Where the grouse hunting is best

RUFFED GROUSE

The Northwoods

Ruffed grouse · Spruce grouse · Woodcock (bonus)

This is the heart of it. Young aspen, alder runs, and logging country from Minnesota to Maine hold the densest ruffed grouse populations in the world. Add an October woodcock flight and a few spruce grouse in the conifers, and no region offers more birds per mile of walking.

Mid-September through December or January. Check current regs.

Opening week, northern Minnesota.

• Minnesota Highest ruffed grouse harvest in the nation, with the Chippewa and Superior national forests and hundreds of miles of designated hunter walking trails.
• Wisconsin Second of the Big Three, with huge county forest acreage and managed ruffed grouse habitat across the north.
• Michigan Both peninsulas hold birds, and the state's GEMS walking areas are managed specifically for grouse hunters.
• Maine Classic partridge country, with vast commercial timberland open to hunting by tradition and gravel roads through endless cover.
• New Hampshire The White Mountain National Forest and northern timber country carry a strong grouse tradition in a small package.
• Pennsylvania The ruffed grouse is the state bird, and the Allegheny National Forest plus state game lands still hold huntable numbers.

Field guides: Ruffed grouse · Spruce grouse

SHARPTAILS & PRAIRIE-CHICKENS

The Prairie

Sharp-tailed grouse · Greater prairie-chicken

Big-sky walking for covey birds in grass and brush country. Sharptails are the main event across the northern plains, with greater prairie-chickens in the tallgrass of Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Bring boots, water, and a dog that can cover ground.

Mid-September through December or January, varies by state. Check current regs.

Big sky, long walks, honest birds.

• North Dakota Arguably the top sharptail state, with abundant public and PLOTS walk-in ground across the grasslands.
• South Dakota Sharptails and greater prairie-chickens on the same walk, with the Fort Pierre National Grassland a storied destination.
• Montana Sharptails scattered across a state-sized amount of public prairie, often shared with sage country hunts.
• Nebraska The Sandhills hold both sharptails and prairie-chickens in classic grass dune country.
• Kansas The Flint Hills are the stronghold of the greater prairie-chicken, with walk-in hunting access on private grass.

Field guides: Sharp-tailed grouse · Greater prairie-chicken

DUSKY & SOOTY GROUSE

The Mountains

Dusky grouse (blue grouse) · Sooty grouse

Hunters still call them both blue grouse. Dusky grouse work the interior ranges of the Rockies and Great Basin, moving up the mountain as fall deepens. Sooty grouse hold the Pacific coastal forests from Oregon and Washington up through southeast Alaska. National forest land makes access almost unlimited.

September through November or later in many states. Check current regs.

Up where the duskies summer.

• Idaho Duskies across nearly every mountain range, with long seasons and endless national forest access.
• Colorado High-country duskies on aspen and fir edges, often found while scouting elk.
• Oregon A two-bird state, with duskies in the interior ranges and sooty grouse in the coastal timber.
• Washington Sooties in the wet west-side forests and duskies east of the Cascade crest.
• Utah Duskies in the mountain aspen and conifer belts, a sleeper hunt most nonresidents overlook.
• Southeast Alaska Sooty grouse in the coastal rainforest, where spring hooters give away the neighborhood.

Field guides: Dusky grouse (blue grouse) · Sooty grouse

SAGE GROUSE

Sage Country

Greater sage-grouse

The largest grouse in North America, hunted on the sagebrush sea under the tightest rules in the upland world. Seasons are short, limits are small, and some states require a special permit or have closed hunting entirely. Treat it as a once-a-year pilgrimage, not a limit hunt.

Short windows in September, often just days or weeks. Permits required in some states. Check current regs.

First light in the sage.

• Wyoming The core of remaining sage grouse range, with a short September season and small daily limits.
• Montana Sage grouse share the big open with sharptails, under a limited early-fall season.
• Nevada High-desert birds in remote basins, with seasons and quotas that shift year to year.

Field guides: Greater sage-grouse

PTARMIGAN

Alaska & Alpine

Willow ptarmigan · Rock ptarmigan · White-tailed ptarmigan

The last frontier of grouse hunting. Alaska holds willow and rock ptarmigan in numbers no other state can touch, with long seasons and liberal limits across tundra and alpine country. In the Lower 48, Colorado's high country offers a lung-busting hunt for white-tailed ptarmigan above treeline.

Generous seasons in Alaska, typically August into spring in many units. Colorado runs a fall season. Check current regs.

Ptarmigan country. Bring legs.

• Alaska Willow and rock ptarmigan nearly statewide, with long seasons, big limits, and more public land than the rest of the country combined.
• Colorado White-tailed ptarmigan above treeline, a short-season hunt at 12,000 feet for hunters with strong legs.

Field guides: Willow ptarmigan