Our sympathy goes out to all you folks who live in Florida and southern California, but you can't expect to have great winter weather and ruffed grouse as well. Each spring, between March and May, every self-respecting male ruffed grouse stakes out a drumming log, and then rapidly beats his wings over and over again to advertise his machismo to rival males and prospective female partners. In a typical drumming session, the energetic male beats his wings about 50 times, in a blur that lasts about 10 to 12 seconds. Every male grouse uses one main drumming site, usually an old decayed log or exposed tree root, and one or two secondary sites. All of the drumming sites are commonly within 50 yards of each other.
Male grouse are true homebodies.
Good drumming logs may be used by generations of grouse, so once you find a drummer you can often return to the area year after year to photograph the same bird or his successor. This is the behavior flaw that makes the ruffed grouse such an easy target for photographers. Sit down in the woods at dawn, in the springtime, and listen for the rhythmic drumming of sex-starved suitors. On a still morning, with frost in the air, a human can hear a ruffed grouse drumming a quarter of a mile away. Then it's a simple matter of slowly moving closer until you finally pinpoint the bird.