Written by Gary Anderson | 16 November 2009

One of the problems with the managing wildlife in Maine is the awful weather. From Aroostook County to York County it can, however, vary by a month on either end from fall to spring. For this reason biologists at Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) have divided the state into management zones. Currently these zones deal primarily with whitetail deer so we'll start there. Before we start, perhaps, I should remind you that according to Gov. Baldacci, 200,000 people hunt, generate $300 million in retail sales, another $130 million in wages and $27 million in taxes. People that hunt pay the bills for protection and stewardship for all species, hunted or not.
Cape Elizabeth and South Portland are illustrations of deer problems. Since these ocean towns have mild winters and no hunting, there is nothing but automobiles to decrease the deer there. We'll submit it is unpleasant, dangerous and expensive to strike deer with your motor vehicle. We encouraged the town governments to allow archery hunting, certainly an unproductive way to harvest deer. Many truck farmers simply refused to plant some crops knowing full well they'd not realize a penny for their efforts. While there's little to be done in these instances, the rest of southern Maine can easily support the harvesting of both sexes in managed numbers.
Your writer often flew over areas in southern Maine trying to come up with solutions to over populations of deer. It was an education to see such large numbers, actually herds, of deer on some estates and in parks and wooded areas.
For the last two winters, deer have suffered extreme losses from mid-state north. In that area there will be no does harvested in hopes of rebalancing populations. The perfect balance, of course, is those numbers that can find adequate food.
In anticipation of this article I've talked with neighbors and taken special note of the signs and indications of deer, and it appears there are plenty here in Harpswell.
Ruffed grouse are a puzzle. They are, in my opinion, the wildest creature in Maine. They can't be tamed, can't be artificially raised or fed, and may be here in great numbers one year and from all indications extinct the next. And yet they are harvested in most years in the hundreds of thousands and survive some of the toughest winters Mother Nature can put together.
There must be a combination of food and shelter to have a viable population of ruffed grouse: the most common of the two native to Maine. Poplar buds in the winter carry them over to spring and summer feed, and pines protect them from predators. Their enemies are legion: all raptors, foxes, cats, coyotes, fishers, mink and weasels all pitch into eggs, young and adults. Often grouse plunge into soft, warmer than air snow for shelter. When we have freezing rain, they die rapidly as it is difficult to pull off buds and shelter is hard to find. Biologists tell us it is rare to harvest a two or three year old grouse. I've seen one ruffed grouse in Harpswell in the last eight years. However, there has been a mated pair of goshawks on our property for most of that time. Goshawks will take on all birds and small rodents such as squirrels, chipmunks and mice.
The tamer spruce grouse is protected state-wide although occurring from mid Maine north and then in low numbers. They are so tame you can almost touch them and rarely fly away from humans. It would seem they must be very easy prey for all predators large and small and for that reason alone, they will never again be a game bird.
Good hunting. Be a sportsperson, take a kid with you; be a good mentor; and above all, be safe.