Populations of the greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in Kansas are managed to maintain population size while providing recreational hunting potential. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the effect of adding an early hunting season (late September-October) to the regular season (November-late January). We compared the hunting methods used and the harvest of greater prairie-chickens during early and regular hunting seasons for 1990-91 and 1991-92. The use of dogs and walkup hunting techniques were emphasized in early season, whereas pass shooting in feeding fields was emphasized in the regular season. During early season, the reported harvest was composed predominantly of males (55-66%) and juveniles (60-67%). During regular season, the harvest was also composed of more males than females both years combined, but it had a similar proportion of juveniles to adults (50-58%). The ratio of males:fema1es varied between each season for the two years analyzed. However, the ratio of juveni1es:adults was similar between years and larger during early seasons than during regular seasons. Juvenile survival is generally lower than adult survival; so, harvesting a larger proportion of juveniles during the early season may mitigate some of the effect of an extended hunting season

Applegate, Roger D.

Durbian, III, Francis E.

Finck, Elmer J.

English

Remnant populations of the greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in Kansas are managed to maintain population size while providing recreational hunting potential. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the effect of adding an early hunting season (late September-October) to the regular season (November-late January). We compared the hunting methods used and the harvest of greater prairie chickens during early and regular hunting seasons for 1990-91 and 1991-92. The use of dogs and walkup hunting techniques were emphasized in early season, whereas pass shooting in feeding fields was emphasized in the regular season. During early season, the reported harvest was composed predominantly of males (55-74%) and juveniles (60-67%). During regular season, the harvest was also composed of more males than females (60% for both years), but it had a similar proportion of adults to juveniles (50-58%). The ratio of males:females varied between each seasons for the two years analyzed. However, the ratio of juveniles:adults was similar between years and larger during early season than during regular season. Juvenile survival is generally lower than adult survival; so, harvesting a larger proportion of juveniles during the early season may mitigate some of the effect of an extended hunting season

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and 
Social Sciences Great Plains Studies, Center for 
Spring 1999 
Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas: Early vs. Regular 
Seasons 
Francis E. Durbian, III 
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks 
Elmer J. Finck 
Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas 
Roger D. Applegate 
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsresearch 
 Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons 
Durbian, III, Francis E.; Finck, Elmer J.; and Applegate, Roger D., "Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in 
Kansas: Early vs. Regular Seasons" (1999). Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social 
Sciences. 414. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsresearch/414 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Research: A 
Journal of Natural and Social Sciences by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - 
Lincoln. 
Great Plains Research 9 (Spring 1999): 87-94
© Copyright by the Center for Great Plains Studies
GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN HARVEST IN KANSAS:
EARLY VS. REGULAR SEASONS
Francis E. Durbian III
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
P. O. Box 1525
Emporia, KS 66801-15251
Elmer J. Finck
Division of Biological Sciences
Emporia State University
P.O. Box 4050
Emporia, KS 66801-5087
and
Roger D. Applegate
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
P. O. Box 1525
Emporia, KS 66801-15252
ABSTRACT-Remnant populations of the greater prairie chicken
(Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in Kansas are managed to maintain
population size while providing recreational hunting potential. Our aim
in this study was to evaluate the effect of adding an early hunting season
(late September-October) to the regular season (November-late Janu-
ary). We compared the hunting methods used and the harvest of greater
prairie chickens during early and regular hunting seasons for 1990-91
and 1991-92. The use of dogs and walkup hunting techniques were
emphasized in early season, whereas pass shooting in feeding fields was
emphasized in the regular season. During early season, the reported
harvest was composed predominantly of males (55-74%) and juveniles
(60-67%). During regular season, the harvest was also composed of more
males than females (60% for both years), but it had a similar proportion
of adults to juveniles (50-58%). The ratio of males:females varied be-
tween each seasons for the two years analyzed. However, the ratio of
juveniles:adults was similar between years and larger during early sea-
son than during regular season. Juvenile survival is generally lower
than adult survival; so, harvesting a larger proportion of juveniles dur-
ing the early season may mitigate some of the effect of an extended
hunting season.
