understood, grouse populations fluctuate on a roughly 8- to 10-year cycle. Wisconsin’s population has been on the upswing for about the past three or four seasons, and that is welcome news for grouse hunters and folks who enjoy hearing the drumming in the woods.”
Ruffed grouse are one of Wisconsin’s most popular upland game birds. The characteristic ‘drumming’ noise is readily recognized and is produced by males during the spring breeding season. The male grouse will stand on drumming logs and rapidly beat their wings with the intention of attracting a female grouse.
Dates for the 2008 Ruffed Grouse hunting seasons are: Zone A – Sept. 13 – Jan. 31, 2009 and Zone B – Oct. 18 – Dec. 8. Additional information is on the ruffed grouse page of the DNR Web site [dnr.wi.gov].
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Hull - (608) 267-7861
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Apply Early for Special Hunting Permits to Ensure Meeting the June 18 Deadline
May 29, 2008
OLYMPIA – Hunters have until June 18 to apply for special fall hunting permits, but wildlife managers suggest they submit their applications as soon as possible to avoid potential delays and complications.
The permits, available to winners of a random drawing, afford special hunting opportunities for deer, elk, mountain goat, moose, bighorn sheep and turkey not otherwise available with a general hunting license.
“We strongly encourage hunters to apply for these special permits as early as they can,” said Dave Ware, game manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). “It’s best not to wait until the last minute, when the system can become busy and complications can occur.”
Application instructions and details on special-permit hunts are described in the 2008 Big Game Hunting Seasons and Regulations pamphlet, available at WDFW offices, license vendors, and online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regs_seasons.html.
Hunters will be notified of the result of the random drawing for special-hunt permits by July 31, Ware said.
Before applying for a special-hunt permit, hunters must purchase an application and any necessary hunting licenses and transport tags on line, by phone, or from a licensed dealer for each species they wish to hunt. The cost for each application is $5.48 for residents, $54.75 for non-residents, and $3.29 for youth under 16 years of age.
Ware reminds hunters to update their mailing address in the system when purchasing their special hunting permit applications and licenses. Each year, hundreds of special hunting permits are returned due to invalid addresses, he said.
All applications must be submitted online at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov or via a toll-free telephone number (1-877-945-3492). Paper applications will not be accepted.
Ware noted that this year’s special fall hunting permits include:
Continuation of expanded permit levels for antlerless elk in the Mt. St. Helens area.
An increase in branch-antlered bull permits in the Blue Mountains.
An increase in moose special permits in the Mount Spokane, 49 Degrees North B, Huckleberry Range and Hangman hunt units.
Ware noted, however, that permits for Game Management Unit 371 have been dropped from this year’s hunt because the U.S. Army recently scheduled expanded training exercises at the Yakima Training Center this fall.
Mick Cope, WDFW upland bird and turkey manager, said applications for both early fall turkey permits and late fall turkey permits must be submitted by June 18.
The early fall turkey permit season is Sept. 27-Oct. 3 in units throughout much of eastern Washington. The late fall permit hunt is Nov. 20-Dec. 15 in northeast GMUs 101-124 only. Details are in the 2008 Big Game Hunting Seasons and Regulations pamphlet (page 64
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Game and Fish Commission Sets Seasons For 2008
May 6, 2008
CHEYENNE– The proposed 2008 hunting seasons were a major topic of discussion at the April 24-25 annual season setting meeting of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission in Casper.
In addition to discussion about big game license changes for 2008, the Commission also discussed continued challenges to obtain access for hunters in order to meet harvest objectives and the ongoing concern for habitat conditions in many parts of the state.
“Balancing populations with declining habitat is a major concern to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and our wildlife managers,” said assistant wildlife division chief, Bill Rudd. “We will be managing some herds below objective in select areas in order to try and rest some important habitats.”
