>>244185Canadafag reporting in, every year we bag tons of these birds. Grouse are one of the best eating birds in the world, they might as well not have a brain and they are abundant. However, they have some military grade camouflage and can be next to impossible to see at times.
When a grouse sees a predator it's first reaction is to stay completely still, this means on many occasions you can walk up to the bird and grab it if you wanted (I've caught many grouse this way). However this defense mechanism makes spotting them a royal pain in the ass, as our visual systems are tuned to movement.
These birds are so good at blending in that people on my treeplanting crew this summer were almost stepping on them 2-3 times a day. In more than one case a bird had accidentally been killed from being stepped on.
The key to spotting a grouse is to look for a pear in the woods. If you try and look for the color or pattern of the bird you will get nowhere but if you look for the silhouette you have a better shot at seeing the bird.
Waiting until the leaves are off the trees and having a thin layer of snow will dramatically increase your ability to spot these birds.
If you are lining up on a bird on the ground, check the tops of the trees around it, I've found that a bird on the ground means a few birds in the trees.
Good luck!
