More than a century ago, organized shoots involved bird handlers releasing quail or pheasants from a cage by sliding an end panel up (also called a sluice, named after irrigation sluice gates) to release the birds to a waiting shooter. When the sluice was lifted, the birds ran out. If the shooter shot before they took flight it was considered a shameful act.
Today, some shooters consider the shooting of a game bird on the ground a shameful act. Likely an uneducated throwback to the late 1800's. For today's hunters who walk 5+ miles looking for a grouse and who traverse every type of brush, tag alder, black berry brush, etc...while ready to take aim, it is a very different experience. These hunters may get a shot or may not during the entire hunt. If birds are flushed, they almost never flush into the open where a shot is afforded, rather they flush towards the thickest, nastiness and are usually out of sight before a hunter can lift his/her shotgun.
Don't disparage a real hunter who puts in sweat equity to earn a single chance at bringing home a grouse.
