As publishedYouth: Sep 19-20, 2026; General: Oct 10 (res.)/Oct 17-20 (nonres. variants) - Jan 1, 2027
Roosters (cock pheasants) only, hens illegal.Youth-only weekend Sep 19-20, 2026. General season: residents (all lands) and nonresidents on private land not in a hunting access program start Oct 10, 2026; nonresidents on public lands/hunting-access-program lands and nonresident 3-day-license holders (public/access-program lands) start Oct 20, 2026 (10-day delay); nonresident 3-day-license holders on private land not in access program start Oct 17, 2026. All groups close Jan 1, 2027.
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). Pheasant's own signal within the Outlook comes from spring crow counts.