Originally Posted by
younggun308
With respect, Montana is in fact among the farthest states in the Mountain West from North Carolina you could have chosen, excepting Idaho.
But if you want to go to Montana just because you want to go to Montana, that's fine. Just be willing to pay a potentially higher travel cost, if for no other reason than Montana lacks a major air hub like Denver or Salt Lake, meaning you'd likely have to tack on the cost of an extra connecting flight just to get there if you're flying. And if you're driving, well, the extra distance requires more gas.
Have you ever considering "ruffing it" in the Western part of NC? My sense from reports is that the ruffed grouse population on the NC side of the TN-NC state line has a decent grouse population, if you're willing to walk in excess of 7 miles or more in high elevation during a hunt.
Thank you and everyone else that has commented. I would like to say I already have gotten more help than expected.
I havent thought of grouse to be honest. And until about 2 months ago I had never heard of grouse hunting in the state. And it seems to me, in my opinion, to be a very small niche in the state. I actually came across it from watching the local channels on tv. Some real old footage. I wouldnt be oppose to doing that at all I just think I am finding a needle in a hay stack. Also mentioning reports i checked last years numbers for grouse and they are quite low. 60 percent noted (survey) to killing none. 12 percent killing 1. Im not for sure if this is day or season but it is a seasonal survey.