Alaska Grouse & Rabbit Season 2026-27: Small Game Dates

Q: When does grouse season open in Alaska in 2026-27?

Grouse (ruffed, sharp-tailed, spruce, and sooty): August 1, 2026 to May 15, 2027, varying by zone across 7 rows in the agency table. Alaska Department of Fish and Game publishes it under that name, and the zone table on this page was read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

Q: When is rabbit season in Alaska?

Hare (Alaska and snowshoe hare): August 1, 2026 to May 31, 2027, plus units the agency lists as year-round, varying by zone across 6 rows in the agency table. Alaska Department of Fish and Game publishes it under that name, and the zone table on this page was read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

Q: Which small game zone am I in, in Alaska?

Alaska sets different dates by zone for at least one species, and the boundaries are the agency's own, drawn along interstates, highways and county lines. Your zone is determined from the agency's own map: Alaska Department of Fish and Game publishes the official zone map and boundary descriptions, linked from this page.

Q: Where are the bag limits, legal methods and licence rules for Alaska small game?

At Alaska Department of Fish and Game, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding, change annually and vary by species, by zone and by land ownership. This page carries the season windows themselves, with source and read date attached.

Q: Can these Alaska small game dates change?

Yes. Agencies amend season orders, add or drop zones, and occasionally correct their own published tables mid season. This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 19, 2026, says so in the copy, and links the exact Alaska Department of Fish and Game page it read on September 19, 2026. Treat the agency page as the final word on the morning you hunt.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 19, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

units open year-round per the agency

Pheasant

published

units open year-round per the agency

Quail

published

August 1, 2026 to May 15, 2027

Grouse

published

August 1, 2026 to May 31, 2027, plus units the agency lists as year-round

Rabbit

published

units open year-round per the agency

Squirrel

published

7 zone rows

Zone structure

as the agency draws it

Five seasons, one state

Alaska small game seasons, 2026-27

“When does small game season open” is five questions wearing one coat. Alaska Department of Fish and Game dates grouse (ruffed, sharp-tailed, spruce and sooty), ptarmigan (rock, white-tailed and willow), Alaska and snowshoe hare, and squirrel (flying, ground and red); feral non-native chukar, partridge, pheasant, quail and wild turkey are unclassified game separately, so each species is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

Feral non-native game birds (Chukar, Partridge, Pheasant, Quail, and Wild Turkey)

published

Alaska feral non-native game birds (chukar, partridge, pheasant, quail, and wild turkey), as published by Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Units 1-26	Open year-round, per the agency		Listed under Unclassified Game with no closed season

Dates read from 2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations, Fur Animals, Small Game, Unclassified Game, and Deleterious Exotic Wildlife, ADF&G, accessed 2026-09-19.

Alaska has no managed pheasant season. The 2026-2027 regulations list feral non-native game birds, naming chukar, partridge, pheasant, quail and wild turkey, under Unclassified Game with no closed season in Units 1 through 26, which is why this row is year-round rather than dated. Special area restrictions apply in Unit 14C around Anchorage.

Quail in Alaska fall under the same Unclassified Game row as pheasant: feral non-native game birds with no closed season in Units 1 through 26. There is no wild quail population and no dated quail season.

Grouse (ruffed, sharp-tailed, spruce, and sooty)

published

Grouse (ruffed, sharp-tailed, spruce, and sooty) runs August 1, 2026 to May 15, 2027 across all zones.

Alaska grouse (ruffed, sharp-tailed, spruce, and sooty), as published by Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Units 1-6	August 1, 2026	May 15, 2027
Units 7 and 15	August 10, 2026	March 31, 2027
Units 9, 17-19, 21-24, and 26	August 10, 2026	April 30, 2027
Units 11-12, remainder of Unit 20, and Unit 25	August 10, 2026	March 31, 2027
Units 13, 14A, 14B, and 16	August 10, 2026	March 31, 2027
Unit 14C	September 1, 2026	March 31, 2027	Special area restrictions apply in Unit 14C
Unit 20D, that portion lying west of the east bank of the Johnson River and south of the north bank of the Tanana River	August 25, 2026	March 31, 2027

Dates read from 2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations, Fur Animals, Small Game, Unclassified Game, and Deleterious Exotic Wildlife, ADF&G, accessed 2026-09-19.

Alaska dates ruffed, sharp-tailed, spruce and sooty (formerly blue) grouse together by game management unit, with openers from August 1 in Southeast to September 1 in Unit 14C and closers from March 31 to May 15. The regulations list Units 8 and 10, Kodiak and the Aleutians, as having no open season for grouse.

Hare (Alaska and snowshoe hare)

published

Hare (Alaska and snowshoe hare) runs August 1, 2026 to May 31, 2027 across all zones.

Alaska hare (alaska and snowshoe hare), as published by Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Units 1-5 and 14C	September 1, 2026	April 30, 2027
Units 6-8, 10-13, 14B, 15-16, 19-21, 24-26	Open year-round, per the agency		The regulations list no closed season
Units 9 and 17 (snowshoe hare)	Open year-round, per the agency		Alaska hare has no open season in these units
Unit 14A	Open year-round, per the agency		The regulations list no closed season
Units 18, 22 and 23 (snowshoe hare)	Open year-round, per the agency		The regulations list no closed season
Units 18, 22 and 23 (Alaska hare)	August 1, 2026	May 31, 2027

Dates read from 2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations, Fur Animals, Small Game, Unclassified Game, and Deleterious Exotic Wildlife, ADF&G, accessed 2026-09-19.

