As publishedSep 1 - Jan 1, 2027 (combined "Mountain Grouse" season/bag with ruffed and spruce grouse)
Montana's regulations use the older term "blue grouse" for this species (the interior Rocky Mountain form; sooty grouse, the coastal form, does not occur in MT). Regulated under the same combined "Mountain Grouse" bag limit as ruffed and spruce grouse. Exempt from the 10-day nonresident delay.
Tracked via Montana FWP's combined annual Upland Game Bird Season Outlook (pheasant, sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, gray/Hungarian partridge, chukar, dusky grouse, spruce grouse, ruffed grouse together, by region). The 2025 edition published Aug 20, 2025; a fresh direct fetch of the stable landing page (fwp.mt.gov/hunt/seasons/forecasts) on 2026-08-19 confirms it still shows only the 2025 edition — the 2026 edition appears imminent (one day short of last year's exact publish date). Dusky grouse's own signal within the Outlook comes from voluntary harvested-wing submissions (age/productivity) for mountain grouse, not a standalone survey.