Grouse Camp is fully funded by the R.K. Mellon Family Foundation and a modest tuition of $100 from each camper. Except for one or two RGS staff members to organize things, the Camp is run entirely with RGS volunteers and unpaid instructors.

Kids from every corner of the Pennsylvania have been involved in the Camp, which has also included 2 campers from West Virginia, 2 from Tennessee and 1 from New York. The foundation of the Camp is established early. Just after the campers arrive on Thursday evening, they are taught grouse ecology and management and given hands-on instruction on determining the age and sex of grouse using the plumage of actual grouse harvested last hunting season. Friday morning, Joe Harding, Director of Forestlands, leads a tour of the PSU Stone Valley Forest which takes the kids from mature forest to timber harvest to re-growth, the bread and butter of managing for grouse and woodcock in PA. The forestry tour also touches on important topics such as deer browsing, deer fencing, exotic vegetation, and wildlife management and lays the foundation on which the rest of the Camp is built.

Wing-shooting instruction is a major and very popular part of the Camp. Kids burn through nearly 30 boxes of (2700) clay targets and 20 cases of (5000) shotgun shells over 3 days. For many, it's their first experience with shooting at clay targets or even shooting a shotgun. For others, it's an opportunity to hone their skills by taking advantage of the highly trained instructors. In either case, the shooting is the highlight of the Camp for most.

By the time Camp was over this year, the campers had been exposed to grouse, woodcock, turkey, and deer management, exotic vegetation management, chainsaw use and safety, hunting ethics and responsibilities, grouse trivia, bird dog training, canoe races, hunting simulations, swimming at Whipple Dam State Park and 3 woodcock flushes while hiking Penn State's Woodcock Trail. The campers also were required to memorize famous quotes and to create a wildlife display from scratch.

Kids looking for R&R won't find it here. Days start early and end late, but the number of campers who have requested to come back for a second time has indicated that the Camp strikes a balance between education and fun. The Ruffed Grouse Society's goal is for the Grouse Camp experience to establish a lifelong interest in conservation, hunting and shooting in the kids who attend, and for them to share their knowledge with others.

For information, contact Mark Banker, RGS Regional Biologist, 814-867-7946 or rgsbank@adelphia.net. The 2006 Grouse Camp is scheduled for July 27-30.