Gerald, I live in Maggie Valley, NC probably less than 75 miles north of you. I started hunting grouse in 1986 with a fellow who lived near Atlanta. He reported that there was a huntable population in prior years in Towns, Union and other surrounding counties, but the numbers had diminished. We hunted in areas just north of there and found lots of birds, we had good dogs and all was well. In about 1997 we could tell there was not nearly as many birds. Of course the cut over forests had matured with no new cutting to replace our habitat. That was what we blamed the decline on, and I’m sure it was a big part. Who knows how much effect varmits, turkeys, or the West Nile Virus had to do with the decline.
The grouse in our part of the world are bigger, by several ounces, than the birds we shot in the UP. We also have the brown phase which may be as red as a Rhode Island Red chicken, but not usually.
Hope this isn’t more info than you wanted.
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