Alaska's small game table has no rabbit row; its rabbit hunting is hare hunting, and the Hare row covers Alaska hare and snowshoe hare together while excluding the introduced Belgian hare. Most of the state has no closed season for hare, with dated seasons in Southeast, Unit 14C and, for Alaska hare only, in Units 18, 22 and 23.

Squirrel (flying, ground, and red squirrels)

published

Alaska squirrel (flying, ground, and red squirrels), as published by Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Units 1-26	Open year-round, per the agency		Listed under Fur Animals with no closed season

Dates read from 2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations, Fur Animals, Small Game, Unclassified Game, and Deleterious Exotic Wildlife, ADF&G, accessed 2026-09-19.

Alaska lists squirrel, including flying, ground and red squirrels, under Fur Animals with no closed season in Units 1 through 26; squirrels may be taken under either the hunting or the trapping regulations. There is no fox or gray squirrel in Alaska and no dated squirrel season.

Some rows above say “open year-round” rather than carrying a date. That is the agency’s own designation for those units.

2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027

Alaska Department of Fish and Game, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

A rooster ring-necked pheasant with a red face, iridescent green head and white neck ring striding through dry pale crop stubble — A rooster in harvested crop stubble in North Dakota. Most pheasant openers land in October and November, once the fields are cut. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Ring-necked pheasant (54120901581)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

The rest of the calendar

Other Alaska small game seasons the agency names

Beyond the five main species, Alaska Department of Fish and Game dates one further season on the same small game pages. They are reproduced here under the agency’s own names, because a hunter reading a calendar needs to know which window a licence or stamp actually covers.

Ptarmigan (rock, white-tailed, and willow ptarmigan)

published

Ptarmigan (rock, white-tailed, and willow ptarmigan) runs August 1, 2026 to June 15, 2027 across all zones.

Alaska ptarmigan (rock, white-tailed, and willow ptarmigan), as published by Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Units 1-5, 6A, 6B, and 6C	August 1, 2026	May 15, 2027
Unit 15C, that portion north of Kachemak Bay and north of the Fox River	August 10, 2026	January 31, 2027
Units 6D, 7, 11, 13A, 13C, 13D, 14A, 14B, 15A, 15B, 15C remainder, and 16	August 10, 2026	March 31, 2027
Unit 13B	August 20, 2026	February 15, 2027
Unit 13E	August 10, 2026	February 15, 2027
Unit 14C, excluding Eklutna Management Area	August 10, 2026	March 31, 2027
Unit 14C, Eklutna Management Area	September 1, 2026	March 31, 2027
Units 8, 10, 17, 19, 21-22, 24, 25A, 25B, 25D, and Unit 26B within the DHCMA and Prudhoe Bay Closed Area	August 10, 2026	April 30, 2027
Unit 9	August 10, 2026	February 28, 2027
Units 12, 20, and 25C (segment 1)	August 10, 2026	February 28, 2027	The regulations print these units as two consecutive periods
Units 12, 20, and 25C (segment 2)	March 1, 2027	April 30, 2027
Unit 18	August 10, 2026	May 15, 2027
Units 23 and 26, excluding Unit 26B within the DHCMA and Prudhoe Bay Closed Area	August 10, 2026	June 15, 2027

Dates read from 2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations, Fur Animals, Small Game, Unclassified Game, and Deleterious Exotic Wildlife, ADF&G, accessed 2026-09-19.

Ptarmigan, covering rock, white-tailed and willow ptarmigan, is Alaska's most widely dated upland bird, open in every unit with openers from August 1 to September 1 and closers from January 31 on the lower Kenai to June 15 in the Arctic. Lead shot is prohibited for bird hunting in Unit 26.

Rules

Alaska small game hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Alaska regulations

Bag and possession limits, legal methods, shooting hours, license and stamp requirements, and youth or special season rules for Alaska are set by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game: current regulations

Close view of an eastern cottontail rabbit in green grass, ears up, dark round eye and white chin catching the light — An eastern cottontail. Rabbit is usually the last small game season to close, running into February in most of the East and Midwest. Photo: Grayson Smith, USFWS. “Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (48935527872)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Small game season dates in other West states

Every state’s pheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel dates are on the national small game season page.

A pair of northern bobwhite quail standing together in a carpet of purple violets, the male with a bold white throat and eye stripe, the female buff faced — A bobwhite pair. Quail seasons run from late autumn into winter across the South and Midwest; several western states date scaled, Gambel's and California quail on the same row. Photo: Steve Maslowski, USFWS. “Colinus virginianus USFWS”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, Public domain

Alaska deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer dates for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Alaska duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Alaska fall foliagePeak color and the first grouse and squirrel weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Alaska small game season questions

When does grouse season open in Alaska in 2026-27?

When is rabbit season in Alaska?

Does Alaska have a pheasant season?

Which small game zone am I in, in Alaska?

Where are the bag limits, legal methods and licence rules for Alaska small game?

Can these Alaska small game dates change?

A fox squirrel with a grey back and rust orange belly crouched on a lichen covered branch against bare winter trees and blue sky — A fox squirrel in bare winter woods in Ohio. Squirrel is the earliest small game opener in many states, from mid August or September, and runs to January or February. “Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger vulpinus) (13255025953)” by Andrew C, CC BY 2.0

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 19, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game page linked beside it, read on September 19, 2026; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Bag and possession limits, legal methods, shooting hours and licence rules are set by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national small game season guide.