87
88 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.1, 1999
Figure 1. Typical greater prairie-chicken in fall plumage. Photo by Roger Applegate.
Introduction
The greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus L.) origi-
nally occurred throughout the North American grassland-oak (Quercus spp.)
savanna, from Ohio westward to the eastern plains (Fig. 1). As the savanna
was converted to farming, prairie chicken range moved further west, extend-
ing into eastern Colorado (Schroeder and Robb 1993). And, as the forests in
the Great Lakes states and in Canada were cut, prairie chicken range ex-
panded into the previously wooded areas (Ammann 1957). An eastern sub-
species, the heath hen (T. cupido cupido L.), occurred in scrub oak wood-
lands on the east coast from Virginia to Maine (Schroeder and Robb 1993,
Applegate 1993). The heath hen, now extinct, is believed to have been
subsequently isolated from the main body of the species range after an
earlier range expansion (Lumsden 1966). A third subspecies, the AUwater's
prairie chicken (T. cupido attwateri L.), is a federally-listed, endangered
species that occurs in the coastal prairies of Texas (Schroeder and Robb
1993).
Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas 89
Small remnant populations of the greater prairie-chicken occur in
Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Da-
kota, and Iowa (Schroeder and Robb 1993; Moe and White 1995). Larger
populations occur in Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. These three
states were the only ones offering a hunting season on prairie chickens in fall
1998.
The regular hunting season in Kansas, which has been taking place
continuously since 1980, starts the first weekend of November and extends
through the end of January. The primary hunting technique used for this
regular fall/winter season consists of pass shooting birds as they enter or
leave fields for feeding. During this time of the year, the birds commonly
feed on agricultural lands containing waste grain (Baker 1953). Walking the
prairies or using dogs to flush birds are usually ineffective at this time of year
since the birds are in large winter groups and frequently flush early and so
are out of gun range. This behavior has made greater prairie-chicken hunting
difficult for hunters who work with dogs or who prefer to walk to flush
coveys.
To increase the recreational potential of greater prairie chicken hunting
for individuals using alternative hunting techniques, the Kansas Department
of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) established an early hunting season for the
greater prairie-chicken in 1989. This early season begins the last week of
September and continues through the third week of October. During this
early hunting season the birds can still be found in small family groups
(Robel et al. 1970; Bowman and Robel 1977). Dispersal of the greater prairie
chicken broods, which begins from mid-August to early September, is not
complete until late into fall. The small family groups do not flush as wildly
as larger winter groups, so they provide an improved hunting opportunity for
hunters walking to flush coveys or using dogs. This special early season is
limited to the eastern third of Kansas, where greater prairie-chicken num-
bers are highest (Horak 1985). Some concern, however, has been expressed
about the impact that early hunting on prairie chicken populations. Earlier,
for example, Gross (1930) recommended the season open no earlier than the
second week of October.
The purpose of our study was to examine baseline data on the number
and type of greater prairie chickens harvested during the early and regular
hunting seasons. We collated the numbers and proportion of males, females,
adults, and juveniles harvested, as well as recorded the general characteris-
tics of the harvest and the type of harvest techniques used during each
hunting season. These baseline data are important since no recent harvest
90 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.1, 1999
data have been collected for greater prairie chicken in Kansas, and the
outcome of the early hunting season had never been quantified in Kansas.
Methods
The age-stage, adult or juvenile, and sex of greater prairie chickens
harvested during 1990-1991 and 1991-1992 were determined using wings
and tail feathers collected from hunters (Thompson 1958). Wing and tail
feather data were collected in the following ways:
1) before the 1991-1992 seasons began, self addressed and post-
age paid wing envelopes were mailed to 773 greater prairie-
chicken hunters identified in the "Small Game Hunter Survey"
by the Department of Wildlife and Parks;
2) wing and tail feather counts were obtained from Fort Riley
Military Reservation's Hunter Harvest Survey for 1990-91 and
1991-92 hunting seasons; and,
3) wings and tail feathers of birds harvested during the 1990-91
and 1991-92 hunting seasons were provided by friends.
