Dusky grouse

AZGFD runs no pre-season population survey for dusky grouse — only the same voluntary post-season hunter-contact/harvest survey used for chukar. Confirmed absence, any year.

Confirmed absence: CPW runs no dedicated survey or forecast infrastructure for dusky grouse in Colorado, any year — checked CPW's dusky grouse species page and the Tier A registry's Colorado entry.

Forest grouse (dusky, ruffed, spruce) data comes from IDFG's post-season wing-barrel collection (juvenile:adult ratios), which is retrospective by design and feeds the following year's forecast narrative rather than standing alone as a pre-season 2026 report. That narrative sits inside the statewide/regional Upland Game Bird Forecast, which had not published as of 2026-08-19 (2025 edition published Sept 5, 2025); expected within the next 2-3 weeks.

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.

NDOW's only dusky/sooty grouse data-collection instrument is a post-season wing-collection program (age/sex/genetic sampling, running since 2007) -- retrospective harvest composition, not a pre-season population index or forecast. A separate academic point-count survey methodology exists in the research literature but was not confirmed as a recurring NDOW-published public forecast.

NM's only regulated grouse species (season zoned by I-40), with no dedicated survey found -- NMDGF's Upland Game page is life-history/regulatory content only, folded into the general Hunting Rules & Information booklet since 2024 (no longer a standalone Upland Game publication). No program evidence found across two search passes (Tier A pass + this pass).

ODFW's Forest Grouse and Mountain Quail Parts Collection Summary ('wingbee' report, post-season hunter wing-collection) is the only quantitative instrument covering dusky grouse; a fresh, extensive search this pass (multiple query variations) confirmed the same finding as the Tier A pass -- no edition newer than 2021 (published 2022) is publicly located, despite the collection program itself continuing annually (wing-bee events held each March/April per ODFW's own current guidance). Active program, no dated fresher report -- treated as an open-ended wait, not a confirmed lapse.

Confirmed absence: UDWR's own public statements say biologists 'don't conduct formal grouse surveys, but they do observe the birds while working in the field.' No dedicated dusky grouse population survey exists; incidental observations feed only a general narrative article, not a discrete report.

WDFW's forest grouse (dusky/ruffed/sooty/spruce, combined season) coverage folds entirely into the retrospective, all-species Game Status and Trend Report (2025 edition published Feb 25, 2026); no standalone forest-grouse-specific pre-season forecast was found, per WDFW's own forest-grouse hunting page, which links only to that general report.

This species has no standalone quantitative WGFD survey; it is covered only within WGFD's annual regional "Wyoming Hunt Forecast" narrative (8 regions plus statewide sections, historically mid-to-late August -- 2025 edition Aug. 18, 2025). A fresh WebSearch and direct fetch attempt on 2026-08-19 (one day past the 2025 precedent date) found no 2026 edition published on wgfd.wyo.gov -- a third-party aggregator (Ultimate Upland) already shows 2026 species-level ratings (e.g. chukar POOR; sharp-tailed grouse, pheasant POOR-FAIR, drought-driven) but cites no specific dated WGFD document, so this is treated as corroboration only, not confirmation the WGFD narrative itself has published.