This area is forested with maples, birch and beech. Red spruce and white pine are lightly mixed throughout the property. Timber rights in Arthur Davis WMA are separately owned and the area is actively logged. This annual clearing within the forest attracts and holds grouse.

Forest managers also maintain some apple orchards remaining from long-abandoned homesteads. Several small streams, ponds and beaver-created wetlands add to the area's habitat mix.

Hunters will find several access points to Arthur Davis WMA. Take Exit 8 off I-91 onto Route 131. Follow Route 131 west to Route 106 north. In Felchville, turn left toward South Reading on Tyson Reading Road. Watch for access points on this road or turn north onto either Reading Pond Road or North Puckerbrush Road.

Pond Woods WMA
This area is another gem owned by the state. At 2,111 acres, hunters have plenty of room to look for grouse.

At one time, Pond Woods supported a logging operation and woodcarving factory. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department acquired most of the property in 1962. Today, Pond Woods has a fine diversity of upland and wetland habitat. In the northeast corner of the WMA, hunters will find Mud Pond, a long, narrow 12-acre pond bordered by steep slopes. This region offers some good grouse habitat.

Hunters will find "poor fens" scattered throughout the area. A fen is an open, acidic peat land dominated by mosses, sedges and heath shrubs. They are close relatives to bogs and are attractive to grouse.

In hilly areas, such as Bishop Hill and Oak Hill, mature forests dominate, with a mix of maple, birch, beech, red oak, hickory and hemlock.

Pond Woods is in the town of Benson on the west side of the state. From Brandon, take Route 73 west to Route 22A. Travel south on Route 22A to Perch Pond Road and Bishop Hill Road. Either road will take hunters into Pond Woods Wildlife Management Area.

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Pittsburg Area
The Pittsburg area in northern New Hampshire offers a wealth of public grouse hunting territory. Hunters will find about a dozen special wildlife management areas, including the Connecticut Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Lake Francis Wildlife Management Area and the Brown Wildlife Management Area. Also, the neighboring forest tracts are actively timbered and most are open to hunting.

Much of the area is lowlands with a mixture of marsh, swamp and bog. Grouse hunters should work the edges of these lowlands. The better hunting is away from the water in the forested areas of Brown Wildlife Management Area, Brundage Forest and Gray Wildlife Management Area, where there is a mixture of hardwood and pine forests.

Access to this area is from Route 3, the only major road into Pittsburg. This road winds through 30 miles of backcountry from Beecher Falls to Pittsburg and on into Canada.

On the northwest side of Route 3, look for good hunting off Back Lake Road, Day Road, Ramblewood Road and any of the gravel roads north of Second Connecticut Lake.

Enfield WMA
This 4,424-acre tract of land is frequently overlooked by grouse hunters because of its close proximity to tourist areas. But while several nearby state forests receive heavy hunting pressure, the Enfield Wildlife Management Area is often ignored.

The area is split into two different parts. The southern portion is larger with several ponds, including Smith Pond, Cole Pond and Butternut Pond. Hunters will also find several small brooks and plenty of mixed hardwood forest here. This section of the forest is sloped to flat for easy hunting. Conversely, the northern portion of the area is relatively dry and densely forested. It is also steeper. Because of the hilly terrain, you are apt to encounter fewer hunters here than in the southern section.