My buddy works for the bcwf in charge of conservation. We were hunting this weekend and were noting that there were scads of grouse around (ruffies) in the okanagan area. I was asking him if the area received much pressure, to which he replied "pressure has nothing to do with it, its all habitat"....basically, if you have a dry, warm winter and spring, you're going to see lots of grouse, period. Hunting pressure accounted for something like 4% of population decline in the heaviest hunted areas.
We were seeing at least 20 grouse in 2 hours out each day. Haven't hunted this area for blues but I have heard the side roads up near the toll booth are productive....and it is only a couple of hours drive, less from the wack.