The Scout: 2020

It’s time for our annual preseason look at the habitat conditions, weather phenomena and bird populations across the Lower 48 states that will probably play a major role in the situations you face when you step into your favorite upland bird hunting spot this autumn.

And please remember: Instead of only asking state-level game bird biologists to gaze into crystal balls during early spring and make astounding predictions for autumn, our crack team of reporters sought information and evaluations of the situations one can expect to encounter in each state. So here, over the next few pages, you’ll see their “scout,” their reports on what they’ve learned about bird hunting possibilities as we approach our favorite opening days.

As always, please remember that our deadline forces us to gather this info a few months in advance of publication. For updated and more complete information about the states you are interested in, please check out their websites.

Also, this year, you might notice that contrary to tradition, a few of the lower 48 states do not have entries. These states did not respond to requests for information; we figure that with the pandemic to deal with, officials there had other things on their minds and more important work to deal with. We hope next year we can be back to normal with “The Scout.”

Northeast and Mid-Atlantic

Tough Year for Grouse Along Atlantic Seaboard

Tim Flanigan

Connecticut – No major changes to upland game bird or migratory bird hunting regulations or licensing. Several woodcock habitat management projects are ongoing. All breeding surveys were suspended in 2020, and species recruitment dynamics are unknown.