Report Nr. 2897 Review of the 1980 Grouse and Woodcock Season with Prospects for 1981

Statewide, as compared to 1979, the grouse harvest was up five percent with a take of 756,660 birds in 1980 as compared to 723,910 in 1979. With woodcock, the 1980 harvest of 299,590 "timberdoodles" represents a seven percent drop from the 1979 figure of 321,830. For ruffed grouse, hunter numbers in 1980 decreased five percent, with an increased grouse harvest and fewer hunters, the average bag per hunter was up slightly. For 1981, Field biologists in the U.P. predict a better than average season in the west and central portions, with prospects for the eastern U.P. about average. In the northern lower Peninsula, the forecast is uniformly a slightly improved season over last year. The southern lower Peninsula should be roughly the same as last year, with prospects brightest on private lands because of lower hunter pressure.