Ruffed grouse like thick cover. During winter I find them in cover (briers and brambles) with barberries, winter berry and bittersweet. If you have stands of pine with a lot of barberries you should have grouse. If you go into, what you think may be grouse cover, and exit on the other side with scratches on your face, hands, ears and your clothes torn to shreds, then you have been in grouse cover. When you are hunting them, if you do not have a dog, stop walking frequently through the cover. Many times, when you stop walking, a nearby grouse may flush that might have held tight as you walked by. That grouse that just flushed will now put the tree nearest to you between you and it. Good luck!
