Utah · UplandDusky grouse

Season is statewide (shared bag limit with ruffed grouse), and UDWR's own 2022 Upland Game Management Plan describes dusky grouse as present throughout forested portions of Utah, markedly broader than ruffed grouse's Cache/Wasatch/Uinta-only range, but the plan is explicit that this breadth is not continuous: dusky grouse occur in distinct pockets of habitat unconnected to the Wasatch Range, reflecting the species' preference for conifer-dominated high-elevation winter range reached via elevational migration (versus ruffed grouse's riparian/aspen specialism). The Central Region priorities section names the concrete West Desert island mountain ranges targeted for dusky/ruffed aspen-habitat improvement work: Deep Creek, Stansbury, Oquirrh and Sheeprock Mountains, disconnected outposts of forested habitat surrounded by desert basin, distinct from the main Wasatch/Uinta forested backbone.