I was out walking at a local WMA and bumped up some quail over the weekend. As far as I knew they only stocked pheasant at this location. Is it normal to throw some quail in when they put the pheasant out even though they don't report stocking them at a WMA? Or are these birds just finding their way here, I kind of doubt this.
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Quail at WMAI
- Thread starter HuntNFish
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boilermaker
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They stock quail at Standish and Crane WMAs, maybe a few others in that area?
The f and g sight does state they stock some quail. Rare to see them. Think yourself very lucky.
Grouse is in the same category.....very rare now. I did a research paper on roughed grouse life cycle a few years back for a master's program. I took a wildlife mgt class as an elective. Grouse in lower new england are almost gone. Habitat management is the problem. When clear cutting timber was the normal practice and old farm land was abandoned the successional forests were abundant as we're the grouse that prefer it. Successional Forrest is aspen, birch, and high growing thickets. In the 1940s through the 1960s grouse we're very common in these areas even in southern New England. With most of southern New England in old growth forest these days and select cutting the preferred method for cutting timber......the grouse are all but gone. I'd love to see timber lots managed with some clear cutting to allow for grouse habitat again.....but it's not popular down here.......the tree huggers go ballistic. They don't realize that diverse habitats are better for wildlife.
I was up in Maine hunting snow shoe hare with a guide a couple years ago......they still clear cut up there and grouse can be found in early successional forests and along the edges of logging roads. When he takes people out for grouse he targets the logging roads......just walk the roads and trails with the dogs and they flush quite a few. That would be some awesome hunting but down here in mass we will likely never see that type of hunting again.
Grouse is in the same category.....very rare now. I did a research paper on roughed grouse life cycle a few years back for a master's program. I took a wildlife mgt class as an elective. Grouse in lower new england are almost gone. Habitat management is the problem. When clear cutting timber was the normal practice and old farm land was abandoned the successional forests were abundant as we're the grouse that prefer it. Successional Forrest is aspen, birch, and high growing thickets. In the 1940s through the 1960s grouse we're very common in these areas even in southern New England. With most of southern New England in old growth forest these days and select cutting the preferred method for cutting timber......the grouse are all but gone. I'd love to see timber lots managed with some clear cutting to allow for grouse habitat again.....but it's not popular down here.......the tree huggers go ballistic. They don't realize that diverse habitats are better for wildlife.
I was up in Maine hunting snow shoe hare with a guide a couple years ago......they still clear cut up there and grouse can be found in early successional forests and along the edges of logging roads. When he takes people out for grouse he targets the logging roads......just walk the roads and trails with the dogs and they flush quite a few. That would be some awesome hunting but down here in mass we will likely never see that type of hunting again.
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Mark from MA
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Not to derail a thread about quail. I know they stock them out by the cape and islands.....
As far as the grouse go, it's been down hill since I started hunting back in the 80's. I rarely see them anymore, and don't ever shoot them because there aren't enough. I'm not sure why they even still have a season on them since they are in decline. We have plenty of woodcock, but that is because they are migratory.
As far as clear cutting, the state hires the timber out to local woodcutters and does a lot of cuts out by me near the quabbin. I've got no less than 3 or 4 clearcuts in a large area of several thousand acres behind my house they a block every other year. There are still a very few uneducated idiots that try to stop clearcutting. But it's pretty tough in an area with 1000 acre forests that we have to listen to some moron rail about not cutting a tree down. Typically that's old growth timber in Princeton or some hamlet full of liberal nutjobs. Or they are protesting a tree that's getting cut because it's growing into the middle of the road and into powerlines. Really, these people are stupid. There is a thousand trees beyond it in the woods, go hug one of those.
Obvious loss of habitat is a key factor in decline, but I think also the large increasing population of the coyote, bear and fisher cat over the same amount of time has a lot to do with loss of deer and grouse populations. As there has been plenty of clearcutting by me and I've not seen a bounce in the deer or grouse populations at all. If anything there has been a decline in them, and I think it has a lot to do with predation. I've got way more coyotes than deer....they are tough to thin with the stupid MA laws on night hunting.
I am glad to see the clearcutting back in my area though....its good for the forest. What they also have been doing is looking at older areas that were once clear and had certain growth from the soils, and trying to reclaim them back from forest. They have an area they are trying to reclaim not too far from my house that is all gravel/sand soils, and was prone to bushes and shrub....but got taken over by pine forest. They are cutting all the pines trying to get it back to what it was in the 1900's.
In some of the clear cuts, I see them keeping the wild apple trees and old orchards and these trees will begin to produce once cut back and allowing sunlight and no other competitive trees near them. This is all good. I'd really love to see them getting back into controlled burning...this would be a great practice for the fields etc..
All good stuff....which hopefully helps wildlife.
As far as the grouse go, it's been down hill since I started hunting back in the 80's. I rarely see them anymore, and don't ever shoot them because there aren't enough. I'm not sure why they even still have a season on them since they are in decline. We have plenty of woodcock, but that is because they are migratory.
As far as clear cutting, the state hires the timber out to local woodcutters and does a lot of cuts out by me near the quabbin. I've got no less than 3 or 4 clearcuts in a large area of several thousand acres behind my house they a block every other year. There are still a very few uneducated idiots that try to stop clearcutting. But it's pretty tough in an area with 1000 acre forests that we have to listen to some moron rail about not cutting a tree down. Typically that's old growth timber in Princeton or some hamlet full of liberal nutjobs. Or they are protesting a tree that's getting cut because it's growing into the middle of the road and into powerlines. Really, these people are stupid. There is a thousand trees beyond it in the woods, go hug one of those.
Obvious loss of habitat is a key factor in decline, but I think also the large increasing population of the coyote, bear and fisher cat over the same amount of time has a lot to do with loss of deer and grouse populations. As there has been plenty of clearcutting by me and I've not seen a bounce in the deer or grouse populations at all. If anything there has been a decline in them, and I think it has a lot to do with predation. I've got way more coyotes than deer....they are tough to thin with the stupid MA laws on night hunting.
I am glad to see the clearcutting back in my area though....its good for the forest. What they also have been doing is looking at older areas that were once clear and had certain growth from the soils, and trying to reclaim them back from forest. They have an area they are trying to reclaim not too far from my house that is all gravel/sand soils, and was prone to bushes and shrub....but got taken over by pine forest. They are cutting all the pines trying to get it back to what it was in the 1900's.
In some of the clear cuts, I see them keeping the wild apple trees and old orchards and these trees will begin to produce once cut back and allowing sunlight and no other competitive trees near them. This is all good. I'd really love to see them getting back into controlled burning...this would be a great practice for the fields etc..
All good stuff....which hopefully helps wildlife.
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