I'm from Morganton, which is about 25 miles west of Hickory on I-40. Can't help you much with the Hickory area though. I was always going north toward Boone or west toward Asheville. Luckily though, western NC is full of National Forest land. Unfortunately, I can't help you much with bird hunting either. Never got into it. If you're into deer hunting, I'd suggest Hwy 105 along the edge of the Linville Gorge. I grew up hunting this area. Like most mountain areas, there aren't a ton of deer, but there are some bruisers in there.