Iowa\u27s First Ruffed Grouse Hunting Season in 45 Years

A 16-day hunting season on ruffed grouse, the first in 45 years, was held in northeastern Iowa in 1968. Season dates were November 2 to 17, inclusive, with a daily bag limit of two and a possession limit of four birds. The 1150 hunters who took part in this season bagged 720 grouse, or 0.6 birds per hunter for the entire season. It took an average of 11.8 gun hours of hunting to bag one ruffed grouse. Birds were flushed at the rate of a bird per 1.9 hours of hunting. An average of 5.4 shots was fired per bird bagged. The sex ratio of 42 birds checked was 50:50. A ratio of 1.5 immatures per adult was found in this sample, with 60 per cent of the take thus being juvenile birds. Color phases of those birds were in the ratio of 50 red: 20 intermediate: 30 gray. Half of all grouse hunting was done in Allamakee County, with 35% in Winneshiek, 15% in Clayton and insignificant amounts in other counties. The estimated take of 720 birds represents a 6% rate of harvest of the estimated fall population of 12,000 ruffed grouse