[paintballdude902]

hey guys, im new to the mountain area and since the guys i have talked said that there aren't alot of deer around here and they are very hard to get and we have a short gun season. so i decided to try and get a few grouse. ive never hunted grouse before can anyone fill me in on the basics?

edit sorry i put eastern in the title should be western force of habit it wont let me edit the title

[hogshead]

Where are you located in enc? Most places down there are full of deer, the farther west you come the less deer.I don't believe there are any grouse in the eastern part of the state,could be wrong though.

[RoostRider]

Walk trails and keep an eye, and an ear out.... they will scare you occasionally by jumping up so close to you because they are so well camouflaged.... and you will hear ones you never see.... follow the sound (loud flapping wings), because they don't go far and get back down to hide....

A dog that knows what he's doing really would help.... I'll tell you how much after this grouse season.... lol.... just got a dog...

[paintballdude902]

hog i just moved to the waynesville area in haywood county i havent changed my location yet back home there are tons of them just not here. im from new bern but i hunt in jones county

roost thanks good luck

[1/4MOA]

paintball. i assume you went to newbern high. Depending on how old you are, i bet we know a lot of the same people.

on the grouse hunting, there arent any in the east unless they were placed out on a reserve and were never killed but you should be able to find some where you are now. I can tell you its not going to be an easy hunt. I've only killed a couple myself. roostrider explained what i did. really pretty bird.

[paintballdude902]

hahaha force of habit i wrote eastern instead of western my b guys 1/4 what year did u graduate

[countertop]

Best bet is to join the Ruffed Grouse Society.

They have tons of info on their web page.

[1/4MOA]

i actually graduated in 2004 from Laney High in Wilmington, but i know a bunch of guys from there that played baseball. Mike O'Conner is a good friend. Ben fuller, Adam Warren, Towernicky, Rob Carem, i know a several of those guys.

[paintballdude902]

ok yeah i graduated in 09 but i know alot of the guys you know by their younger brothers and sisters adam got drafted for the yankees hes gotta work up through the minors but hes got a deal with the yankees dont know what towernicky has been up to i havent talked to his sister in a few years we used to be close but not since she went to a private school and the family moved to the beach

thanks counter i went on a hike today in dendrology and i found a place i wanna try when the season opens up near the shining rock wilderness area

[countertop]

As far as the basics go - get out and hunt. Bring a GPS or journal, and start recording where you find birds. Frankly, it just takes a lot of time to find grouse. Hence the suggestion to join RGS. Get in with the local chapter to find locals to take you out and introduce you. They know where the birds are in your area.

Grouse numbers are generally down in the south - and in national forests - since the environmentalists have succedded in stopping most logging and management activities. But what you are generally looking for - habitat wise - is very dense recent vegetation on hillsides. Generally speaking, the best hunting is going to be in an area of early succesional habitat - ie an area that had been clear cut ("managed") 10 or so years ago and is recovering and on its way to restoring the forest. Think tangled, nasty vines and bushes. As new growth emerges, there is lots of habitat for the birds.

In New England, we'd always flush birds along forest/mountain roads. Jeep trails, and the suck. I'd check them out too.

Anyway, here's a link to the Ruffed Grouse Society (http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/). Join and get hooked up with the local chapter. Get some folks to show you where the birds hide. They really are the kings of upland hunting.

Here's a link to their 2009 forecast (http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/2009-Season-Forecasts). Scroll down for NC. Like most of the South, they don't forecast very good numbers.

Here's an older (2002) university report (http://coweeta.ecology.uga.edu/publications/1570.pdf) on Grouse habitat and numbers in NC. Review it. Will give you hints on where to find them.

Here's the 2008 RGS Biologist Report (http://rgs.savvior.com/UserFiles/File/BiologicalProgramAnnualReport08.pdf). Scroll down to NC. Sounds like they were reasonably active in NC.

Here is a map of the grouse habitat projects (http://rgs.savvior.com/UserFiles/File/NCMAPsLocations.pdf) RGS currently has in NC. These will all be great places to find birds. Again, the local chapter can show you precisly where these are located. They actually had most of that info on their web page, but recently (like 2 weeks ago) relaunched a new page - my understanding is that they will be repopulating all the files on their page.