Well... over on the Vermont side of the Northern three-state tier the statewide prediction for ruffed grouse numbers is "average" whatever the heck that means.... five years ago we experienced a peak population year - the very next year we experienced a very poor year in terms of drummers counted in spring and birds flushed in the fall - and it has been a roller-coaster ride ever since. So, I think "average" is a dodge because the biologists just don't know from one management area to the next.
Woodcock, on the other hand, are where you find them.... as always 
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"I'm a Setter man.
Not because I think they're better than the other breeds,
but because I'm a romantic - stuck on tradition - and to me, a Setter just "belongs" in the grouse picture."
George King, "That's Ruff", 2010 - a timeless classic.
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