It was just announced that the grouse season in New Jersey has been closed for 2019. It was not unexpected for numbers are way down. The quail season has been closed for several years for the same reason. It was only a few decades ago that quail, grouse and pheasants were very plentiful in NJ. Deer and bear are very plentiful,but the the upland game birds are gone. Very disappointing for folks like me who enjoy pursuing upland birds with pointing dogs and double barrel shotguns.

Somewhat of a commiseration, recall that PA closed the grouse season which typically started the day after Christmas just last year.
I can fully understand the reasoning behind the call. I just hope to see some results. I realize this will certainly take some time.

Did they reduce the cost of a hunting license?

Closing NJ's ruffed grouse season will not return the ruffed grouse to NJ.....that is simply not in the cards.

It could be and likely is the right thing to do but closure is not an answer to the other and, some of them, greater problems facing the bird....NJ and elsewhere.

Sadly tho, there will be folks who bemoan not being able to kill that last grouse.

*hopefully, the cost of a NJ hunting license will not be reduced. Can't reckon that logic.

Gentlemen,

The only reason I think the closure of the Grouse season in NJ is not a real good idea is now we will have even more Grouse hunters from NJ coming to Pa to Grouse hunt. This has been going on for many many years, some NJ hunters even own their own camps here in Pa and have been welcome for generations. Long ago NJ was a good state to hunt upland birds in, sorry to see this happening. To many of us Grouse hunters in Pa, this was not an unexpected event. Grouse numbers in NJ have been way down for long time. I do hope they start cutting/managing their forests to help their Grouse population also.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Dave, I don't think you need to worry about any additional NJ hunters going to PA to hunt grouse due to the closed season. All the NJ grouse hunters have for years been going to PA and NY. Very few hunters have been doing any significant grouse hunting in NJ for the last 30 years due to the low numbers.

DoublesForever,

Well I do know we have plenty of NJ sportsman that come to Pa to hunt Grouse. In fact we have a couple families from NJ that have just restored their grandfathers cabins on Painter Run Road, not far from my log cabin on Powder Horn Lane. The one guy is an avid Grouse hunter with a couple GSP dogs. He also hunted NJ during their Grouse season, you can bet he will be here more often now that the NJ Grouse season is closed. How many more like him we have, is yet to be seen. Don't get me wrong these sportsman who own property here are more than welcome, they help our small town mountain economy big time.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

So what is the problem(s) causing low grouse numbers in New Jersey? Habitat loss?

The biggest problem is habitat loss due to maturing forests. This issue is not unique to NJ but is affecting grouse numbers in other States. Other contributing factors are increased predators and rural land being rapidly lost to development.

Deleted double post!

Doublesforever,

No doubt about it proper forest management has always been a big problem in NJ. NJ does have a lot of forest however, unfortunately little cutting has been done for many years, without the young forest growth animal life of all kinds suffers, especially the Grouse population.

As one of the members noted it's not just NJ that has this problem, the southern tier of Pa is having the same problem. Fortunately we have lots of forest land above Rt 80 here in Pa that logging goes on all the time. Proper Forest Management is critical to good Grouse populations no matter the location.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man