41 states with a season, general openers from September 5 to December 10
Pheasant Season 2026: Opening Day in Every State
Every state’s pheasant season on one calendar, this fall’s bird outlook in each agency’s own words, and the walk-in land open to anyone with a license. Every date was read from the state agency on October 8, 2026.
41
States with a pheasant season
Sep 5 first, Dec 10 last
Nov 1
Open by
half the states, by that date
12
2026 outlooks published
3 up, 4 down, 1 similar
22
States with walk-in or public access land
program and acreage below
The openers
Pheasant season opening day by state
Counting each state’s general season, North Carolina opens first, on September 5, and New Mexico opens last, on December 10. 16 states open in October and 17 in November, and half of the 40 states with a general season are open by November 1. Arizona holds only limited pheasant hunts, such as a single unit or a falconry or archery season; its page lists them. 21 states hold a youth season, 20 of them ahead of the general opener, shown here as the lighter marks on each bar.
Season in northern and eastern New York, Oct 1 to Feb 28; Season in western New York, Oct 17 to Feb 28; Season on Long Island, Nov 1 to Dec 31; Youth in northern and eastern New York, Sep 26 to 27; Youth in western New York, Oct 10 to 11; Youth on Long Island, Oct 24 to 25
Season for residents, Oct 10 to Jan 1; Season for nonresident 3-day license holders on private land, Oct 17 to Jan 1; Season for nonresidents on public and access program land, Oct 20 to Jan 1; Youth, Sep 19 to 20
Unit 40B shotgun hunt near Yuma, Sep 1 to 15; Falconry season, Sep 7 to Feb 7; Archery season, Oct 16 to Feb 7
General season Youth hunts Resident only days Limited huntsSorted by opening day. Each state's page has its zones, its limits and the agency's own dates.
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Are there birds this year
The 2026 pheasant outlook, state by state
Each agency runs its own count in summer: an August roadside survey in Iowa and Minnesota, a brood survey in North Dakota, rural mail carriers counting birds along their routes in Nebraska. The change column is the agency’s own figure against its own last year, and the words beside it are the agency’s. For Colorado, Illinois, Ohio and Oklahoma, the latest outlook is from 2025, and the table says so.
“Hunters may find an occasional pheasant in the far southwestern corner of Arizona, but numbers have not been high for several years with clean farming practices being enforced on agricultural activities in the area.”Source
“Pheasant populations across the eastern plains of Colorado will range from slightly better to significantly better than 2024, depending on local conditions.”SourceThe change, as the agency gives it: up from 20.6 in 2024, a 51% increase
“The Iowa Department of Natural Resources annual August statewide pheasant survey averaged 23 birds per route this year, which is the second highest count in more than a decade, behind only the 2025 survey.”SourceThe change, as the agency gives it: significant decrease over last year's estimate of 27.4 birds/route on comparable routes (-17%)
“Pheasant densities decreased across all regions this year as there was heavy rain during peak hatch across most of the primary range limiting production.”Source
“This has been a difficult year to put together an outlook for upland bird hunting, but habitat conditions have biologists optimistic that bird numbers will be up from 2025.”Source
“Statewide spring pheasant counts increased 11% from 2025 and saw increases in five of six pheasant management regions. Statewide counts also increased 36% during the summer compared to 2025.”Source
“In 2025, there were a total of 88 male pheasants detected at 342 route stops, for an index of 0.26 pheasants/stop. The annual population index was similar to 2024”Source
“Overall, wild pheasant numbers are likely to be below average this coming hunting season, but with continued WDFW pheasant releases supporting a put-and-take hunt of pheasants, we don’t expect to see harvest rates dip much compared to last year.”Source
“The DNR reported the 2026 average pheasant observations at 0.73 pheasants per stop, a decrease from 2025 at 0.81 pheasants per stop.”Source
Where to go without a farm to ask
Walk-in hunting and public access land
22 states lease private land for public hunting or publish an atlas of every acre open to it. The most land, by the acreage each agency prints: Idaho (over three million acres), Oregon (over 2.6 million acres), Kansas (almost 1.7 million acres) and South Dakota (over 1.4 million acres). Each program name links to its atlas where the agency has one. The signs, the dates and the rules for each are on the state page.
