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Pass Along PDJ
May 2008
In the Hand: Knowing What You Shoot
by Jason Smith; Illustrations by Chris Smith from A Field Guide to Upland Birds and Waterfowl.
Click image to enlarge |
'm willing to bet that when you walk in on your English setter's staunch point in an alder thicket bordering a small stream, you know that a woodcock is going to flush. Or when your three Brittanys honor each other across the prairie (or you hope they do), you probably are fairly certain that either a covey of Huns is going to explode underfoot or maybe a flock of sharptails will bust out from the grass in staggered flushes. You'll definitely be able to tell the difference once they take wing.
But now look at that bird in your hand. Sure it's a Hungarian partridge, just like the others you've shot that year. And you admire that big red ruffed grouse your shorthair just retrieved because a red-phased bird is a prize in your part of the country. So it's a Hun; so it's a grouse - so now what? Male or female? Adult or juvenile?
Determining the sex and age of gamebirds is a way to find out precisely what we took from the wild. It's another form of respect for our game - it shows a willingness to learn about the birds and to pass on that education to others we hunt with. It makes us pause a few minutes after receiving the bird from the dog, inspecting it for age, sex, maybe what it was eating, instead of stuffing it in the coat and rushing to the next likely looking covert. If anything, it makes us slow down, take it all in, appreciate what has, in a way, been given to us.
Click image to enlarge |
Ruffed Grouse
Sex: The condition of the black tail band on a ruffed grouse is not an accurate indicator of the sex of the bird. Although an interrupted band usually represents a female and a complete band usually signals a male, there is too much overlap - especially in young grouse - to rely on this characteristic. Instead, look at the rump feathers at the base of the tail on the grouse's back. Pluck one of these brown/gray/red feathers. You should notice one or two white dots along the shaft - or rachis - of the feather. Two dots equal a male, one dot shows a female. This characteristic is reliable after the grouse are about 13 weeks of age, which they should be during the hunting season. The length of the central tail feather can also be a clue, but unless you're carrying a ruler, stick with the dots on the rump.
Age: As with almost all upland gamebirds, the best way to determine age in ruffed grouse is with the condition of the wings, especially the primary feathers. Most immature upland gamebirds do not molt their outer two primaries when they get their new flight feathers in late summer. They will keep these primaries throughout their first year and molt them the following summer. Therefore, with wing in hand, inspect the outer primaries. Are they narrow, ragged, frayed, or worn at the tips when compared to the other, newer primaries? The pigmentation on these flight feathers may also look a bit faded. If so, it's probably a juvenile bird. If they are more well-rounded and smooth along the tips, it's an adult. Also, if it's early season and that outer primary or the one next to it is just a stubby feather (about half the length of the other primaries), then the bird is just getting in that feather. And since it doesn't grow these feathers until it is at least one year old, you can assume you have an adult. However, if the third primary from the end is short compared to the others, the bird is most likely a juvenile because this feather is one of the last flight feathers a young bird will grow.
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