| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Season | 01 SEP – 31 DEC 2026 | 122d |
As publishedSep 1-Dec 31, 2026
Regulation labels this species "Blue (Dusky) Grouse" - maps to dusky-grouse.Statewide hunt area.
As with ruffed grouse, WGFD's own Chapter 13 management plan explains why no agency distribution map exists for dusky grouse (formerly 'blue grouse'): its individual, non-lek display behavior in rugged terrain makes standard survey routes impractical, so the chapter is a field-methodology document rather than a mapped range. Independent sourcing converges on the same broad pattern: dusky grouse inhabit Wyoming's mountain ranges generally but concentrate in the northwest, southwest, and southeast portions of the state, with the Bridger-Teton, Bighorn, and Shoshone National Forests named repeatedly as the strongest public-land access points. Higher-elevation conifer/aspen habitat distinguishes the species' preferred ground from ruffed grouse's lower-elevation riparian/aspen habitat within some of the same forest complexes. Statewide open season, no sub-state hunt-area split.
Wyoming's 2026 Hunt Forecast, published August 31, gives dusky grouse the state's one genuinely good upland read this year. Three regions mention the bird and all three are positive: Green River says the Sierra Madre Mountains should provide good opportunities, Pinedale reports decent populations in its forested country, and Laramie expects dusky grouse to fare better than its other upland birds, crediting precipitation at higher elevations. No region reports a decline. The story is less that numbers jumped than that the drought running the rest of Wyoming's upland season did not reach up into the timber, and three separate regional writers said so independently. Pinedale's read covers ruffed grouse in the same breath and the same forested country, and the two birds share a Sept 1 through Dec 31 season and a three-bird daily bag, so a trip into that timber is a two-grouse trip rather than a dusky-only one.
Positive dusky grouse reads from Green River, Pinedale, and Laramie, on higher-elevation forest habitat this year's drought largely missed.
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