Salem's Skip Lautenschlager and his bird dog celebrate downing a Craig County grouse. Today's Virginia grouse hunters have to scramble to kill ruffs. Photo by Bruce Ingram

As much as I enjoy hunting for deer and turkeys, one of the best things about January is that the month is a superlative time to go after ruffed grouse, squirrels and rabbits. January Saturdays are marvelous times for those with bird dogs and beagles to ramble after ruffs and rabbits, respectively. And many January weekdays after work, I like to go on stand behind my house for an hour or so for squirrels. Here's what is currently happening with what are arguably Virginia's three most popular small-game animals.

RUFFED GROUSE
Gary Norman, forest game bird project leader for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), is best known for his work with the state's wild turkeys. But Norman also keeps tabs on the grouse population. Much of the news is not good.

Norman told me that clearly we're losing grouse hunters in Virginia. For example, he offered the following figures by year (with the number of grouse hunters in parentheses): 1980 (38,323), 1993 (28,619), 1994 (34,156), 1995 (29,625), 1996 (24,817), 1997 (26,738), 1998 (24,782), 1999 (18,361), and 2001 (18,911).

For 2001, the last year for which figures were available, the number of grouse hunters was down some 20,000 from 1980. The biologist noted that this trend is evident in other Southeastern states as well. Some hunters may welcome this news in that they will feel that there are more birds for them. But when a game animal's numbers decrease and the individuals that pursue that animal decrease as well, when fewer people pursue a game animal, then there is a corresponding drop in individuals who will come to meetings, write letters, and advocate for that game animal.

The DGIF also monitors fool hen numbers by means of its "Grouse/ Turkey Route Cooperators" survey. For this data-gathering enterprise, cooperators cover routes through suitable habitat and periodically make stops in order to listen for birds drumming. In 2005, cooperators made 812 "stops" and heard on average only 0.08 drumming birds per stop. The average from 1994 through 2005 was 0.14.

Norman also gave specific data detailing the lack of birds.

Only 0.92 grouse were flushed per hour during the 2003-04 season, the last one for which data was available at press time. The spring 2004 breeding population remained stable but at low levels. To compare, the long-term average is 1.16. The lowest ever rate was 0.72 in 1976-77.

The grouse hunter satisfaction rating for 2003-04 was 2.7 on a scale of 1 to 7. In recent years, the rating ranged from 3.2 to 4.0.

All indices suggested a significant decline in Virginia's grouse population in 2003-04.

Over the past 10 years, there has been a 2.3 percent annual decline in grouse breeding population levels.

A DGIF report stated that cooperating grouse hunters reported higher flushing rates on private lands than on public-owned lands. Private lands could have better habitat or lower hunting pressure than public lands. The report also stated that forest management on national forest lands is declining in Virginia, so the future for grouse hunting on the national forest is uncertain.

"Regarding where to hunt on public lands, I think some department lands offer good prospects for grouse because we're continuing to cut timber and create grouse habitat, but we don't have that much land and it's easily overhunted," Norman added. "Therefore, I'm reluctant to give specific recommendations for state WMAs. Generally, I think the key is to check with the local DGIF staff to see where we've cut timber 10 or 15 years ago and how much. The same goes for national forest lands. In general, I believe we have better grouse populations farther west and southwest."