Ted,
MN made it illegal to take them on the ground? GOOD! Where I use to live the the highest numbers of grouse killed were during the several week long Moose seasons in October. Marauding fools on dirt roads looking for moose would pop every grouse they saw. I have less respect for people that do that then... well... you know.
Sportsmen take them on the wing.
Its just that the road hunters kill ALOT of them in October, and I have wondered if the grouse hunting would improve if the state banned ground slicing. I have no evidence one way or the other.
As far as testing the theory though, the Dr. does have a point. Unless its already been done or they studied populations that have little to no hunting pressure you can't truly tell what the impact is unless you test it, but I would be one of the first to say F-NO to closing the season cause I can't think of anything more fun to do in the fall.
