Thanks Ken, RL, Denise and Jason for your help with my grouse id.
Well Dusky seems to be the consensus between you, and although these birds were smaller than adult Dusky, we know that most birds from this group (quail, partridge, grouse etc) can fly before they’re full grown, so I must conclude that all those we saw were juveniles. None of those we saw were big enough to be adults. As you say, Spruce would be wrong for this location and habitat, and there was no sign of a crest on the one bird I had a reasonable view of.
Thanks again!John Shortis 

On Monday, July 10, 2017 7:39 AM, John Shortis wrote:

Hi birders, yesterday we stumbled upon and flushed about 8 or 9 grouse species right by the trail at Upper Hulls Gulch. I was unable to get a positive id on them, but they could only have been Ruffed or Spruce. I guess they were a family group. My thoughts are that it was the wrong habitat for Spruce, however, I could see no sign of a crest on the head which you’d normally expect for Ruffed Grouse. But I’m still leaning towards Ruffed, the birds did not vocalize, and I only had a brief look at the top half of the body of one bird, which was dark barring. Can anyone suggest which of these 2 species would be most likely there?         Thanks!John Shortis