Wyoming · UplandRuffed grouse

WGFD's own Chapter 13 management plan (shared with dusky grouse) confirms directly why no agency distribution map exists for this species: unlike lek-based sage-grouse and sharp-tailed grouse surveys, ruffed and dusky grouse display individually in terrain where survey routes are impractical, so the plan focuses entirely on opportunistic field-observation methodology rather than a mapped distribution. In the absence of a primary agency map, independent hunting-press and forum sourcing converges on the same three named forested-mountain clusters: the Bridger-Teton National Forest corridor from Pinedale up through the Snake River Canyon between Grand Teton and Yellowstone in the northwest; the Black Hills of Crook and Weston counties in the extreme northeast, where aspen and birch stands on National Forest land hold modest but real numbers; and the Bighorn National Forest in north-central Wyoming. Statewide open season, no sub-state hunt-area split.