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Oregon strict on weapons for grouse By MARK FREEMAN Photo from MT files Beginning this fall, hunters can shoot ruffed grouse, like this one above, only with shotguns and bows. In states such as California and Nevada, you can hunt forest grouse with anything from a moose rifle to a pellet pistol. In Idaho, you can legally kill them by throwing rocks as they scatter through the brush, or even grab their wings and bite their heads off. "In Alaska," state wildlife biologist Brad Bales says, "you could run over them with a bus and be OK." But in Oregon, grouse hunting now is strictly limited to shotguns and arrows. The state's wildlife managers this month quietly enacted the most stringent hunting methods for forest grouse in the West by banning all but shotgunners and archers from shooting the small upland game birds. The rules are in effect for the upcoming blue and ruffed grouse seasons, which run through Jan. 9 in Western Oregon and through Nov. 28 in Eastern Oregon. Oregon had been in step with most Western states by allowing most shotguns, bows, rifles and handguns for forest grouse hunters. Other states, like Idaho and Alaska, are virtually limitless in the legal weapons for taking forest grouse legally. But fish and wildlife commissions have concerns about hunters legally shooting high-powered rifles in the air. Some believe that grouse-hunting with rifles can leave certain populations too thin and that these delicate game birds should not fall to muscle guns. So, with little public comment and none of the public notices generally associated with regulation changes, the commissioners voted Aug. 6 in Lakeview to make Oregon's rules the most strict for the taking of ruffed and blue grouse in the West. "I don't think it's a major issue one way or another," says Don Denman, a Medford attorney who sits on the seven-member commission that sets wildlife policy for Oregon. "People don't need to shoot those things as a food source while deer hunting," Denman says. The new rules bother hunters like Rod Peil just as much as how they came about. Peil, a retired teacher in Salem who spearheaded the more liberal hunting rules for grouse in the early 1990s, believes rifles and handguns should be legal for grouse hunting as a way to expand hunting opportunities in an already over-restricted world. He also grouses about how the changes were made. "This may be a good decision," Peil says, "but it wasn't done very professionally." Peil wants the commission to back off enacting the new restrictions for this year's grouse season, which begins Sept. 1. He wants a thoughtful review on the issue this winter and is willing to accept the results then. "If they look at it in the professionalism it deserves and then can show merit for putting this restriction on," Peil says, "then I'll be one of their strongest supporters." But, as far as Denman is concerned, the issue is done. Regardless of the rules, all serious hunting is with shotguns for blue and ruffed grouse -- the two species that favor timber areas and thus are labeled forest grouse. Hunters walk creek beds, timberlines and old logging roads to flush the birds into the air. Last year, about 12,000 hunters spent about 142,000 days hunting blue grouse and bagged 28,664 birds, according to ODFW harvest estimates. For ruffed grouse, the stats are better: about 14,000 hunters spent 176,500 days in the field for an estimated 67,574 grouse taken. The vast majority are bagged with shotguns. After spending about eight years trying to expand legal grouse weapons, Peil in 1994 convinced the commission to allow rifles and pistols -- but not because they are good grouse weapons. Peil sought the rifle rule so deer hunters who stumble upon grouse can shoot it legally. And the pistol provision allowed berry pickers to pack a side-arm on the off-chance of kicking up the game bird. The addition of rifles and pistols has not, as near as the ODFW can tell, had a biological impact on the numbers of blue and ruffed grouse taken, says Bales, who heads the ODFW's game bird programs. The rifle and pistol use for grouse is strictly a social issue, says Bales of the ODFW. Many people, especially hunters themselves, believe it is unsafe for hunters to legally shoot at a grouse on the wing with a high-powered rifle. That's even more true when you consider that most people see grouse along forest logging roads -- and some have a tough time not breaking the law by shooting in the roadway. "We all know grouse get shot in the middle of (logging) roads," Bales says. "It's illegal, but we all know it happens." And the image of rifle-toting bird hunters also flies against the staid Field and Stream image of the gentlemanly grouse hunter with shotgun in hand and trusty dog afoot. "I call it the tweed-hat mentality," says Bales, who admits to favoring the shotgun and shooting only one grouse with a rifle in his lifetime. "Ethically, that's the image (some hunters believe) we should be portraying -- using shotguns and not rifles or throwing rocks at them." For better or worse, Oregonians can say this fall that they hunt under the most strict forest grouse rules in the West. In other words, Idahoans better check their rocks at the border and Alaskans better curb their bus tires when they come to Oregon's forest-grouse country. (Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470, or e-mail him at [email protected] .) Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA