Nebraska · UplandSharp-tailed grouse

Nebraska's Prairie Grouse season (regulated jointly with greater prairie-chicken) runs Sept. 1, 2026-Jan. 31, 2027, West Zone 3 daily/12 possession aggregate with no permit, East Zone 3 daily/3 possession aggregate requiring a free special grouse permit (limited to 400). NGPC's own 2026-27 Upland Game Bird Hunting Outlook, now available directly and replacing the press-relayed reporting this rating previously rested on, points to a tougher year across most of the state's sharp-tailed grouse range. Breeding populations overwintered well in the southwest and eastern Sandhills and Loess Hills, but that's a small slice of this species' much larger Nebraska range. The Northwest district, which holds the bulk of that range, tells a different story: rangeland in poor condition across most of the district, large-scale wildfires that removed a substantial amount of nesting cover before this spring, and the July Rural Mail Carrier Survey coming in down 15% from 2025 in that district specifically. NGPC's Southwest district report separately flags drought as a threat to grouse hunting north of the Platte River. The positive eastern pocket doesn't outweigh the decline across the species' core range. The new figures make the case more concrete than before, with a real -15% survey number backing what was previously only a qualitative 'majority of the range will run below average' characterization.

Severe multi-year drought and spring 2026 wildfires across the Northwest district and Panhandle, sharp-tailed grouse's core Nebraska range, cutting nesting cover; July Rural Mail Carrier Survey down 15% from 2025 in the Northwest district specifically, per NGPC's own 2026-27 Upland Outlook.