| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Season | 03 OCT 2026 – 31 JAN 2027 | 121d |
As publishedOct 3, 2026 - Jan 31, 2027
Restricted to the Ruffed Grouse Hunting Zone: northeast Iowa bounded by US Highways 63, 20, 151 and Iowa Highways 13 and 64. Blaze orange required. Shooting hours are sunrise to sunset -- unlike pheasant/quail/partridge, which use 8am-4:30pm.
Iowa DNR restricts ruffed grouse hunting to a formally defined regulatory zone in the northeast corner of the state — the rest of Iowa is closed to grouse hunting entirely. This is a hard regulatory boundary, not just a density gradient, and it coincides with the driftless-area forest habitat the species requires.
No formal population survey program exists for this species in this state.
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