Ruffed Grouse

In RUFFED GROUSE: WOODLAND DRUMMER, award-winning author Michael Furtman takes the reader on many trips into the forest to learn about this secretive and fascinating bird.

A comprehensive overview of all aspects of grouse ecology and management in the central and southern Appalachians, summarizing findings of the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project. Topics covered include basic biology and ecology re nesting and brood survival; survival factors; food habits and nutrition; home ranges and dispersal; population and habitat management; the future of grouse in the region. The ecology and management of ruffed grouse is well understood for their core range where aspen is dominant and integral to their well-being. But, what of ruffed grouse that occur where aspen doesn't provide for their annual needs? Ecology and Management of Appalachian Ruffed Grouse presents a comprehensive overview of all aspects of grouse ecology and management in the central and southern Appalachians and summarizes the findings of the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project. From 1996 through 2002, investigators captured, released and followed the fate of over 3000 grouse on 12 study sites from Rhode Island to North Carolina. The primary goal was to understand factors, including hunting, that affect grouse survival, but in the process a substantial amount of additional information was discovered about grouse ecology in the Appalachians. The book covers the following topics: basic biology and ecology related to nesting and brood survival; factors affecting survival; food habits and nutrition effects on ecology; home ranges and dispersal; roosting ecology; population and habitat management; and, grouse management on private lands and the future of grouse in the central and southern Appalachians. This book should appeal to serious students of grouse ecology and management, game bird enthusiasts, and those individuals who are interested in natural history of birds in general.

At more than 560 pages, this new large-format book is not only the biggest book about hunting ruffed grouse ever published; it is also the most impressive in at least a generation. Award-winning Wild River Press has brought together renowned experts on grouse biology, dogs, guns, hunting strategies, and tactics. Extensive interviews with dedicated bird hunters throughout grouse country invite readers to sit in on a series of rich, highly personal conversations with many legends of the sport. A Passion for Grouse is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of spectacular color photographs that bring the reader right into the authors' favorite coverts, the smell of autumn in the crisp air, moving up behind a white dog frozen on point and shivering with excitement.

Memories of fall days in the coverts are brought alive again in this anthology of grouse hunting stories.

Building a Grouse Dog: From Puppy to Polished Performer by Craig Doherty, is the most comprehensive, how-to manual there is for taking an eight-week-old little squirmer of any pointing breed and turning him or her into that most coveted game bird finder there is: a finished grouse dog. Unlike many general pointing-dog training books, this one concentrates on one species – the ruffed grouse. Grouse are notorious for their caginess, their wariness, and their difficulty in being pinned down so a hunter can get close enough to flush and shoot. It takes a dog that has been trained nearly from birth to handle that task, and no one knows how to do it better than Craig Doherty. Craig was the driving force behind Field Trial Magazine, is a columnist for The Pointing Dog Journal, regularly competes in grouse trials throughout the Northeast, professionally trains grouse dogs for clients from all over the country, and – this is important – guides grouse hunters using his own dogs trained in his outstanding methods; important because paying clients need results, and those results can only come by following dogs that know the game. A number of how-to training books tell you what to do from beginning to end; but if you have started your own training, run into problems, and consult the literature, many times you’ll find that the advice is something along the lines of, “Well, you messed up because you didn’t do X, Y, and Z. Remember that so you won’t ruin your next dog.” Not Craig – if you have run into a snag with your current dog, Craig tells you what to do to get past it and on with the dog’s completed training. So if your aim, your goal, is to own and hunt behind a finished grouse dog that knows what’s what in the coverts, Building a Grouse Dog is the best guide you’ll ever have.

Like that earlier grouse hunter Aldo Leopold, Mark Parman takes to the woods when the aspens are smoky gold. Here, in an evocative almanac that chronicles the early season of the grouse hunt through its end in the snows of January, Parman follows his dog through the changing trees and foliage, thrills to the sudden flush of beating wings, and holds a bird in hand, thankful for the meal it will provide. Distilling twenty seasons of grouse hunting into these essays, he writes of old dogs and gun lust, cover and clear cutting, climate change, companions male and female, wildlife art, and stumps. A Grouse Hunter's Almanac delves into the mind of a hunter, exploring the Northwoods with an eye for more than just game. "Notable and quotable. Parman stakes out original territory and provides a vivid snapshot of the Northwoods."—John Motoviloff, author of Wisconsin Wildfoods: 100 Recipes for Badger State Bounties "Extremely rich and detailed. Parman puts forth original and genuine experiences."—Richard Yatzeck, author of Hunting the Edges

Ruffed grouse hunting is to bird hunting what fly fishing is to fishing--the pinnacle of the sport. Grouse hunters are a diehard lot consumed by chasing evasive birds through impenetrable thickets. Back east, grouse hunting has a rich, long-standing literary history, with great authors such as Burton Spiller, William Harnden Foster, Grampa Grouse and many others. Tapping into and carrying on this literary tradition, hunter and author Andrew Wayment offers stories from years of grouse hunting throughout the Gem State. Grouse hunters everywhere will relate to and enjoy this intimate look into "ruffin' it in Idaho."