Hunters who received the wing envelopes also received a questionnaire with
some basic questions about their greater prairie-chicken hunting experience.
The information requested for each harvest included: date, county, time of
day, technique used (pass shooting or dog/walk up), number of hours hunted,
number of birds shot, total harvest for the day, and number of birds shot but
not retrieved.
Data from 97 birds were received for the 1990-91 hunting season (97
were aged, 55 were sexed) and from 181 birds for the 1991-1992 hunting
season (172 were aged, 121 were sexed). Since tail feathers and wings were
not available for all individuals, there were differences in the number of
birds sexed and aged.
Sex and age data collected from the 1990-91 and 1991-92 hunting
seasons were pooled for analysis. Chi-square goodness of fit tests were used
to test the Ho: that there was no difference in the sex and age of birds
harvested during the early and late hunting seasons (Zar 1984). A test of
proportions was used to test the Ho: that there are no differences in propor-
tion of sex and age groups between birds harvested in the early vs. late
hunting seasons (Zar 1984). The nature of the questionnaire enclosed with
the wing envelopes did not allow analysis of the correlation between the sex
and age of birds and hunting technique.
Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas
Results
91
The hunter harvest questionnaire indicated that more birds were har-
vested, using the walking and flushing, during the early seasons. In early
season, almost half (47.4%) of the birds were harvested by walking and
flushing. During the regular season only 8.7% of the birds were harvested
walking and flushing. The traditional pass shooting technique was also used
to a large extent (52.6%) during the early season, and it was the dominant
technique (91.3%) during the regular seasons. Thus, as expected, the early
season was being used, by hunters who walked or used dogs to flush small
coveys of birds.
During the two early seasons, 39.3% of the birds harvested were killed
in the morning (before 12:00 PM). Hunters harvested an average of 0.71
birds for each hour hunted, and 0.02 birds were shot and not retrieved for
every bird shot and retrieved. During the two regular seasons, 55.2% of the
birds harvested were killed in the morning. Hunters also harvested 0.71 birds
for each hour hunted, and 0.06 were shot but not retrieved for every bird shot
and retrieved.
During the two early seasons combined, more males than females were
harvested (Table 1; X\2 = 4.26, P < 0.05). And, more juveniles than adults
were reported (Table 1; X/ = 9.99, P < 0.05). Similarly, during the regular
season more males than females were harvested overall (Table 1; X/ =4.00,
P < 0.05), even though the proportion male in the small sample for 1990-91
looked lower.. During the regular season, however, equal numbers of adults
and juveniles were harvested (Table 1; X\2 = 0.03, P > 0.05).
There was no significant difference in the proportion of males har-
vested during the early (66.2%) and regular seasons (60.0%) for both years
combined (Table 1; Z =0.254, N =2, P > 0.05). However, more juveniles
than adults (63.5%) were harvested during the early season than during the
regular season (52.2%) (Table 1; Z =2.016, N =2, P < 0.05).
Discussion
Hunting success was comparable in early and late seasons. The number
of birds harvested per hour hunted was identical between seasons. Both
hunting techniques-pass shooting, with or without a dog or walking to
flush birds-were used in both seasons for harvesting greater prairie chicken.
However, as expected, pass shooting was used less in early season. A smaller
number of birds was lost for every bird harvested during the early season
than in the regular season. This suggests that pass shooting, the dominant
92 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.1, 1999
TABLE 1
Sex and age of greater prairie-chickens harvested during early and regular
hunting seasons, 1990-91 and 1991-92
Harvest Reported
Total % Juvenile
Sex Reported
Total % Male
Early season hunt
1990-91 64
1991-92 .J.J.
137
Regular season hunt
1990-91 33
1991-92 101
134
67.2
)63.5%
60.3
57.6
)52.2%
50.5
42
29
71
8
92
100
73.~
)66.2%
55.2
37.5
)60.0%
62.d
hunting technique during the regular season, may result in more crippling
losses of individuals.
Significantly more males than females were harvested during both
early and regular seasons overall. The proportion of males to females har-
vested was similar in both the early and regular seasons when years were
combined (Table 1). Male greater prairie-chickens may be more susceptible
to hunting than females, perhaps due to the lekking behavior of these birds
(Schroeder and Robb 1993). Higher harvest of males than females may help
buffer the impact of hunting on this species.
More juveniles than adults were harvested during the early season,
while equal numbers of juveniles and adults were harvested during the
regular season (Table 1). Coveys of birds generally contain more juveniles
during the early season than in the regular season (Bowman & Robel 1977),
since juvenile birds are still found in small family units early in the fall. Also,
lack of experience may make juveniles more susceptible to hunters.
Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas 93
The higher harvest of juveniles during the early season should reduce
the effect of added season length and increased total harvest, because juve-
nile prairie chickens have a lower probability of breeding the next spring
than do adult birds. Ellison (1991) suggested the same effect in grouse
(Tetraonidae) populations that have high juvenile over-winter mortality, a
delay in age of first reproduction, or lower juvenile breeding success. So, we
hypothesize that early season harvest of greater prairie chicken juveniles
may not influence the long term population dynamics significantly. How-
ever, this harvest and population size should be monitored to verify both the
rate of successful hunting and the population consequences. More data are
required to insure that early season mortality is not negatively impacting the
long-term population trends for the greater prairie chicken in Kansas.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Fort Riley Department of Natural Resources for provid-
ing us with their greater prairie chicken harvest data. Financial support for
our study was provided by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
Federal Aid Project FW-9-P and W-39-R. K. Church assisted with, and
administered the initial phases of the project.
References
Ammann, G.A. 1957. The Prairie Grouse ofMichigan. Lansing, MI: Michi-
gan Department of Conservation, Lansing.
Applegate, R.D. 1993. Did the heath hen occur in Maine? Maine Naturalist
1(2):1-4.
Bowman, T.J. and R.J. Robel. 1977. Brood break-up, dispersal, mobility, and
mortality of juvenile prairie chickens. Journal of Wildlife Manage-
mentAl :27-34.
Baker, M.P. 1953. Prairie Chickens ofKansas. Lawrence, KS: University of
Kansas Museum of Natural History and State Biological Survey Mis-
cellaneous Publication 5.
Ellison, L.N. 1991. Shooting and compensatory mortality in tetraonids.
Ornis Scandinavica 22:229-40.
Gross, A.G. 1930. Progress Report of the Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Inves-
tigation. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Conservation Commission.
Horak, G.J. 1985. Kansas Prairie Chickens. Pratt, KS: Kansas Fish and
Game Commission.
94 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.1, 1999
Lumsden, H.G. 1966. The prairie chicken in southwestern Ontario. Cana-
dian Field-Naturalist 80:33-45.
Moe, M. and E. White. 1995. Reintroduction of prairie chickens to southern
Iowa. Proceedings Prairie Grouse Technical Council 21: 12.
Robel, R.J., J.N. Briggs, J.J. Cebula, N.J. Silvy, C.E. Viers, and P.G. Watt.
1970. Greater prairie chicken ranges, movements, and habitat usage in
Kansas. Journal of Wildlife Management 34:286-306.
Schroeder, M.A. and L.A. Robb. 1993. Greater prairie-chicken. In The Birds
of North America, No. 36, ed. A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill.
Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The
American Ornithologists Union.
Thompson, D.R. 1958. Field Techniques for Sexing and Aging Game Ani-
mals. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Conservation Department Special Wild-
life Report 1.
Zar, J.H. 1984. Biostatistical Analysis. Second Ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.


Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas: Early vs. Regular Seasons

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences Great Plains Studies, Center for Spring 1999 Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas: Early vs. Regular Seasons Francis E. Durbian, III Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Elmer J. Finck Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas Roger D. Applegate Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsresearch  Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Durbian, III, Francis E.; Finck, Elmer J.; and Applegate, Roger D., "Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas: Early vs. Regular Seasons" (1999). Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences. 414. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsresearch/414 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Great Plains Research 9 (Spring 1999): 87-94© Copyright by the Center for Great Plains StudiesGREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN HARVEST IN KANSAS:EARLY VS. REGULAR SEASONSFrancis E. Durbian IIIKansas Department of Wildlife and ParksP. O. Box 1525Emporia, KS 66801-15251Elmer J. FinckDivision of Biological SciencesEmporia State UniversityP.O. Box 4050Emporia, KS 66801-5087andRoger D. ApplegateKansas Department of Wildlife and ParksP. O. Box 1525Emporia, KS 66801-15252ABSTRACT-Remnant populations of the greater prairie chicken(Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in Kansas are managed to maintainpopulation size while providing recreational hunting potential. Our aimin this study was to evaluate the effect of adding an early hunting season(late September-October) to the regular season (November-late Janu-ary). We compared the hunting methods used and the harvest of greaterprairie chickens during early and regular hunting seasons for 1990-91and 1991-92. The use of dogs and walkup hunting techniques wereemphasized in early season, whereas pass shooting in feeding fields wasemphasized in the regular season. During early season, the reportedharvest was composed predominantly of males (55-74%) and juveniles(60-67%). During regular season, the harvest was also composed of moremales than females (60% for both years), but it had a similar proportionof adults to juveniles (50-58%). The ratio of males:females varied be-tween each seasons for the two years analyzed. However, the ratio ofjuveniles:adults was similar between years and larger during early sea-son than during regular season. Juvenile survival is generally lowerthan adult survival; so, harvesting a larger proportion of juveniles dur-ing the early season may mitigate some of the effect of an extendedhunting season.8788 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.1, 1999Figure 1. Typical greater prairie-chicken in fall plumage. Photo by Roger Applegate.IntroductionThe greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus L.) origi-nally occurred throughout the North American grassland-oak (Quercus spp.)savanna, from Ohio westward to the eastern plains (Fig. 1). As the savannawas converted to farming, prairie chicken range moved further west, extend-ing into eastern Colorado (Schroeder and Robb 1993). And, as the forests inthe Great Lakes states and in Canada were cut, prairie chicken range ex-panded into the previously wooded areas (Ammann 1957). An eastern sub-species, the heath hen (T. cupido cupido L.), occurred in scrub oak wood-lands on the east coast from Virginia to Maine (Schroeder and Robb 1993,Applegate 1993). The heath hen, now extinct, is believed to have beensubsequently isolated from the main body of the species range after anearlier range expansion (Lumsden 1966). A third subspecies, the AUwater'sprairie chicken (T. cupido attwateri L.), is a federally-listed, endangeredspecies that occurs in the coastal prairies of Texas (Schroeder and Robb1993).Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas 89Small remnant populations of the greater prairie-chicken occur inOklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Da-kota, and Iowa (Schroeder and Robb 1993; Moe and White 1995). Largerpopulations occur in Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. These threestates were the only ones offering a hunting season on prairie chickens in fall1998.The regular hunting season in Kansas, which has been taking placecontinuously since 1980, starts the first weekend of November and extendsthrough the end of January. The primary hunting technique used for thisregular fall/winter season consists of pass shooting birds as they enter orleave fields for feeding. During this time of the year, the birds commonlyfeed on agricultural lands containing waste grain (Baker 1953). Walking theprairies or using dogs to flush birds are usually ineffective at this time