Was this the time frame when the zone was a bit screwed up?
I've hunted here a few times, just to farm griffawn meat and never went more than a few minutes without seeing griffawns up. I don't know if they share a spawn table, but I also have to kill sleek panthers (they aggro on me like there's no tomorrow.)
It's a minor quest for a bit of pp (less than 10). Talk to the NPCs at the wayfarer's camp by the dock. If I remember correctly, the quest giver asks for 3.