"Ruffed Grouse Minnesota, Twin Cities Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society"

Minnesota Grouse Management Position Announced:
A Cooperative Effort of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and RGS
Early in 2010, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced the creation of a
new statewide Ruffed Grouse Specialist position. Partial funding for the position will come from
RGS. The position is expected to be filled by the end of June, 2010.

“We already have a grouse biologist who tracks populations,” said Laurie Martinson, deputy
commissioner for the Minnesota DNR. “The increased emphasis on grouse and grouse hunting is
expected to include more hunter walking trails, more designated ruffed grouse management areas,
and more information on hunting opportunities.”

Save The Date For The 32nd Annual Sportsmen’s Banquet August 17, 2010 At The Earle Brown Center !
Early Bird Bonus Raffle Ticket Package: Purchase $200 Royal Flush raffle ticket package for $100 by August 16, 2010 and be entered into a drawing to win a pair of Steiner binoculars at the banquet ($800 value!)
All Youths under 15 will receive a free dinner with a paying adult. One lucky youth gets a shotgun in the Youth Door Prize!
Download the flyer here
Terry Lydell
Twin Cities RGS Chapter Banquet Chair
763-434-0303

Fall Sportsmen's Banquet at Earle Brown Heritage Center August 18, 2009

Our 31st Annual Chapter fundraiser for the RGS was held at Earle Brown Heritage Center, Brooklyn Center, MN.

This event is a great opportunity for business networking or rewarding clients interested in hunting and conservation. Bring your Dad to thank him for introducing you to the outdoors, or your kids to learn about conservation. Plenty of information will be available to answer questions about land management and upland bird hunting.

As always, many guns were raffled, along with auction items, merchandise and games of skill and chance. If you have a nice used gun or a new gun you won elsewhere that you don't use, consider donating it to the banquet for a raffle.

Clays Shoot
First 25 kids shoot for free!
Thursday, July 16, 2009

Metro Gun Club in Blaine was our host. Featuring two rounds of clays with group instruction by shooting expert Staff King. First 25 kids 18 and under shoot for free! (Firearms safety certificate required). RGS committee members were available to offer assistance to shooters unfamiliar with the game.

Side events include Ed Erickson of Autumn Breeze Kennel- Introducing young dogs to birds, gunfire, and E-collar. www.abkc.com
Bob Zenisek from Lynch Gun Dogs demonstrated flushers.
www.lynchgundogs.com.

The RGS Twin Cities Chapter meets throughout the year. Any RGS member can join us. So why join?

Get to know your fellow Grouse hunters, and help out the habitat needs of Ruffed Grouse and woodcock. Get a chance to choose the guns and prizes for the Sportsman's Banquet (for 2010 it's our 32nd annual!). Help us organize our other events throughout the year. Every meeting includes talk of hunting and shooting, and food and beverages are served. We meet at locations around the Twin Cities. Several of our meetings are at a local gun club, with a round of clays after the meeting. And last, but not least, every committee member may join us for our October Hunt weekend in Northern Minnesota! Email Dave Johnson at uptrek@gmail.com for more information.

Founded in 1961, the Society had as its initial objective the fostering of a better understanding of the ruffed grouse and its environment. Since then, based on extensive RGS-supported research, the Society has been instrumental in the creation of numerous publications detailing how to manage woodlands for wildlife. The educational material is available for a nominal fee to landowners and forest managers, as well as others interested in the lives of grouse and American woodcock.

The Ruffed Grouse Society is still keyed to helping improve woodland habitat for ruffed grouse, woodcock and many other kinds of forest wildlife. Essential to RGS' achievement of its goals is an energetic banquet/events fund-raising program. There are approximately 150 RGS chapters in the U.S and Canada, the majority of them active in the fund-raising program. Among the dividends of the Society's continued fund-raising success are two RGS conservation initiatives that have had a positive impact on many thousands of acres of woodland wildlife habitat. One of these programs (Coverts) instructs woodland owners in conservation-related issues. The companion program (Management Area Program - MAP) allows the Society to help directly implement forest wildlife habitat improvement on public lands.

Essentially, Coverts brings small groups of concerned private, non-industrial forest owners-identified by agencies such as the Extension Service - together for three-day seminars on forest management techniques that emphasize wildlife habitat conservation. As a part of the seminars, the participants learn the value of spacing small cuts throughout a woodland when harvesting timber. Over time, as subsequent small cuts are made, age diversity is created. This not only ensures a steady harvest of forest products from the woodlands, but it sets up ideal habitat for many kinds of forest wildlife. In exchange for the training provided during the seminars, the landowners agree to actively promote forest wildlife habitat improvement in their communities for at least a year.