Colorado white-tailed ptarmigan season 2026-27: dates, units and bag limits

White-tailed ptarmigan is open in Colorado from September 12, 2026 to November 22, 2026, in the areas listed below. 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

Shooting hours: Half an hour before sunrise to sunset.

Units we can plan for white-tailed ptarmigan

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.

Ptarmigan season 1: statewide except GMUs 44, 45, 53, 54, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 74 to 81, 444 and 751

165 units: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 69, 72, 73, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 161, 171, 181, 191, 201, 211, 214, 231, 301, 361, 371, 391, 411, 421, 431, 441, 461, 471, 481, 500, 501, 511, 512, 521, 551, 561, 581, 591, 681, 682, 691, 711, 741, 771, 791, 851, 861, 951.

GMUs 39 and 46 are not offered because of the Mt. Blue Sky Highway closure.

Ptarmigan season 2: only GMUs 44, 45, 53, 54, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 74 to 81, 444 and 751

19 units: 44, 45, 53, 54, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 444, 751.

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 white-tailed ptarmigan

• 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. A rifle, handgun, air gun or slingshot is also legal for ptarmigan.
• Keep one fully feathered wing or the head on each bird until you are home.

Do not mistake these for white-tailed ptarmigan

• Dusky grouse (different season or permit): Much larger and dark, with a square banded tail, at and below treeline. Its season is west of I-25 with a limit of 3.
• Pika (protected or closed: never shoot): A small round mammal in the rocks, not a bird, but the other thing that moves on the tundra. It may not be hunted.

How to hunt white-tailed ptarmigan

• Walk the tundra and glass ahead. The birds trust their camouflage and often sit until you are close.
• Road-access sites such as Guanella and Independence passes are hunted hard and the birds there have declined. Walk further.
• This is high ground in autumn. Watch the weather, the daylight and the altitude.

What a map cannot tell you

• CPW's own study found that no map layer predicts which tundra the birds use. Treat the pins as a place to start walking, not a prediction.
• The planner cannot cut a unit along a road, so GMUs 39 and 46 (Mt. Blue Sky) are not offered at all.
• Some alpine roads close with the first snow. the planner checks Forest Service road dates only where the road map gives them.

Source

2026 Colorado Small Game & Waterfowl brochure (corrections 21 Aug 2026), pages 5, 7, 11 and 20: 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.