| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 12 SEP – 12 OCT 2026 | 31d |
| Window 2 | 15 AUG – 04 SEP 2026 | 21d |
| Window 3 | 15 AUG 2026 – 28 FEB 2027 | 198d |
As publishedSep 12-Oct 12, 2026 (general); Aug 15-Sep 4, 2026 (archery); Aug 15, 2026-Feb 28, 2027 (falconry)
CDFW publishes a single combined 'Sooty (Blue)/Ruffed Grouse' season and bag limit shared between the two species -- daily bag of 2 total, any one species or mixed. Open only in a specified set of northern/eastern CA counties per CDFW's hunt-zone map (closed statewide elsewhere). Archery Aug 15-Sep 4, 2026; Falconry Aug 15, 2026-Feb 28, 2027. Pistols/revolvers are legally permitted for this species in the open counties.
California's ruffed grouse hunting zone is legally shared with sooty grouse under one combined season/bag limit and spans 28 counties across the entire northern-California/Sierra Nevada forest belt (per Title 14 CCR section 300). Ruffed grouse's actual population is far narrower than that regulatory zone: CDFW's own CWHR life-history account (Ahlborn 2008) confines the species to the state's extreme northwestern corner, describing it as an uncommon local resident of valley foothill riparian and surrounding conifer forests at low to middle elevations in northwestern California, citing Yocom (1978) for the specific county-level range. This is the same pattern as CDFW's shared quail-zone system: the legal hunting zone is drawn far larger than any single species' real range within it.
No formal population survey program exists for this species in this state.
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