Ditto Craig's report - very dry in upstate NY this year. The areas where we hunt just south of Utica had mostly dry streambeds and near-empty ponds. There seemed to be plenty of food for the grouse but there were very few birds. In two days of hunting we only put up one bird, heard 3-4 more drumming and heard one distant flush, but that was it. This against prior Columbus Day weekends in the past where we have put up as many as 3 dozen birds, most times bagging at least one bird per hunter. We drove up through Skeneatelas and right by the boundary of Montezuma WMA on Sunday and saw little or no water compared to prior years. The NE drought had much more effect than I expected.
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