I fear we are past smoking season in my area. Too breezy for temperature control without building some kind of wind break. I am definitely looking forward to next summer though. I learned a few tricks this year, like propping the door open on my WSM.
Also I need to work oncrisping the skin on chicken after smoking it. The flavor is really good but it needs that crunch when you first bite in. Seems like leg quarters end up tasting way better than breasts in a smoker.
I am not sure if you are propping the bird up on a stand ( like in a sitting position for "Beer can" chicken) or not, so that the butt end of the bird is closer to the heat, or if you are laying the bird on its back with the breasts up without any support, but I have a suggestion for you to try; the next time you do a bird.
You can either tent the bird with a cone shaped cap of HD Alum. foil for the last 1/2 hour ( maybe longer/shorter depending on your final smoker temps) to keep the heat at the top of the bird on a stand, if it is sitting up right, or just flip the bird over to its front(breast side) for the last half hour or so (your final temp is determinate as mentioned before) to expose the breast side closer to the heat source below, if you started out with the bird on its back. Doesn't matter if your drip pan has moisture in it anymore, but the concentration of the heat from below by directing it to the breast side of the bird with the "tent" or flipping should likely help with the crisping of the skin. ( <BTW , if ya didn't know...Some folks like to call that crisping, "bark", as in tree bark. I find that funny although fairly accurate as a description. LOL )
See about trying one of those methods next time ya do a yardbird & let us know how it works.
Without knowing more on "your" start to finish method/process, it is the best "I" can do, with my own longtime personal experience in babysitting "portable" smokers. ( I think smoke houses are a completely different system

) but it has worked for me in the past "when necessary", and I smoke meat/fish year round here in Minn..

Anyway, G'Luck! & Good eats!