As publishedOct 1, 2026 - Nov 8, 2026 (Area 1 only)
Only open in Area 1 (parts of Bingham, Bonneville, Clark, Jefferson, Power, Cassia counties and all of Bannock, Bear Lake, Caribou, Franklin, Fremont, Madison, Oneida, Teton counties). Area 2 (remainder of the state) is CLOSED, including Twin Falls County, Owyhee County, most of Cassia County, and Minidoka County despite re-introduced populations there. Requires a Sharp-tailed Grouse Permit Validation in addition to a hunting license.
IDFG runs the same spring lek-count methodology used for sage-grouse (400+ leks tracked over the last decade), but results fold into harvest data and the statewide/regional forecast narrative rather than a standalone published report. That narrative had not published as of 2026-08-19 (2025 edition published Sept 5, 2025); expected within the next 2-3 weeks. Unlike sage-grouse, no separate quota-setting process surfaced a 2026 figure ahead of the forecast.