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Wisconsin ruffed grouse regulations, 2026
Last updated 2026-09-24 · from WDNR data · 2026 season year
Wisconsin's 2026 ruffed grouse season runs September 12, 2026 to January 3, 2027, on dates that depend on the zone. No single bag limit is shown for it here — read the notes below and check the current WDNR regulations before you go. Hunter orange is required. Read against the 2026 season year, from WDNR.
Season and limits
- Season
- Ruffed grouse — September 12, 2026 to January 3, 2027
- Bag limit
- not shown No single bag limit is shown for it here. Where WDNR publishes one that changes by zone or partway through the season, the figures are in the notes below and this page will not pick one of them; where it publishes none at all, this page leaves it empty rather than guess — a wrong limit is worse than a missing one, because it looks researched. Check the Wisconsin Small Game Hunting Regulations.
- Hunter orange
- required At least 50% of clothing above the waist, and any head covering, must be blaze orange or fluorescent pink any time a firearm deer season is in progress. This applies to small game and archery hunters, not only to deer hunters. Waterfowl hunters are exempt.
- Wisconsin requires blaze orange or fluorescent pink only while a firearm deer season is in progress — but then it applies to small game hunters too. This app flags orange as required for the whole season because missing it during gun deer season is the dangerous error. Check the gun deer dates.
- WDNR sets the daily bag at five birds in Zone A and two in Zone B. This app shows one bag limit per species and cannot yet give a different one per zone, so the figure is left empty rather than printed wrong in half the state — take the one for the zone you are standing in.
- Zone A is the northern and central forest; Zone B the south-east. The boundary is WDNR's own zone polygons, from season_zones_wi.geojson, and the map resolves which side of it you are on — so the dates shown are the ones for where you are standing.
Zones
| Zone | Opens | Closes | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone A | September 12, 2026 | January 3, 2027 | 114 |
| Zone B | October 17, 2026 | December 8, 2026 | 53 |
Licences
- Small game licence
Everyone hunting small game — Bought through Go Wild, WDNR's licence system. - Hunter education certificate
Anyone born on or after 1 January 1973 — Or a mentored hunting licence, which requires a qualified mentor within arm's reach. - Federal HIP registration
Woodcock and every other migratory bird — Free registration with the federal harvest survey. - Pheasant stamp
Pheasant hunters on WDNR-stocked land — Required in addition to the small game licence to hunt land the state stocks.
The other questions
- How to hunt ruffed grouse in Wisconsin
- When does Wisconsin's 2026 ruffed grouse season open?
- Where to hunt ruffed grouse in Wisconsin
- Wisconsin ruffed grouse hunting report
- Ruffed grouse hunting in Wisconsin — the whole picture
- Ruffed grouse — biology, range and how it is hunted