Maine Not Looking Great But…

…We’re Going Anyway!

Maine is one of many states that doesn’t publish an upland bird forecast – which we used to think was slacking but now think might be a good idea (more on that later in the week). So every year at least one member of the press chases down the upland bird biologist and gets a read.

Here are the highlights of one such piece, from the Bangor Daily News:

Ruffies Not Great

> Kelsey Sullivan, migratory and upland game bird biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Sullivan sat down to talk about woodcock, grouse (and wild turkeys which will also be fair game during a fall season), and outlined his projections for the fall.

> Sullivan said the news is much better than he expected. “I was surprised to hear good reports from people because I expected them to not fare so well. Their spring timing was toward the end of May [when the weather was wet]. I thought that was going to affect grouse negatively, but I’ve heard a lot of positive reports out there, and young grouse [have been seen] Down East and also up in the Greenville area.”

> “Northern Maine just seems to be an area unto itself that just does so much better because there’s so much more habitat,” he said.

> Overall, Sullivan said, he’s expecting a solid, though not spectacular, year statewide. “I don’t think it’s going to be a bumper year, but it’s going to be so-so, mediocre,” he said.

Woodies Not So Good, Season Extended

> U.S. Geological Survey biologist Dan McAuley conducts surveys during breeding season, taking his bird dog out to find nests and check brood sizes. Sullivan said McAuley’s reports were less than optimistic. “He wasn’t encountering many broods and when he did the broods weren’t very big. So I think they were affected [by cold, rainy weather].”

> Woodcock hunters do have reason to be optimistic, however. This year state biologists have successfully lobbied to increase the northeastern woodcock season by 15 days to a total of 45 days.

> This year’s woodcock season will run until Nov. 15, and that later closing may give Maine hunters a better shot at migrating birds that are passing through the state on their way south.

> “We have a greater chance of timing with the fall flight,” Sullivan said. “Some years, even though you had 30 days [of hunting season], the real strong flight might be Nov. 2 [after the season closed].”

> “It’s been found that [the woodcock] survival rate is affected by so many different things that the effects of hunting are so negligible,” Sullivan said. “Habitat is the key. Hunting isn’t really having a real impact on overall populations.”

> Sullivan said the extension of woodcock season is experimental and will be analyzed after five years.

Our 2 Cents

Here we go:

1. Forget the forecast. Birds are there. We’re hunting Maine and New Hampshire (first time!) for 8-9 days starting Oct. 14-15: the 14th if we find some good habitat on the drive up.

2. We’re going because we love hunting there and could give a rat’s patoot about what the forecast says. There’ll be birds there for sure, and since this is ruffie hunting, we’re not counting on it raining birds anyhow.

3. We can’t recall hearing a good woodcock forecast since we’ve been hunting Maine – or never really paid attention to it – but have found more woodcock than you could ever want the last couple years. They’re there, for sure – and we’re talking resident birds. The extended season should mean that Maine will be a woodcock bonanza.

(Here again is a quick walking up woodcock tip. Our best luck has been in grousy cuts with smaller conifers.)
http://www.seriousbirdhunting.com/2010/11/23/how-to-where-to-walk-up-woodcock/

The Maine grouse and woodcock season starts Oct. 1. We learned our less on last year (5.5-foot-tall green raspberries) so we’re going later this year. Look for our daily hunt reports!

If anyone’s going somewhere cool and wants to report in with text and photos, let us know….

Tags: Featured

Category: 2011, Forecasts/counts, ME, Ruffed Grouse, Woodcock