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2024-25 HUNTING SEASONS PROPOSED

"OHIO’S 2024-25 HUNTING SEASONS PROPOSED TO WILDLIFE COUNCIL"

https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/news/ohios-2024-25-hunting-seasons-proposed-to-wildlife-council

So sad the Ruffed Grouse demise here in Ohio...

Looking over the proposed changes learned grouse can no longer be legally hunted in my county and bordering counties I used to hunt them in... Next season will only be a month long and only in 17 counties:

" RULE 1501:31-15-22 | GROUSE SEASON, HOURS, AND BAG LIMIT. It is proposed to consolidate the seasons, hours, and bag limit for grouse into this new rule. The proposed grouse season is from November 1, 2024, through December 1, 2024. The hours are from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset daily, and the bag limit is one grouse.

It is further proposed that grouse may be hunted only in the following counties: Adams, Athens, Belmont, Gallia, Guernsey, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, and Washington."

Can remember when grouse season came in the first Saturday of October and ended the last day of February and daily bag limit was 3, it was the longest hunting season we had... After bowseason ended in January we used to have a blast hunting them in February, so much even got a Brittany pup that turned into a pretty good bird dog...

I wish they would do away with grouse, quail, and pheasant seasons until they came back to huntable numbers. With all the dollars it takes to fund the put and take pheasant program, I can't help but think that money could be spent helping improve the situation.

Yeah Dan I kinda agree but am gonna miss grouse season, and if they wanted to heavily reduce the season to a month would much prefer February rather than November,,, heck most who hunt are chasing deer in November...

I do know the DOW and the Ohio Wildlife Council are aware of these birds decline including wild turkeys and had a disagreement last year on season's and dates... Had read the first time the DOW and the Ohio Wildlife Council after long working relationship disagreed...

Sounds like DeWine stepped in and vetoed an amendment allowing the Wildlife Council more authority: "the DeWine administration called the council “an important voice in the stewardship of Ohio's outdoor recreational traditions.” On the other hand, “the current system, which relies on the professional determination of the Division of Wildlife, has worked for many years, and we see no reason to change it"

The way I read it, the Ohio Wildlife Council really hasn't any authority to change any regulations, only recommendations: https://www.coshoctontribune.com/story/sports/outdoors/2023/07/16/gov-mike-dewine-veto-leaves-ohio-wildlife-council-with-limited-say-hunting-season/70411431007/

Owned my farm in Carroll County for four years. Great grouse habitat there, and I’ve never seen or heard one drumming. I can certainly understand the ODNR closing it down based on my observations. I will say that turkeys seem to be coming back.

Got this graph from the Ruffed Grouse Society and find it VERY accurate to my personal witness... In my area during the mid-eighties wild turkey and coyotes moved in and grouse moved out, or I should correctly say started to steadily decline... They can say it was because of loss of habitat all they want, but my belief is it was the turkeys and coyotes... It's not that the turkeys compete for food, it's they scratch along and destroy grouse nests... And we know what coyotes will do to them, and now there are bobcats and bears... There will probably never be a huntible population of grouse in Ohio again, at least not in my lifetime... Man we had a lot of fun hunting them back in the day,,, lots of laughs... Sad, like loosing and old friend, I wanta cry...8^(((

A buddy and I used to have a lot of fun hunting grouse back in the day, but haven't hunted them for quite a few years now. I used to love listening to them drumming in the fall while deer hunting too.

Another buddy of mine has a farm in Carroll Co. on the Harrison Co. border and 15-20 years ago he had had a huntable population of them. (6-10 or more flushes in a few hours) but now we don't even hear them anymore. We would only hunt them once or twice a year and we scared way more than we killed.

The land uses changed down there also as some neighboring ground has grown back up from being logged and on another side the "cover" got logged out and turned to cattle pasture.

Oh, I remember back in the day we'd have 20+ flushes depending on the day, the location, and how many guns... Usually just me and a buddy, sometimes 3 or 4 of us would get together, don't think I went with more than 5 or 6 guns, most of the 20 flushes were re-flushes of birds we missed...8^) They had the tendency to flush when off balance with a leg in the air stepping over something or head down ducking under something, and they always seems to get behind a tree on the rise... Oh, such language we swore...8^)))

Was looking at the Ruffed Grouse Society website and discovered they are based out of Pittsburgh, wonder how our PA neighbors grouse population is doing?

Z…. I just seen your comment, and I can’t remember when I last heard a grouse drumming or seen one. It’s been like this for years. And, I live and hunt in areas where the numbers were always good.

Same - used to jump alot just walking around and see and hear them drumming frequently. Been maybe 10 years, or more, since I saw or heard one. Sad.

We do see lots of woodcock, which is neat - but never tried to hunt those little guys.

I take this with a grain of salt. I know an avid grouse hunter who told me that a spring killed turkey had a bunch of newborn grouse in it. That would explain the drop in grouse numbers with the introduction of turkeys. I am not sure that it is true. This guy said that so far the NWTF has been successful in suppressing any negative information about wild turkeys. I think that most turkey seasons are over before the grouse hatch so it is easy see where this would not be well known.

Yeah Cliff, I have no doubt an adult wild turkey not only destroy grouse nests but would pluck up and gulp down a grouse chick in a second...

I too know or knew (I think he's passed now) avid grouse hunter who owned a construction company and had the wealth to annually travel all over the nation hunting upland birds and waterfowl, upland birds over dogs was his thing and he felt turkeys were killing young grouse and nests... Now thinking back on it and the time frame was '97 when he was my neighbor and first mentioned it when we met in the woods and started talking turkey, so he was the first to bring it to attention way back then... I thought at the time, nah, can't be, but as time went by and local grouse population continue to decline without cycling back up I began to believe it and now firmly believe it... If ya think about it, it's obvious by the stats, look at the graph above grouse decline and the rise of the wild turkey population, they match...

I know, I know the DOW won't admit it and as you say, the NWTF has likely suppressed it...

Most places I hunt have no grouse, quail, and now no turkeys! Going the wrong way across the board!

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