As publishedSept. 1, 2026-Jan. 31, 2027
Regulated jointly with sharp-tailed grouse as one 'Prairie Grouse' category.Zone-based rules (per NGPC's 2024-25 guide, structure repeated verbatim on the live 2026-27 season page): West Zone (west of U.S. Hwy 81) — 3 daily/12 possession aggregate, no special permit. East Zone (east of U.S. Hwy 81) — 3 daily/3 possession aggregate, requires a free special grouse permit (limited to 400, one per hunter, first-come starting July 15, in addition to a regular hunting permit). Exact bag-limit figures sourced from the 2024-25 official guide (structural, not re-confirmed against a 2026-27 edition), while season dates and the east-zone permit requirement are confirmed live for 2026-27.
Tracked via NGPC's combined Upland Game Bird Hunting Outlook PDF (six-region breakdown, folding in spring lek/RMCS prairie-grouse data), typically published late August. A fresh check this pass caught a stale-attribution trap: a WebSearch summary and a syndicated Outdoor Wire mirror of NGPC's press release both initially read as describing the current 2026 season, but a direct fetch of the Outdoor Wire release confirmed its actual publish date is August 26, 2025, describing the 2025-26 season (comparing spring/summer 2025 survey results to 2024) — not a 2026 finding. outdoornebraska.gov itself returns HTTP 403 to every direct fetch attempt. No genuine 2026 edition found; expected late August 2026 (within about a week) per the 2025 precedent (Aug 26, 2025 publish date).