Probably the most significant change of interest to hunters is for deer and pronghorn herds in hunt areas around Rawlins and Baggs in the south central portion of the state. Nonresident deer quotas have been reduced by 200 licenses in Region W, and seasons have been shortened in hunt areas 82 and 100, two of the more popular deer hunt areas in that region. In area 82, the season has been reduced from 14 to 10 days, and the season in area 100 was shortened from eight to five days. General license seasons in both areas will be for antlered deer only. Doe/fawn licenses were also reduced from 600 in area 82 in 2007 to 10 for the 2008 season.
In the same geographic area, pronghorn licenses in hunt area 53 were cut from 550 to 200 type 1 (any antelope licenses) and from 750 to 25 type 4 (doe/fawn licenses). In neighboring pronghorn area 55, type 1license quotas were reduced from 150 to 50 and doe/fawn licenses were cut from 100 to 25. Pronghorn areas 61 and 62 north of Rawlins also had their quotas reduced. Concern over winter loss was cited as the reason for reduced quotas and seasons in those hunt areas.
In other portions of the state, quotas for pronghorn remained similar to previous years and some areas had increases. Overall, there will be 3,000 more pronghorn licenses available statewide than there were in 2007.
While most deer seasons and quotas in other parts of the state are similar to 2007, there are changes that will affect nonresidents in Regions Y and C located on the eastern slope of the Big Horn mountains and east of Sheridan and Buffalo. This year, Region C was split into two regions, Y and C, which encompass the same geographical area as Region C in previous years. In 2007, Region C had a quota of 6,000 licenses. For 2008, the quota in the new region C was set at 3,100 licenses and the quota in the new Region Y was set at 2,200. This represents a reduction of 700 licenses from 2007.
Some of the hunt areas (78, 79, 80, 81) in Region D near Saratoga also had the any deer season shortened from 12 days last year to 3 days this year. The total length of the season will still be 14 days in those areas with the change reflecting the fewer days that does can be hunted on a general license.
In western Wyoming, the seasons and nonresident quotas are generally the same as in 2007 as those areas have been operating under reduced quotas for several years.
Most elk hunt areas remained liberal reflecting continued high populations in most areas of the state. As with most years, some areas had quota and season adjustments to accommodate changes in herd populations and bull/cow ratios.
Moose quotas remained fairly conservative with the biggest change coming in hunt area 26 north of Kemmerer. In that area, type 1 antlered moose licenses were reduced from 60 to 50 and the type 4 antlerless licenses were reduced from 25 to 5.
Bighorn sheep and mountain goat quotas and seasons will be similar to 2007 with a few sheep areas opening which have been closed (areas 12, 18, 21, 24) and small quota adjustments in a few others. There were no changes in the mountain goat seasons and quotas from 2007.
Rudd said that changes in seasons and quotas were proposed to hunters at public meetings in March and April and were met with general support from the state’s hunters in attendance.
“We had good attendance at our public meetings,” Rudd said. “Hunters who came to the meetings were mostly in agreement of our proposals and the steps we were taking to help compensate for the winter loss and effects of drought on big game habitats. Some adjustments were made to our original recommendations to accommodate suggestions from hunters attending our public meetings.”
In addition to setting seasons for big game, the commission also set seasons for small game, upland birds and wild turkey. Seasons will be similar to last year.
Big game summary maps listing season dates and quotas are now available at Game and Fish offices and license agencies.
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Study Seeks Answers About Sage-Grouse, Oil and Gas
May 3, 2008
VERNAL — How does oil and gas development affect sage-grouse?
A donation from Questar Exploration and Production Company will allow Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists to find more answers to that question.
Questar recently donated more than $27,000 to the UDWR to fund a greater sage-grouse study. Biologists will conduct the study in 2008 and 2009 in the Deadman Bench and Glen Bench areas in northeastern Utah.
Biologists will focus their efforts in areas that have sage-grouse leks (breeding grounds). They’ll learn more about the migration patterns and the breeding and productivity of the grouse in the area, the habitat quality in the area and the effects oil and gas development have on grouse.
The goal of the study is to identify opportunities for habitat improvements in the area and to suggest mitigation in areas where energy development may affect the grouse.