A rooster feeding in a disced crop field beside LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota. Birds feed in the open early and late and sit in grass and cattails through the middle of the day, which is the pattern behind the mid morning starts in South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. “Ring-necked pheasant at LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge (51154749494)”, Tom Koerner, USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain
Released birds
States that stock pheasants on public land
Where wild birds are few, agencies raise pheasants on game farms and release them on public land ahead of the season or through it. 21 states publish a release program. Counts are as each agency prints them; a count from an earlier year carries its year. Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia write a bag that counts hens as well as roosters.
11 IDNR controlled pheasant hunting areas listed for 2026-27 (Des Plaines, Eldon Hazlet, Green River, Iroquois County, Jim Edgar Panther Creek, Johnson Sauk Trail, Kankakee River, Moraine View, Sand Ridge, Silver Springs, Wayne Fitzgerrell)
13 state game/wildlife areas throughout southern Michigan (Cass City, Cornish, Crane Pond, Crow Island, Dansville, Erie, Lapeer, Leidy Lake, Townline 16, Pte. Mouille, Rose Lake, Stanton, St. Johns Marsh)
Charlemont Metro Park (Lorain County) and the following wildlife areas: Appalachian Hills, Berlin, Caesar Creek, Camp Belden, Darke, Delaware, Fallsville, Grand River, Highlandtown, Indian Creek, Oxbow Lake, Resthaven, Rush Run, Spencer, Spring Valley, Tiffin River, Tri-Valley, West Branch, Wyandot, and Zepernick
Sand Mesa, Ocean Lake, Yellowtail, Springer/Bump Sullivan, Table Mountain and North Glendo WHMAs, Muddy Bay and Airport Bay Public Access Areas, Bud Love WHMA, Buffalo Run State Land, Fort Phil Kearny HMA, three Johnson and Sheridan County Walk-In Areas, Ulm/Dutch Creek State Land and Welch BLM
A hen in a South Dakota wheat field. Hens carry next year’s birds, so the bag in the wild bird states is written for roosters only, and the brown bird that gets up beside a rooster is the one to let fly. “NRCSSD03010 - South Dakota (6147)(NRCS Photo Gallery)”, Dennis Larson, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Public domain
Pheasant season questions
It depends on the state. Of the 41 states with a season, North Carolina opens first, on September 5, and New Mexico opens last, on December 10, counting each state's general season. Half the states are open by November 1. Arizona holds only limited pheasant hunts, such as a single unit or a falconry or archery season; its page lists them.
South Dakota's pheasant season opens Saturday, October 17, 2026, and closes January 31, 2027. A resident only season runs Oct 10 to 12. The youth season comes first, Sep 26 to Oct 4. Shooting hours there are 10 a.m. Central Time to sunset, all season (Central Time used statewide for opening hours).
12 states have published a 2026 outlook. By each agency's own reading, 3 are up on last year, 4 are down and 1 is similar; the rest put it in words. The gains are in Minnesota (nearly 20%), Nebraska (36%) and North Dakota (3.8%). The latest outlook from Colorado, Illinois, Ohio and Oklahoma is from 2025, and those pages carry the year. Each agency counts its own way, so the survey indexes compare within a state, year to year, rather than between states.
In 26 of the 41 states the agency writes the bag for roosters only. Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia write a bag that counts either sex. Each state page gives its own rule.
Private land the state agency leases for public hunting, usually marked with signs and shown in an atlas, where no permission is needed. 22 states list a public access program on these pages, from South Dakota's Walk-In Areas to Kansas WIHA and Nebraska's Open Fields and Waters.
21 states hold a youth season, 20 of them ahead of the general opener. Each state page gives its dates and who may take part.
21 states publish a program that releases pen raised birds on public land. The stocking table gives each one's count as the agency prints it, with the year of any count from an earlier season.
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Quail, grouse and small game
Upland seasons in nine more states
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee set their upland seasons for native birds and small game. Each one’s quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel dates are on its small game page.
Every state read October 8, 2026 from its wildlife agency’s regulations, season announcement and outlook, each linked on the state’s page. An agency can move a date or close an area between the printed regulations and opening day, so the agency page linked on each state’s page is the one that governs.
A rooster under ice coated shrubs in an Iowa winter. Late in the season birds bunch up in the heaviest cover close to food, so a December hunt is a hunt of shelterbelts, cattail sloughs and food plots rather than open grass. “NRCSIA01040 - Iowa (2389)(NRCS Photo Gallery)”, Roger Hill, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Public domain
