Grouse population in PA

[castnblastkev]

Im only sixteen and have only been hunting since i was 12 but ive noticed that each year we jump more and more grouse.

anyone else noticing this?

[castnblastkev]

and in addition it seems there are less rabbits...
idk tell me what you think

[fastfreddie15005]

I think the hawks are getting the rabbits. Every year there are more and more hawks and they got to eat.

A friend told me that the deer popultion near his Alleghenny Nat Park camp is down because of locals poaching for food in this bad economy. He aslo said that he witnessed abundant apples laying uneaten under the trees and no deer road kill. Something else to think about.

I have noticed the same thing.

[sproulman]

ORIGINAL: castnblastkev

Im only sixteen and have only been hunting since i was 12 but ive noticed that each year we jump more and more grouse.

anyone else noticing this?

grouse are more plentiful than a few years ago BUT the predators are bad.

FOX,COYOTES,BOBCATS,RACCOONS,HAWKS and worst one of all OWLS.

owl is biggest killer of rabbits next to fox[:@]

[sproulman]

ORIGINAL: fastfreddie15005

I think the hawks are getting the rabbits. Every year there are more and more hawks and they got to eat.

A friend told me that the deer popultion near his Alleghenny Nat Park camp is down because of locals poaching for food in this bad economy. He aslo said that he witnessed abundant apples laying uneaten under the trees and no deer road kill. Something else to think about.

I have noticed the same thing.

poaching and hunters killing all doe and fawns has just about ruined WMU2G here in pa.[:@]

[gmil6184]

Its my understanding that grouse populations run in cycles and that the cycle is about to reach its peek. I live in central NY and I have also noticed a ton of grouse, and also very few rabbits. We seem to think that the lack of rabbits has more to do with the huge coyote population...Although i did see an owl from my treestand the other day

[sproulman]

ORIGINAL: gmil6184

Its my understanding that grouse populations run in cycles and that the cycle is about to reach its peek. I live in central NY and I have also noticed a ton of grouse, and also very few rabbits. We seem to think that the lack of rabbits has more to do with the huge coyote population...Although i did see an owl from my treestand the other day

OWL is no.1 predator on rabbits.
fox/coyote are next.

if you see guts laying on ground or a bunch of fur,its OWL.

OWL WILL KILL GROUSE TOO,HAWKS ARE BAD ON GROUSE, THEN FOX/COYOTE.[:@]