Connecticut Grouse Population on the Rise?

I’ve heard more ruffled grouse in the woods this spring than any year in the recent past. This is hardly a scientific study, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the Connecticut woods, so this anecdote has some validity. I heard several wings thumping while turkey hunting this past week. Last fall, I saw a hunter harvest a ruffled grouse. I hope these signs mean the ruffled grouse population in Connecticut is on the rise.  In previous posts I have written about the lack of ruffled grouse in Connecticut when compared to the woods of New Hampshire.


I hope to find some population data from the DEP to confirm my observations.

Leave a post if you have had similar or conflicting observations.

Good Bit of News on Grouse in Connecticut

For the first time in long while I saw a hunter harvest a grouse in northwestern Connecticut.

This is hardly a scientific study, but hopefully this is a good sign for the comeback of a significant grouse population in Connecticut. Grouse populations fluctuate based on a mostly mysterious 10-year cycle that is about at the peak right now.

I had previously written in this blog about the decline of grouse populations in Connecticut. The difference between grouse populations I observed hunting in New Hampshire compared to Connecticut was stark. I had even hinted in earlier posts that I had my concerns that grouse were all but extinct in Connecticut. All of this is anecdotal, but I'll be happy if my previous posts were wrong, and grouse are able to again thrive in Connecticut.

Ruffled Grouse (Partridge) All But Extinct in Connecticut

I just returned from a week long deer hunting trip in the back woods of central New Hampshire. One very noticeable difference between the Connecticut woods and the New Hampshire woods was that New Hampshire had an abundance of partridge. Without even trying I flushed seven partridge in four days of deer hunting. Thinking back on the past years of hunting in Connecticut, in which I’ve heavily hunted pheasant, turkey, and deer, I have not seen or heard one partridge in the Connecticut woods.
The ruffled grouse used to be abundant in Connecticut. It was not uncommon in my youth to scare one up while walking. Although I have not commissioned a scientific study, it’s been my observation that today the ruffled grouse is all but extinct in Connecticut. I spend most of my time in central and northwest Connecticut, so perhaps partridge are still present in Fairfield County or east of the river. However, I recently read an article in American Hunter magazine discussing the decline of partridge in New Jersey, so I suspect the decline I’m observing is statewide.

I’m not sure why the ruffled grouse is able to thrive in New Hampshire, but not in Connecticut, especially considering other animal species previously only observed in the north (black bear, moose) are now calling Connecticut home. New Hampshire certainly has more forested acreage, but it would seem Connecticut would have at least some forest habitat that could support a ruffled grouse population.

Am I alone in this observation? I’d be interested in hearing any theories out there as to why partridge seem to be missing from the Connecticut woods.