Hi all! I'm wondering if anyone can give some advice to a relatively new grouse hunter. I've had moderate success finding roughed grouse on the west side (seen 8 this year) mainly driving forest roads - mostly during golden hour. I'm mainly wondering if people tend to go off the roads/bush whacking looking for grouse of if its generally advisable to just stick to the roads. Same question for the east side too though; do people do more off trail walking due to the east side being less brushy? I haven't had much luck on the east side so far besides a spruce grouse that walked across the road while I was out west of Yakima.
I've had zero luck out near Lake Roesinger after 3 attempts, the habitat seems a bit older growth, but to be honest, I'm not sure. I also wonder if its just under high pressure due to proximity/accessibility.
I'd love to more hunting out east since it just is a bit quieter out there/maybe less pressure. I have no idea about numbers though - are grouse pretty evenly distributed throughout the state? Or are they clustered up habitat wise? Do people literally follow drainages up/down the mountains - or are they just paying more attention when they walk across these areas? I know there are grouse near Cle'Elum - but how far east until you all would say its marginal habitat? The pictures I've seen posted make it seem as though there are Grouse further east than I'd expect. E.g. would Lt. Murray be too far east? I have seen a coupling hanging out around Lake Chelan.
Final question, there's a lot of state timber land on the west side in Snohomish county. Are any of these areas actually worth hitting? I've probably done 6ish trips to various sites in the great Snohomish county area and haven't seen anything or even any evidence of grouse hunters (shells/field cleaned birds). Am I barking up the wrong tree here?
If anyone could answer any of these questions or provide any insight, it'd be so very helpful. I've spend tens of hours on OnX mapping out potential areas but it still kinda feels like I'm flying blind.