“We are pleased to help fund the UDWR’s study,” says Scott Gutberlet, general manager of Questar Exploration and Production’s Uinta Division. “These studies [have been] beneficial to wildlife and wildlife managers in other areas [where] we operate. Results from the studies help us to better manage our operations and to ultimately demonstrate that wildlife and energy development can coexist. This is another step towards our goal of being responsible energy developers wherever we operate.”
“Questar has been very proactive in resolving wildlife issues,” says Kevin Christopherson, the UDWR’s regional supervisor in northeastern Utah. “Working together to solve problems on the front end has proven to be beneficial for both wildlife and energy development. We appreciate Questar’s progressive approach.”
Questar’s collaboration with wildlife managers in Utah will help develop a solution to reduce impacts on grouse and improve knowledge about greater sage-grouse in northeastern Utah. This partnership will address important natural resource issues across the state.
Both groups look forward to working for the greater good of the grouse.
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Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep / Past and Present
April 29, 2008
CHEYENNE– In the day to day managing of Wyoming’s game animals, wildlife managers must take a number of factors into consideration when establishing hunting seasons, license quotas and looking after the well-being of the game herds.
Such things as hunter success, habitat condition, winter loss and more can all affect the numbers of animals in a given population. One such factor that comes into play in Wyoming from time to time is disease. One well known disease problem wildlife managers have dealt with recently is the pneumonia outbreak that hit the Whiskey Mountain bighorn sheep herd in the early 1990s. In the winter of 1990-91, Wyoming’s largest bighorn sheep herd suffered through a die off that is affecting the sheep population more than 15 years later.
At that time, approximately 50 percent of a herd numbering close to 1200 animals succumbed to disease. Bacterial pneumonia was diagnosed as the culprit. Pasteurella bacteria can kill cellular material in turn allowing excessive fluid build up in the lungs of the affected animal. In the ensuing years, the Whiskey Mountain herd, which encompasses bighorn sheep hunt areas 9 and 10, has been the subject of extensive research as biologists are examining various strategies to try to determine the best management and disease treatment techniques to help the sheep.
The Whiskey Mountain herd received much of its fame through being the seed area where hundreds of sheep over the years were trapped and then transplanted to historic ranges throughout Wyoming. In addition, the sheep from Whiskey Mountain have also been used to start or supplement herds in other states. The last transplant from the herd took place in 1995 when 43 sheep were trapped to augment an existing population on the neighboring Wind River Indian Reservation.
In the years since the disease, the bighorns have been beset by numerous problems resulting in low lamb survival. In the late 1990s and early 2000s it was thought that selenium deficiency might be causing muscular problems with sheep. Mineral blocks with selenium were placed on the range for a three year period. That study had little effect on lamb survival or other problems caused by the pasteurella virus.
Lander area wildlife biologist Greg Anderson who has been involved in a great deal of research with Whiskey Mountain sheep says research is ongoing in an effort to improve lamb survival.
”Right now our data indicates that around 90 percent of the ewes are getting pregnant. We don’t know how many lambs are actually born, but by mid summer we typically have 60-65 lambs per 100 ewes and by the time lambs are on the winter range, that number has dropped to 20 lambs to 100 ewes. The problem is likely caused by a combination of habitat quality, disease and other factors.”
Currently, the Whiskey Mountain herd is estimated at around 40 percent of its 1980s population. In that heyday period, up to 80 bighorn sheep licenses were issued between hunt areas 9 and 10. In 2007, 12 licenses were issued between the two hunt areas. Anderson said that even without the pneumonia outbreak, it is doubtful eighty licenses would still be issued, as hunter habits have changed to affect the quotas that would be issued in this day and age. But there would still be more than the relatively few licenses now put out in the drawing each year.
”It should be noted that even with the die off, there are still a lot of sheep on Whiskey Mountain,” Anderson said. “It is our hope that upcoming research will provide us the information we need to assure that the Whiskey Mountain sheep herd is viable for years to come.”
-WGFD-
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