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National prominence
Greater sage-grouse
Greater sage-grouse is classified as huntable/regulated upland game in 11 of the 50 states surveyed for the 2026-27 season (research pass captured 2026-08-18). This is a factual presence/season-classification summary, not a population outlook — no 2026 outlook/forecast research was performed for this species; see each state's own state-species record for season dates and any opportunistic 2026 notes captured incidentally.
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Cattail slough against picked corn. Where the roosters sit out a hard wind, and the reason the bird follows small-grain country across the northern plains.
Where it is open, and what the survey says
- ColoradoOpens in 22 days2 windowsAwaiting survey — Colorado 2026
CPW conducts an active, 25+ year spring lek-count program across 500+ known leks in northwest Colorado, but no discrete standalone 2026 report or numeric count was found this pass (re-checked 2026-08-19) — CPW's own species page's most recent cited figures date to 2016. No confirmed fixed publish window exists; monitor CPW's species page and USGS's range-wide database (updated through 2024 as of the last check).
- IdahoOpens in 25 daysIDFG's 2026 spring lek counts found statewide male counts decreased from 2025, which fed directly into the Commission's tag-quota-setting process: statewide sage-grouse tag quota cut to 4,280 for 2026-27, down from 5,030 in 2025 (~15% reduction), per IDFG's own public-comment article on the proposed 2026 season (read in full). Quota is set using a targeted 5% harvest of the fall population index plus each zone's 3-year average success rate, so the cut directly reflects the lek-count decline. No zone-by-zone breakdown or named driver given in this source; the standalone 2026 Population Triggers Analysis PDF (the deeper quantitative report) had not yet been released as of this check.
- MontanaOpens in 11 daysAwaiting survey — Montana 2026
Montana FWP publishes a standalone “Montana Greater Sage-grouse Population Report” each August (2025 edition: 714 leks surveyed statewide, dated Aug 20, 2025) beyond the Outlook's own sage-grouse section — genuine active spring lek-count infrastructure feeding an open season (Sept 1-30, 2026, 2-bird daily limit). A fresh search this pass found no 2026 edition yet; expected imminently based on the Aug 20, 2025 precedent, the same timing as the combined Outlook.
- NevadaOpens in 29 days3 windowsAwaiting survey — Nevada 2026
NDOW (with BLM/USGS partners) runs genuine, active spring ground-lek counts plus fixed-wing aerial telemetry surveys feeding the state's own limited 2-day, 2-bird-per-day September season, but no standalone public report or press release analogous to Montana's or Idaho's dedicated sage-grouse documents was found across two search passes -- active, confirmed monitoring with no discrete dated publication to cite, not a program lapse.
- OregonOpens in 22 daysAwaiting survey — Oregon 2026
Oregon's strongest survey infrastructure in this batch: an annual spring lek count (March-April; 2025: 118 observers, 1,614 ground + 46 aerial surveys, ~61% of known lek sites) compiled into a formal, year-specific ODFW Sage-Grouse Population Report that directly gates the following controlled-hunt permit numbers. The 2025 report (confirmed published) found +17.8% year-over-year, est. 50,912 birds, highest since 2017. 2026 spring lek-count fieldwork is complete and permit draw results are due August 25, 2026 -- checked this pass and confirmed still pending (today is 2026-08-19, six days short of the announced date) -- and a formal 2026 Population Report write-up was not found published yet either.
- UtahOpens in 36 daysAwaiting survey — Utah 2026
UDWR's annual Lek Count Report gates this limited-entry permit hunt's quota; the 2025 edition (924 males counted, 18.5 males/lek average) is the latest found -- a fresh search 2026-08-19 turned up no 2026 edition. Notable: the report has historically published ahead of the June 30-July 14 permit application period, which has already closed for 2026 without a located 2026 edition -- worth a future pass checking whether quota-setting used an unpublished internal count or the 2025 report.
- WyomingOpens in 29 daysWGFD's spring lek-count survey (aerial + ground counts by WGFD, BLM, contractors, and volunteers, nearly six decades of data) recorded a 13% decline in lek attendance vs. 2025, published via press release Aug. 12, 2026: ~27,000 males counted across 91% of known occupied leks, 27 males/active lek average, 75% of leks active (down from prior years). Sources: theoutdoorwire.com/releases/2026/08/sage-grouse-lek-attendance-decreases-in-2026 and wyofile.com, both fetched/searched directly 2026-08-19. This directly gates the 2026-27 season: the Commission's April 2026 Chapter 11 regulations open sage-grouse hunting only in Hunt Area 1 (Sept. 19-30, 2026, 2 daily/4 possession, permit required), with Areas 2 (rest of state), 3 (Snake River drainage), and 4 (NE block) closed.WGFD biologist Nyssa Whitford: Wyoming's sage-grouse population cycles every 7-9 years and is "entering the downward portion of the population cycle," compounded by an abnormally dry winter and an exceptionally hot, dry summer reducing food and sagebrush habitat availability.