Dave, that's snow in PA? Here in northern WI, we had a lot more than that on the ground this year in early May!
Took the time to read Keith's remarks. As Ryman Gun Dog points out (good he's around now to help Keith out), what PA is like in the winter is not what northern WI is like. We have millions of acres of public forest, but much of it is accessible only off ATV trails (many of which can also be used by cars and trucks). They're not plowed, so even my 4x4 pickup won't help me out. Winter hunting is mostly limited to hunting off plowed roads. And that's assuming that the snow isn't too deep to wade . . . unless you do a snowshoe hunt. You can walk groomed snowmobile trails, but that's potentially dangerous for your dog--especially on weekends, when there's a fair amount of traffic. We're all well aware that the grouse are still there. The problem lies in getting to them. Of the 36 sections (square miles) in the township where I used to live, nearly half of those sections (which are mostly all public forest and open to hunting) have good access via fire lanes. But once snow makes those fire lanes impassable, there is no other access to those 10,000 acres or so of forest, much of which has good grouse habitat.
But it's always good to hear someone from hundreds of miles away tell us what it's like where we live (and they don't). If winter hunting works well for you in PA, then an early closure to the season would really mean something. Out this way, it means a lot less. By the calendar, we still have 2 1/2 months to hunt grouse even if the season closes on Nov 30. That's assuming we don't get heavy snow before the end of November, which can mean that grouse hunting opportunities are limited even earlier.
Last edited by L. Brown; 08/04/18 08:00 AM.
