Outdoors column

By Mike Marsh
Published in Sports on February 20, 2015 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

Last week, I headed for Boone for a hunt for ruffed grouse with my son, Justin. I made the trip from Wilmington while Justin was heading up into the high country from Charlotte. I had been in contact with Jim Keepfer, a crew chief for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission game lands in District 7.

"If you prepare for the cold, you might find a grouse," he said. "The forecast calls for some snow, but you never know."

Justin had not been able to get two days in a row off since Halloween, when the second day of our planned two-day grouse hunt at Fontana Village was cut short by a record snowfall for that early in the fall.

For our backup hunt, I checked the forecast and it was not prohibitive, with daytime highs supposedly in the 30s and 40s. When I left Wilmington, I had to turn on the Ford pickup's air conditioner. But, by the time I reached Boone, the temperature had fallen from the mid 60s to the low 20s and a 55 mph wind was blowing snow so hard that I could not see the headlights of oncoming cars through the whiteout.

Justin soon joined me and we found a motel that allowed pets inside. Tinker would otherwise have remained in her kennel in the pickup but it was much too wintry for that to happen.

Next morning, we waited for the day to warm to the teens before venturing out, but the wind chill factor was still negative 5 to 10 degrees.

"We came to hunt and the grouse are still out there despite the snow," Justin said. "So, let's go."

Keepfer had told us about three Commission game lands near Boone that might hold some grouse. These were Pisgah, Elk Knob and Three Top Mountain. We started with Elk Knob and drove along the road cutting the former pastureland into two parcels, checking out the terrain and vegetation.

Crabapple trees had grown up in the untended pastures and their fruits are a favorite grouse food. We hunted all morning and well into the afternoon. Tinker covered the creek bottoms, rhododendron thickets, hardwood ridges and pasture edges perfectly. For every step we made, she probably made more than 100, attempting to flush a grouse.

We did not find a single grouse, so we headed back to the motel and ate a steak dinner to build up our energy reserves.

Even Tinker ate steak that night, to ward off the chill of the coming dawn.

The next day, we hunted Elk Knob again. The wind was blowing so hard Justin complained that his teeth were freezing. We turned downhill and downwind to get out of the wind before deciding to try another spot.

The snow had stopped the day before. But it turned out to be a temporary blessing. As we made the hour-long drive to Three Top Mountain, the flurries began anew. We found one of the game land's entrances but knew we were running out of time.

The salt on the roads could only keep them safe for so long, so we did not search for a new tract added to the game land this season.

We found some persimmons that had fallen and frozen as well as grape vines twining up and around the giant poplar trees. Persimmons and grapes are favored grouse foods, along with any other fruit, berry or seed. Still, despite spending several more hours of walking the trails with Tinker working the cover uphill and downhill on either side, we never saw a single grouse.

Next fall, we will try to head to the high mountains earlier in the season, when grouse numbers should be higher. Although we did that this season, we still encountered snow early on.

Hunting grouse can seem like hunting mountain ghosts, but you are not going to find one if you don't head high and give it a try.