Colorado mountain sharp-tailed grouse season 2026-27: dates, units and bag limits
Mountain sharp-tailed grouse is open in Colorado from September 1, 2026 to September 20, 2026, only GMUs 4, 5, 12, 13, 14, 23, 131, 211, 214 and 441. This page has the 2026-27 dates, the daily bag and possession limits, the licences you need and the rules that apply, read from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife brochure.
2026-27 season dates and limits
| Season | Dates | Where | Daily bag | Possession |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain sharp-tailed grouse season | September 1, 2026 to September 20, 2026 | only GMUs 4, 5, 12, 13, 14, 23, 131, 211, 214 and 441 | 2 | 4 |
Shooting hours: Half an hour before sunrise to sunset.
Units we can plan for mountain sharp-tailed grouse
The legal area is as the brochure words it in the table above. These are the units inside it that our maps cover: a unit missing from a list may still be open, so check the brochure.
Mountain sharp-tailed grouse season: only GMUs 4, 5, 12, 13, 14, 23, 131, 211, 214 and 441
10 units: 4, 5, 12, 13, 14, 23, 131, 211, 214, 441.
Licences and stamps
- Colorado small game licence
- Colorado Habitat Stamp
- Harvest Information Program (HIP) number for this season
- The permit this species needs (see the brochure)
Rules for mountain sharp-tailed grouse
- Carry the white-tailed ptarmigan, greater sage-grouse and mountain sharp-tailed grouse permit.
- Shotgun (10 gauge or smaller, no slugs, three shells at most), bow or crossbow only. No rifles or handguns.
- Keep one fully feathered wing or the head on each bird until you are home.
Do not mistake these for mountain sharp-tailed grouse
- Plains sharp-tailed grouse (protected or closed: never shoot): The same bird to look at, on the north-east plains (Weld, Logan, Sedgwick counties). No season. Sharp-tails are legal only in the ten north-west units.
- Greater sage-grouse (different season or permit): Much larger, with a long pointed tail and a dark belly. Its own short season and limit.
- Dusky grouse (different season or permit): Larger and darker with a square banded tail, at the aspen and timber edge.
- Greater prairie-chicken (different season or permit): Square dark tail and barring across the whole breast and belly. North-east plains only.
How to hunt mountain sharp-tailed grouse
- Walk grass and shrub mixed with serviceberry and chokecherry, and the edges of hay and old grain fields.
- Birds flush in ones and twos from one spot. Stand still after the first flush.
Where to walk for mountain sharp-tailed grouse in your unit
FilledTag finds the patches of the right habitat for your date on public land in the unit you choose, each with legal parking and the walk from the truck.
Check my hunt See a sample planWhat a map cannot tell you
- The birds stay within about 2 km of their dancing ground all autumn. the planner does not know where the dancing grounds are.
- Much sharp-tail country is private or Walk-In Access land, which is not in the planner.
Source
2026 Colorado Small Game & Waterfowl brochure (corrections 21 Aug 2026), pages 5, 7 and 10: https://cpw.widen.net/s/bklvf2bjmw/colorado-small-game--waterfowl-brochure. Read October 2, 2026. Rules change every year, and corrections are issued during the season: read the current brochure before you hunt.