of yearsince the birds are in large winter groups and frequently flush early and soare out of gun range. This behavior has made greater prairie-chicken huntingdifficult for hunters who work with dogs or who prefer to walk to flushcoveys.To increase the recreational potential of greater prairie chicken huntingfor individuals using alternative hunting techniques, the Kansas Departmentof Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) established an early hunting season for thegreater prairie-chicken in 1989. This early season begins the last week ofSeptember and continues through the third week of October. During thisearly hunting season the birds can still be found in small family groups(Robel et al. 1970; Bowman and Robel 1977). Dispersal of the greater prairiechicken broods, which begins from mid-August to early September, is notcomplete until late into fall. The small family groups do not flush as wildlyas larger winter groups, so they provide an improved hunting opportunity forhunters walking to flush coveys or using dogs. This special early season islimited to the eastern third of Kansas, where greater prairie-chicken num-bers are highest (Horak 1985). Some concern, however, has been expressedabout the impact that early hunting on prairie chicken populations. Earlier,for example, Gross (1930) recommended the season open no earlier than thesecond week of October.The purpose of our study was to examine baseline data on the numberand type of greater prairie chickens harvested during the early and regularhunting seasons. We collated the numbers and proportion of males, females,adults, and juveniles harvested, as well as recorded the general characteris-tics of the harvest and the type of harvest techniques used during eachhunting season. These baseline data are important since no recent harvest90 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.1, 1999data have been collected for greater prairie chicken in Kansas, and theoutcome of the early hunting season had never been quantified in Kansas.MethodsThe age-stage, adult or juvenile, and sex of greater prairie chickensharvested during 1990-1991 and 1991-1992 were determined using wingsand tail feathers collected from hunters (Thompson 1958). Wing and tailfeather data were collected in the following ways:1) before the 1991-1992 seasons began, self addressed and post-age paid wing envelopes were mailed to 773 greater prairie-chicken hunters identified in the "Small Game Hunter Survey"by the Department of Wildlife and Parks;2) wing and tail feather counts were obtained from Fort RileyMilitary Reservation's Hunter Harvest Survey for 1990-91 and1991-92 hunting seasons; and,3) wings and tail feathers of birds harvested during the 1990-91and 1991-92 hunting seasons were provided by friends.Hunters who received the wing envelopes also received a questionnaire withsome basic questions about their greater prairie-chicken hunting experience.The information requested for each harvest included: date, county, time ofday, technique used (pass shooting or dog/walk up), number of hours hunted,number of birds shot, total harvest for the day, and number of birds shot butnot retrieved.Data from 97 birds were received for the 1990-91 hunting season (97were aged, 55 were sexed) and from 181 birds for the 1991-1992 huntingseason (172 were aged, 121 were sexed). Since tail feathers and wings werenot available for all individuals, there were differences in the number ofbirds sexed and aged.Sex and age data collected from the 1990-91 and 1991-92 huntingseasons were pooled for analysis. Chi-square goodness of fit tests were usedto test the Ho: that there was no difference in the sex and age of birdsharvested during the early and late hunting seasons (Zar 1984). A test ofproportions was used to test the Ho: that there are no differences in propor-tion of sex and age groups between birds harvested in the early vs. latehunting seasons (Zar 1984). The nature of the questionnaire enclosed withthe wing envelopes did not allow analysis of the correlation between the sexand age of birds and hunting technique.Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in KansasResults91The hunter harvest questionnaire indicated that more birds were har-vested, using the walking and flushing, during the early seasons. In earlyseason, almost half (47.4%) of the birds were harvested by walking andflushing. During the regular season only 8.7% of the birds were harvestedwalking and flushing. The traditional pass shooting technique was also usedto a large extent (52.6%) during the early season, and it was the dominanttechnique (91.3%) during the regular seasons. Thus, as expected, the earlyseason was being used, by hunters who walked or used dogs to flush smallcoveys of birds.During the two early seasons, 39.3% of the birds harvested were