Ruffed grouse are a great game bird.
Sometimes they act dumber than a fugkin rock. Will stand there and take fire. Other times they flush wild 40+ yards out.
They may be my favorite eating bird.
They might very well be dumb, I don't really know. But if they are dumb, they have fantastic instincts in heavy cover as you would know. They are masters at letting you take that 2'cnd or 3rd step to where you are past them at a bad angle and they have a tree between you and them that they can take off directly away from.
That and their ability to go from zero to 60 in .095 milliseconds. They are the most challenging game I've ever hunted when in the cover they typically are holed up in. Walk and walk up and down hills in heavy cover to get 2 to 3 flushes an hr when it's GOOD. Out of those flushes I was lucky to have a remote chance at 1 out of 4. Most I either never seen or just got a brief glimpse. The flush itself with them is half the success.
