Endangered sage grouse to be protected by emergency order

This kind of makes sense to me, really the only animal you can hunt with your shoe. Is that natural selection? Not sure.

heh, no. It's because they are an incredibly easy meal to catch.

Are you thinking spruce grouse. Or fool hen. They are a different animal!

Definitely Spruce Grouse, they are some dumb. Their defense mechanism seems to be to just crouch down, which may be effective in taller grass, but it seems as they don't know if they are in tall grass. Beautiful creatures to look at, but man are they stupid.

Don't know about tall grass? This is how most spruce grouse I have seen were situated.

What habitat has been wiped out over 98% destroyed? Oil and Gas isn't very land use heavy.

Sure, that looks like where I found them too. My dad was an avid hunter, I am not, but I am confident you will not find a seasoned hunter who will express difficulty in catching them. Here is an arbitrary link to a completely non politicized site where a discussion on the subject takes place. I of course have empirical data on the subject which doesn't have much value on a forum. I assure you, I am a lover of animals and if anything can be done to save this beautiful species, I am all for it. However, I am of the opinion that this is more a result of their nature than our actions.

sorry for the link but any hunter in the area will tell you the same thing:

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/sho ... rouse-Hunt

Too bad hte feds had to be sued to do somethign about this, when they are obliggated under the Species at Risk Act to protect critically endangered species like this. Predicatbly the givernment trid to hide al the science under "cabinet secrecy" but the courts wouldn't grant it.

I think Halo is a pretty cool guy. Eh kills aleins and doesnt afraid of anything.

- Zipperfish

Around here we call our "grouse" Partridge and by the sounds of it they are as dumb as their cousins out west. Their defensive skill is no more than freezing on the spot, whether it be on the ground or in a tree. You can practically put the barrel to their head and pull the trigger.

In my experience it all depends on how heavily they are being gunned. In early season even ruffed grouse will sit and let you shoot them with a pellet gun. By the end of Nov. even spruce grouse are flying at the first sign of people. I have never hunted sage grouse. I think the name fool hen for spruce grouse comes mostly from them living too far north to be heavily hunted.