Smokey,

Glad you jumped in.
Oh yea, I've hunted with dogs. Not very often though because as I previously stated, bagging a few birds is enjoyable to me. Here is the dog scenario in my area. The hunter is going through cover which he knows by experience is the best habitat for the birds. With the thick cover the shots are limited to thirty yards at most. The dogs are working 15 to 20 yards in front (fairly close for a Britt or a Shorthair wouldn't you agree? More often than not (my estimate about 80% of the time) while the dog is either serching for a bird of trying to point he will get within ten yards of the grouse. The bird will flush wild.

The no dog scenario is the same except I flush the bird instead of the dog. I'm 15 to 20 yards closer and therefore I have a better shot.

I realize that depending on where you are my # could be peanuts. Around here though, the guys I meet with dogs have way less birds than I do. Also, the limit is 2 a day here. That kind of limits your numbers.