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Vermont has excellent hunting for a variety of upland
birds. The state's varied habitats are home to locally abundant populations
of ruffed grouse (or partridge) and woodcock.
Ruffed Grouse or partridge are the most widely available upland
game in Vermont. Good numbers of partridge can be found wherever brushy
forest stands provide nesting cover, protection from predators, and food
in the form of berries and buds. Overgrown apple orchards, abandoned hillside
farms, and regenerating clear cuts covered with hardwood thickets are all
grouse hot spots. Although grouse are found statewide, the Northeast Kingdom
probably offers the best grouse hunting. |
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Woodcock are also found statewide. "Timberdoodles"
feed primarily on worms, and they favor areas with moist, rich soils that are
covered with dense stands of woody shrubs and sapling-stage hardwoods. Alder
swales, regenerating clear cuts, and abandoned pastures covered with thickets
of dogwood, sumac, birch and aspen are all likely woodcock covers. Locally hatched
native birds provide hunting early in the season, but the best shooting is in
mid to late October, when large numbers of flight birds are pushed out of Canada
by cold weather. The best hunting is generally in the Champlain Valley and Northeast
Kingdom.
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