Just moved to southwest Virginia a few weeks ago, and on Sunday I took a drive up to a West Virginia State Forest (about 30 min from the house) that holds about 10,000 acres of public hunting land. Had never been here before in my life and had no idea what the trip would hold.
By chance I ran into the resident ranger whose eyes lit up when he saw my one year old GSP. After meeting and greeting and getting down to the nitty gritty, he told me that the woods are full of grouse (ruffed) and that he only knows of one guy that hunts them with a dog. He seemed to think that the population was up quite a bit this year and had been seeing good looking broods regularly.
WV season doesn't open until Oct. 18, and I can't wait!!! New dog (first bird dog) and what seems like a great new place to hunt!