| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 01 AUG 2026 – 15 MAY 2027 | 288d |
| Window 2 | 10 AUG 2026 – 31 MAR 2027 | 234d |
| Window 3 | 10 AUG 2026 – 30 APR 2027 | 264d |
| Window 4 | 01 SEP 2026 – 31 MAR 2027 | 212d |
| Window 5 | 25 AUG 2026 – 31 MAR 2027 | 219d |
As publishedAug 1-May 15 (Units 1-6); Aug 10-Mar 31 (Units 7,11,12,13,14A,14B,15,16,20 remainder,25); Aug 10-Apr 30 (Units 9,17-19,21-24,26); Sept 1-Mar 31 (Unit 14C); Aug 25-Mar 31 (Unit 20D, falconry-only Aug 10-24); no open season (Units 8,10)
Bundled with ruffed, sharp-tailed, and sooty grouse under the same statewide 'Grouse' table; no species-specific sub-limit for spruce grouse (sub-limits in the table apply only to ruffed/sharp-tailed). Units 8 and 10 have no open season. Full by-unit table: ADF&G 2026-2027 smgame.pdf p.141.
Spruce grouse is the most broadly distributed of Alaska's boreal-forest grouse species. Nearly every good-sized patch of boreal forest statewide holds a population, per ADF&G's own species profile, including white spruce/paper birch woodlands and black spruce bogs across the Interior and Southcentral, and Sitka spruce/hemlock forests in Southeast Alaska. An ADF&G-attempted transplant to Kodiak Island (1957 and 1959, 31 birds sourced from the Kenai Peninsula) failed outright, so the species does not occur there despite otherwise suitable-seeming forest habitat. ADF&G's own RY24 wing-donation data shows the Interior producing nearly twice as many donated wings as Southcentral/Kenai combined (115 vs. 66), and the Southcentral/Kenai population is under active pressure from a 2017-2022 spruce bark beetle outbreak that killed large stands of the mature white spruce the species depends on.
ADF&G's 2026 Alaska Small Game Summary calls for average numbers of spruce grouse statewide this season. One regional caveat worth knowing before you go: Southcentral populations may still be feeling the effects of an ongoing, though slowing, spruce bark beetle infestation.
No weather driver named; the Southcentral caveat is a habitat/pest pressure (spruce bark beetle), not a weather-driven one.
Join the waitlist and tell us what you’re working on — the planner reads it first once your access opens.
Free, invite-gated, unsubscribe anytime. See what it returns