Bob Gwizdz: How many flushes does it take to kill a grouse?

My buddy Jeff Greene, a retired wildlife biologist who shows up in this space from time to time, once told me that he’d read somewhere that it takes 12 flushes to kill a ruffed grouse: three you don’t see, three you see, but are out of range, three are within range but are somewhere you can’t shoot them, and you’ll shoot at three of them and kill one.
And while that formula may hold in some places, some times, it’s not how I’ve found things over the past couple of years in early October in Michigan.