killedin the morning (before 12:00 PM). Hunters harvested an average of 0.71birds for each hour hunted, and 0.02 birds were shot and not retrieved forevery bird shot and retrieved. During the two regular seasons, 55.2% of thebirds harvested were killed in the morning. Hunters also harvested 0.71 birdsfor each hour hunted, and 0.06 were shot but not retrieved for every bird shotand retrieved.During the two early seasons combined, more males than females wereharvested (Table 1; X\2 = 4.26, P < 0.05). And, more juveniles than adultswere reported (Table 1; X/ = 9.99, P < 0.05). Similarly, during the regularseason more males than females were harvested overall (Table 1; X/ =4.00,P < 0.05), even though the proportion male in the small sample for 1990-91looked lower.. During the regular season, however, equal numbers of adultsand juveniles were harvested (Table 1; X\2 = 0.03, P > 0.05).There was no significant difference in the proportion of males har-vested during the early (66.2%) and regular seasons (60.0%) for both yearscombined (Table 1; Z =0.254, N =2, P > 0.05). However, more juvenilesthan adults (63.5%) were harvested during the early season than during theregular season (52.2%) (Table 1; Z =2.016, N =2, P < 0.05).DiscussionHunting success was comparable in early and late seasons. The numberof birds harvested per hour hunted was identical between seasons. Bothhunting techniques-pass shooting, with or without a dog or walking toflush birds-were used in both seasons for harvesting greater prairie chicken.However, as expected, pass shooting was used less in early season. A smallernumber of birds was lost for every bird harvested during the early seasonthan in the regular season. This suggests that pass shooting, the dominant92 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.1, 1999TABLE 1Sex and age of greater prairie-chickens harvested during early and regularhunting seasons, 1990-91 and 1991-92Harvest ReportedTotal % JuvenileSex ReportedTotal % MaleEarly season hunt1990-91 641991-92 .J.J.137Regular season hunt1990-91 331991-92 10113467.2)63.5%60.357.6)52.2%50.542297189210073.~)66.2%55.237.5)60.0%62.dhunting technique during the regular season, may result in more cripplinglosses of individuals.Significantly more males than females were harvested during bothearly and regular seasons overall. The proportion of males to females har-vested was similar in both the early and regular seasons when years werecombined (Table 1). Male greater prairie-chickens may be more susceptibleto hunting than females, perhaps due to the lekking behavior of these birds(Schroeder and Robb 1993). Higher harvest of males than females may helpbuffer the impact of hunting on this species.More juveniles than adults were harvested during the early season,while equal numbers of juveniles and adults were harvested during theregular season (Table 1). Coveys of birds generally contain more juvenilesduring the early season than in the regular season (Bowman & Robel 1977),since juvenile birds are still found in small family units early in the fall. Also,lack of experience may make juveniles more susceptible to hunters.Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas 93The higher harvest of juveniles during the early season should reducethe effect of added season length and increased total harvest, because juve-nile prairie chickens have a lower probability of breeding the next springthan do adult birds. Ellison (1991) suggested the same effect in grouse(Tetraonidae) populations that have high juvenile over-winter mortality, adelay in age of first reproduction, or lower juvenile breeding success. So, wehypothesize that early season harvest of greater prairie chicken juvenilesmay not influence the long term population dynamics significantly. How-ever, this harvest and population size should be monitored to verify both therate of successful hunting and the population consequences. More data arerequired to insure that early season mortality is not negatively impacting thelong-term population trends for the greater prairie chicken in Kansas.AcknowledgmentsWe thank the Fort Riley Department of Natural Resources for provid-ing us with their greater prairie chicken harvest data. Financial support forour study was provided by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and ParksFederal Aid Project FW-9-P and W-39-R. K. Church assisted with, andadministered the initial phases of the project.ReferencesAmmann, G.A. 1957. The Prairie Grouse ofMichigan. Lansing, MI: Michi-gan Department of Conservation, Lansing.Applegate, R.D. 1993. Did the heath hen occur in Maine? Maine Naturalist1(2):1-4.Bowman, T.J. and R.J. Robel. 