40 years ago there were no wild turkeys in Maine. Then, about a dozen or so were dumped down by Agamenticus.
Today, the #1 nuisance species in Maine is ... the wild turkey. That's per IFW. They're everywhere, particularly close to houses where one cannot hunt them.
Are Maine's grouse numbers up, down or the same as 40 years ago? I can't say for sure, but the overall sense I take from fellow hunters is "down". And that's factoring in the cyclic changes in abundance which have been there since forever. Yes, there are lots of other things affecting grouse abundance. But when a species goes from non-existent to #1 pest in 40 years, something has to give and that something is usually the species which were here before. Read up on the episodes of invasive species taking over ecosystems and the negative impact on prior residents is a theme repeated over and over.
