| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Season | 19 SEP 2026 – 31 JAN 2027 | 135d |
As publishedSept 19, 2026-Jan 31, 2027
Regulated jointly with greater prairie-chicken and ruffed grouse, sharing one combined bag limit. Shooting hours sunrise to sunset. Voluntary wing-box collection requested for population monitoring.
Sharp-tailed grouse historically ranged nearly statewide on South Dakota's mixed/tallgrass prairie, but cropland conversion has shrunk that range most in the southeast: today's distribution covers most western counties and roughly half of the eastern ones. A habitat-density model (Runia et al. 2021) puts the west-river population ahead of the east-river population on both range and density: 87% of west-river birds sit in Tier 1-3 priority habitat, versus 64% east-river. The species also holds a secondary population in the Black Hills National Forest, in herbaceous openings created by wildfire or timber harvest.
South Dakota's Prairie Chicken and Sharp-tailed Grouse season runs Sept 19, 2026-Jan 31, 2027, bag 3 daily/15 possession combined between the two species (plus ruffed grouse). The core sharp-tailed grouse range sits west of the Missouri River, anchored by Grand River, Fort Pierre, and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, which together hold an estimated 87% of the west-river population. The same drought picture covering this state's greater prairie-chicken applies here: SD GFP's own 2026 Upland Outlook report shows 2025 prairie grouse harvest down substantially from 2024, with young-to-adult ratios in the harvest at 0.70, below the 10-year average of 1.58, as drought and above-average early-season heat cut into hunting conditions. Spring 2026 lek counts came in strong, above the long-term average though down from 2025's record numbers, so a solid adult population carried into this year's nesting season. GFP's own outlook still flags ongoing drought as a risk to this year's nesting and brood success in the parts of the range where it persists, with other areas expected to hold up well.
Ongoing drought threatening this year's nesting and brood success across parts of the range, per SD GFP's own outlook, despite a strong adult population carrying in from spring lek counts.
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