1977. Brood break-up, dispersal, mobility, andmortality of juvenile prairie chickens. Journal of Wildlife Manage-mentAl :27-34.Baker, M.P. 1953. Prairie Chickens ofKansas. Lawrence, KS: University ofKansas Museum of Natural History and State Biological Survey Mis-cellaneous Publication 5.Ellison, L.N. 1991. Shooting and compensatory mortality in tetraonids.Ornis Scandinavica 22:229-40.Gross, A.G. 1930. Progress Report of the Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Inves-tigation. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Conservation Commission.Horak, G.J. 1985. Kansas Prairie Chickens. Pratt, KS: Kansas Fish andGame Commission.94 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.1, 1999Lumsden, H.G. 1966. The prairie chicken in southwestern Ontario. Cana-dian Field-Naturalist 80:33-45.Moe, M. and E. White. 1995. Reintroduction of prairie chickens to southernIowa. Proceedings Prairie Grouse Technical Council 21: 12.Robel, R.J., J.N. Briggs, J.J. Cebula, N.J. Silvy, C.E. Viers, and P.G. Watt.1970. Greater prairie chicken ranges, movements, and habitat usage inKansas. Journal of Wildlife Management 34:286-306.Schroeder, M.A. and L.A. Robb. 1993. Greater prairie-chicken. In The Birdsof North America, No. 36, ed. A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill.Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: TheAmerican Ornithologists Union.Thompson, D.R. 1958. Field Techniques for Sexing and Aging Game Ani-mals. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Conservation Department Special Wild-life Report 1.Zar, J.H. 1984. Biostatistical Analysis. Second Ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences Great Plains Studies, Center for Fall 1999 Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas: Early vs. Regular Seasons Francis E. Durbian, III Roy, MT Elmer J. Finck Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas Roger D. Applegate Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsresearch  Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Durbian, III, Francis E.; Finck, Elmer J.; and Applegate, Roger D., "Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas: Early vs. Regular Seasons" (1999). Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences. 462. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsresearch/462 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. ERRATUMCorrections have been made to the Abstract and to Table 1 of the followingarticle. This article appeared in Great Plains Research 9 (Spring 1999): 87-94.We apologize to the authors for the miscommunication and inconvenience.GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN HARVEST IN KANSAS:EARLY VS. REGULAR SEASONSFrancis E. Durbian IIIBox 89Roy, MT 59471Elmer J. FinckDivision of Biological SciencesEmporia State UniversityP.O. Box 4050Emporia, KS 66801-5087andRoger D. ApplegateKansas Department of Wildlife and ParksP.O. Box 1525Emporia, KS 66801-15252[author for correspondenceJABSTRACT-Populations of the greater pralne chicken(Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in Kansas are managed to maintainpopulation size while providing recreational hunting potential. Our aimin this study was to evaluate the effect of adding an early hunting season(late September-October) to the regular season (November-late Janu-ary). We compared the hunting methods used and the harvest of greaterprairie-chickens during early and regular hunting seasons for 1990-91421422 Great Plains Research Vol. 9 No.2, 1999and 1991-92. The use of dogs and walkup hunting techniques wereemphasized in early season, whereas pass shooting in feeding fields wasemphasized in the regular season. During early season, the reportedharvest was composed predominantly of males (55-66%) and juveniles(60-67%). During regular season, the harvest was also composed ofmore males than females both years combined, but it had a similarproportion of juveniles to adults (50-58%). The ratio of males:fema1esvaried between each season for the two years analyzed. However, theratio of juveni1es:adults was similar between years and larger duringearly seasons than during regular seasons. Juvenile survival is generallylower than adult survival; so, harvesting a larger proportion of juvenilesduring the early season may mitigate some of the effect of an extendedhunting season.TABLE 1SEX AND AGE OF GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS HARVESTEDDURING EARLY AND REGULAR HUNTING SEASONS,1990-91 AND 1991-92Age ReportedN % JuvenileSex ReportedN % MaleEarly season hunt1990-91 641991-92 .J.J.137Regular season hunt1990-91 331991-92 10113467.260.363.5%57.650.552.2%47297689210066.055.261.8%37.562.060.0%

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1461&context=greatplainsresearch

Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest in Kansas: Early vs. Regular Seasons

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

UNL | Libraries

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska