National prominence
Sooty grouse
Sooty grouse lives in Pacific coastal mountain conifer forest, favoring canopy gaps and meadow edges where brush meets timber. Birds make a genuine elevation migration, moving to dense high-elevation forest by fall and back down by spring.
How to hunt Sooty grouse
Pacific coastal and coastal-mountain conifer forest, from the panhandle of southeastern Alaska (Haines to Ketchikan) south through the Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and northern Coast Ranges into California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Terrain is steep, wet, and densely vegetated: old-growth stands with canopy gaps and regenerating logged or burned ground with a grass/shrub understory hold birds during breeding season, narrowing to dense high-elevation conifer for fall and winter as birds migrate upslope, on foot, as much as 30 miles.
Two distinct hunts at two different ranges. The fall/shotgun season (California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska's own fall season) is walked-up forest-grouse hunting, with most shots inside 25 yards. Alaska's spring 'hoot hunt' is a different pursuit entirely: hunters locate a displaying male by his hoot call and shoot him off his perch, typically 75 to 100 feet up a conifer, a stationary, elevated shot rather than a flush. Most spring hunters use a scoped .22 rimfire rifle rather than a shotgun for exactly that reason; this record's gear recommendations are calibrated to the fall/shotgun hunt only.
Walking ridgelines, old logging-road two-tracks, and forest and meadow edges, the same search pattern used for dusky grouse in the historically-lumped 'blue grouse' complex. A pointing dog helps but isn't required; even an untrained dog can pop a bird into the air. Flushed birds sometimes fly up and perch in a tree rather than flying away, and may hold there until shot, a stationary-target presentation that shows up even within the fall hunt, not only the spring hoot hunt. Alaska's fall season is shotgun-based and conventional; young, lightly feathered early-season birds can be taken with an especially light load, down to .410 gauge with #9 shot.
What changes through the season
- Alaska's spring hoot hunt is a separate, rifle-based method not covered by this record's shotgun guidance
Alaska is the only state with a spring hoot-hunt season, and it's predominantly a rifle hunt: hunters locate a displaying male by his hoot call and take a stationary, elevated shot as he perches 75 to 100 feet up a conifer, rather than a flushing wingshot. Most spring hunters use a scoped .22 rimfire rifle instead of a shotgun. Alaska's fall season is conventional and shotgun-based.
- "Fool hen" tameness is real but conditional on the absence of a working dog
Sooty and dusky grouse are colloquially known as fool birds that sometimes hold tight enough to approach within a few yards before flushing, but they get considerably warier with a dog on the ground; they evolved to avoid four-legged predators, not humans. The open-choke, short-range default here assumes a close, often-stationary bird; a hunter working with a dog, or one who has already pushed a covey, shouldn't count on every bird holding that tight.
- Flushed birds often fly up and perch rather than flying away
A bird that holds on a branch until shot is a different presentation than one flushing into open air, and doesn't call for the same swing and lead most wingshooting technique assumes. It doesn't change the gauge, shot, or choke recommendation, but it's worth knowing before the shot presents itself.
- Deer and mountain goat hunters often encounter sooty grouse in Alaska while carrying a rifle, not a shotgun
In August and September, deer and goat hunters commonly see family groups of sooty grouse with well-grown chicks in alpine meadows near timberline, during the same weeks Alaska's fall grouse season is open. A hunter in that situation typically doesn't have a shotgun in hand at all, another reason the shotgun-based gear guidance here describes only part of how the species is actually taken in Alaska.
What to load for this hunt
Lead
- Gauge
- 20 gauge, 28 gauge, 12 gauge
- Shot size
- #7.5, #8, #6Agency
- Calibrated to the fall/shotgun hunt; Alaska's spring hoot hunt is predominantly a rifle hunt and sits outside this baseline. 20 gauge is the standard pick, with some hunters preferring 3-inch shells; 12 gauge is usable but heavier than the fast, close-range swing this cover rewards. 28 gauge, and even .410, suit light-boned grouse and ptarmigan just as well. #7.5 and #6 shot cover most birds, with #8 a good call early in the season when birds are less heavily feathered and flush closer. #6 is the heavier follow-up-shot or late-season option. Start with an open first-barrel choke (Skeet or Improved Cylinder) and tighten a notch for the second shot.
- Choke
- Skeet, Improved Cylinder
Non-toxic
| Steel | Bismuth | Tungsten-matrix | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shot size | #7, #8, #3, #4Estimate #7.5-8, since pattern density at short range, not raw body size, is what's being optimized for. The heavier #6 pick steps to #3-4, since this hunt's range stays short rather than stretching toward a true late-season long distance. Choke opens one step from the lead baseline. This steel guidance is calibrated to the fall/shotgun hunt only; it doesn't apply to Alaska's rifle-based spring hoot hunt. | #6, #7, #5Estimate A density-ratio estimate from the lead baseline (bismuth runs about 85% of lead's density versus steel's 70%, needing less of a size-up): roughly #6-7 at the light end and #5-6 at the heavy end. Choke stays matched to the lead baseline (Skeet/Improved Cylinder), since this hunt's shots don't reach Modified or tighter. | #7.5, #8, #6Estimate Matches the lead baseline directly at both ends. Tungsten-matrix runs about 95-97% of lead's density, needing no meaningful size or choke adjustment, and no choke restriction applies to the material, so choke matches the lead baseline exactly. |
| Choke | Cylinder, Skeet, Improved Cylinder | Skeet, Improved Cylinder | Skeet, Improved Cylinder |
Where it is open, and what the survey says
- AlaskaOpenVaries by hunter/zone/method — see detailADF&G's 2026 Alaska Small Game Summary calls for good numbers of sooty grouse near Petersburg this fall, with similar numbers expected near Juneau and Ketchikan, based on spring counts. A steady Southeast Alaska season, consistent with recent years rather than a called-out change.No weather driver named for this species specifically in this year's report.
- CaliforniaOpenVaries by hunter/zone/method — see detailNo outlook this cycle — California 2026
No formal population survey program exists for this species in this state.
- NevadaOpen01 SEP – 31 DEC 2026No outlook this cycle — Nevada 2026
No formal population survey program exists for this species in this state.
- OregonOpen01 SEP 2026 – 31 JAN 2027Awaiting survey — Oregon 2026
ODFW's Forest Grouse and Mountain Quail Parts Collection Summary, known as the wingbee report, is the only instrument covering sooty grouse. The most recent edition is titled 2022 and covers that year's season; no edition has published since, though the underlying wing-collection program is still active each March and April. This reads as an open-ended wait rather than a lapsed program.
- WashingtonOpen15 SEP 2026 – 15 JAN 2027No outlook this cycle — Washington 2026
No formal population survey program exists for this species in this state.
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