I haven't taken the time to read all of this thread. However, picking up on the grouse shooting topic, I peter to take them either on the ground, or out of the trees.

I have been shooting ruffed grouse for about 40 years, with and without a dog, on the wing and on the ground, with shotguns (single shots and pumps), with .22 rifles and revolvers, with an air rifle, a few with a .30.30, and a few with my bow. They are a food source for our family of five, including 4 hunters, and we have consumed as many as 70 in a good season.

We are so in tuned to harvesting them for eating, through both concerted hunting effort and opportunity, that one time my wife drove over to my office with a dead grouse in a bag for me to dress. She picked it up after it flew into one of our picture windows and died in the yard. One time I stopped after work at a spot right before sunset and shot five in a row out of a single tree. They were so intent on eating buds that when I got done picking them all up, there were still two feeding.

What I find most rewarding nowadays is enjoying long walks in remote woods on a nice fall day, and shooting a few birds to eat. In fact I don't try anymore to shoot them on the wing when they first flush. I have gotten good at hearing and spotting them on the ground before they flush, finding them in branches or in cover after a flush, and sneaking in for a clean head shot. I really like to hear a fall drummer, time him, pinpoint his location and finally shoot him right off his log. These are always nice full grown birds. After dispersal of broods, the same logs seem to hold new drummers year after year. I keep note of them.

I don't personally care for road hunting, or riding around for them on an ATV, but know guys that like do that, which is great for them. I am not above stopping along the way to a spot to pot one standing on the side of the road. Where I hunt, it is a challenge to get them to fly anyways, other than right up into a tree.

I really don't care for attitudes among those who look down on how others choose to harvest grouse. It is all good as long as respect for the animal is there, and the meat is utilized, as there is no better food for the table than a ruffed grouse around these parts.