Spruce grouse..

You say loss of habitat I say birds of prey are hard on ground nesting anything

Pawnee, that sounds a lot like the odds at some of the bars I frequented in Montana during my misspent youth. It is a tragedy that a guy with Flint Hills in his name has only seen a few. That is probably the last stronghold of the Greaters in Kansas. WE certainly have no shortage of birds of prey.

Chicken populations very, but have been on the decline for years. One of the biggest problems is CRP grass varieties are no good. I have spoke at a few meetings over the years about this problem. Chickens don’t like tall grass and most CRP in Kansas is 2’-4’ tall. They have to see to survive! FSA has implemented burning, grazing, tillage and haying of CRP grass every 3 years to address some of the problems. We don’t burn here so that’s not the problem as far as lessers go. Chickens biggest problem is they are chickens. They just don’t adapt like other upland birds.

Ive always wanted to go watch sage grouse. Ill put on my list for next spring

Sixty years ago when I was a boy, Kansas chicken season was 2 days on a weekend in November. My dad and a neighbor and his son and myself would drive up to West of Gridley and hunt chickens for the weekend. We camped out at an old homestead where we had permission, made a brush lean to and the cedar wind breaks were really appreciated by us. Cooked on a Coleman stove and hunted all day. We would hunt the feed fields early and late and the rest of the days we would walk the prairie to kick up an occasional chicken. Spread out in a line and walk forever it seemed like. Dad and the neighbor were WW2 vets and I guess walking the Flint Hills was nothing for guys that started at Normandy and ended up in Germany. I would look forward to that hunt all year, we hunted quail every weekend and I loved that, but the trip to go chicken hunting was special. Both my dad and the neighbor are gone, God, what I'd give to be able to walk with them again.

K52 I started taking my boys with me to Nebraska as they turned 10. “The Mans Trip” is what we call it. Twins have been 9 years and the other 2 have made a few. Last year on the way up the oldest twin said “dad when I go off to college can I still come on the mans trip with you?” About choked me up. We have a great time and have made some great memories. Thanks for sharing that!

Pawnee, you’re making memories that those boys will remember the rest of their lives. I was blessed to have a wonderful father, I’m sure your boys feel the same.

Those of us lucky enough to have fathers, who took us hunting and cared about our development as responsible outdoorsmen, are forever indebted to them. What a legacy of memories they have left for us. Those sound like great adventures K52 and Pawnee!

Thanks K52 and Kansas cat

I have witnessed the display on the booming grounds several times here in MN. It's quite the show.

Got that right, been there done that.

What is it that they have a few off in the U.P.? Not grouse or woodcock. It was just a small number of them.[/quote]

Spruce grouse..[/quote].
I'm thinking you mean Sharptail Grouse. There are actually spread across most of the UP, and you can hunt them in parts of Chippewa and Mackinaw Counties. There used to be Sharptail in my area of the Lower too, but they faded away about 20 or so years ago. There may not be any left anywhere below the straights now. Spruce Grouse are protected state wide, with many pockets of them in the UP. The Lower has a very small remnant population in the Jack pine Kirkland's Warbler areas of Ogemaw, Oscoda, Crawford, and Roscommon counties

No J, I meant spruce grouse but perhaps the answer could be sharptails. From what I know there is no hunting season for spruce grouse in MI, perhaps I'm wrong? I've hunted grouse (Pats) in the UP (western end) for 30+ years and never ran into a spruce grouse that I know of. I never knew that MI had sharptails, we have a crap ton of them out here.

You are correct.....no season on Spruce Grouse. The Sharptail season is short, and not many partake.