If June is the “sweet of the year” for trout anglers, then early fall must be the “golden days” for upland bird hunters. In Maine folks with gun dogs, as well as those who just like to tote a bird gun, will soon be hunting grouse and woodcock. And each year about this time, we oil the shotguns, practice up on a few sporting clays, and chat about the hunt prospects.

What are those prospects?

Good question.

I put it to a couple of seasoned Maine guides. Rangeley guide Russ Campbell responded this way: “Birds will be in areas where there is food and this fall there is lots of food everywhere. Woodcock will be found in cover where in years past it was a prime woodcock cover but was too dry for them to find food. This fall with all the rains we’ve had over the summer I suspect that you’ll find woodcock scattered all over a lot of ground and not just in the alder runs close to water. Grouse will be in lots of covers with different foods. There are plenty of berries, thorn apples, and apples to pick on. There are also some beechnuts depending on where you are. If the weather cooperates with hunters this ought to be a good bird fall here in this area for dog hunters.”

On the other hand, my friend Millinocket Guide Wiggie Robinson, who knows his way around a gun dog and a bird cover, is less than optimistic. Says the Wigster: “This has been a strange year with too many rainy days and too much cool weather. Broods of grouse and woodcock may be on the low end of the count when opening day arrives.

Personally, I have seen only one grouse brood – a healthy seven birds. Game Warden’s reports follow the same pattern – few broods seen along the dirt roads.”

I spent a lot of time in the woods baiting bear sites during August and early September and saw one grouse.

But that does not a yardstick make. My experience has been that the grouse disappear during October and then re-appear when I’m carrying a rifle during deer season.

Speaking of figures, the seeming decline of Maine woodcock populations is not a mirage. A recent “Conversation About Woodcock” held at the Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge near Calais revealed that our woodcock numbers have declined an astonishing 40 percent over the past 20 years !

This discussion about woodcock, which was attended by a lot of heavy hitters including representatives of Maine timberlands, was the brain child of Dennis Labare. He is vice president of the “Friends of Moosehorn.”

Dennis, as well as those who attended, are to be commended for taking the time to participate. The consensus is that habitat loss, not hunting pressure, has led to the woodcock’s precipitous decline. The irony is that Maine’s heretofore large clearcuts were ideal habitat for woodcock. The good news is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is once again funding a position for a fulltime woodcock biologist at the Moosehorn.

This position will also be supported by a fulltime federally funded project leader. According to LaBare, the Moosehorn’s once- prominent woodcock management program was allowed to languish after the death of the highly regarded dedicated Greg Sepik.

The best news of all may be that Maine timberland owners, representing over 6 million acres of potential woodcock habitat, are getting together and talking about the problem. Although these large landowners are managing profit centers first, it is possible through careful stewardship to log efficiently and do it with a sensitivity to what’s good for wildlife, woodcock included.

Timberland owners who attended the woodcock meeting were: Plum Creek, Wagner Forest, International Paper, and J.D Irving.

Public opinion hasn’t helped the woodcock numbers either. Forestry spokesman at the woodcock conversation underscored the public misconception that a “hands off” approach to forests, and a no hunting approach to wildlife, is best for their longtime health.

International Paper spokesman and biologist Gary Donovan said, according to outdoor writer Jack Gagnon, “all the habitat improvement knowledge in the world won’t help if the public continues to vote to prohibit the very practices required to benefit wildlife.”

In this regard, the timberdoodle and the Maine black bear may have something in common.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].