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Montana · 2026-27 season year

Montana Small Game Season 2026-27

Grouse: September 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027. Rabbit: units open year-round per the agency. Every date below was read from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’s own published page, linked beside it, on September 19, 2026.

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.
October 10, 2026 to January 1, 2027
Pheasant
published
No open season
Quail
no season
September 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027
Grouse
published
units open year-round per the agency
Rabbit
published
units open year-round per the agency
Squirrel
published
2 zone rows
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
Five seasons, one state

Montana small game seasons, 2026-27

“When does small game season open” is five questions wearing one coat. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks dates ring-necked pheasant, mountain grouse (blue, ruffed and Franklin's grouse), sharp-tailed grouse, sage grouse and Hungarian and chukar partridge; rabbits and tree squirrels are nongame wildlife in Montana separately, so each species is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

Ring-necked Pheasant

published

Ring-necked Pheasant runs October 10, 2026 to January 1, 2027 across all zones.

Montana ring-necked pheasant, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Residents on all lands and nonresidents on private lands not in a hunting access programOctober 10, 2026January 1, 2027
Nonresidents on public lands and private lands in a hunting access programOctober 20, 2026January 1, 2027Nonresidents begin ten days later on these lands

Dates read from 2026 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations, Montana FWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Montana's pheasant season opens the second Saturday of October and runs to New Year's Day statewide, with a two day youth pheasant hunt in mid September. The agency's structure is by hunter class rather than by zone: nonresidents hunting public lands or hunting access program lands begin ten days after residents.

Opening day, the daily limit and the full season calendar are on the Montana pheasant season page.

Quail

no season

Montana has no open quail season for 2026-27. Montana holds no quail season. The 2026 regulations define upland game birds as sharp-tailed grouse, blue grouse, spruce (Franklin) grouse, prairie chicken, sage hen or sage grouse, ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasant, Hungarian partridge, ptarmigan, wild turkey and chukar partridge, and quail are not among them. Source: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Mountain Grouse

published

Mountain Grouse runs September 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027 across all zones.

Montana mountain grouse, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Statewide, all huntersSeptember 1, 2026January 1, 2027Blue, ruffed and Franklin's grouse dated together

Dates read from 2026 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations, Montana FWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Montana dates its forest grouse together as mountain grouse (blue, ruffed and Franklin's grouse), September 1 to January 1 statewide, and it is the one upland season where nonresidents on public or access program lands start on the same day as residents. Sharp-tailed and sage grouse are dated separately and closed west of the Continental Divide, and ptarmigan is closed.

Rabbits

published
Montana rabbits, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOpen year-round, per the agency

Dates read from 2026 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations, Montana FWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Montana classifies rabbits and hares as nongame wildlife rather than small game, and FWP states that rabbits may be hunted year-round in Montana, so there is no dated season to publish.

Tree squirrels

published
Montana tree squirrels, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOpen year-round, per the agency

Dates read from 2026 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations, Montana FWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Tree squirrels are nongame wildlife in Montana. FWP's nongame shooting page names tree squirrels among the nongame species and states that there are currently no regulations restricting the shooting of nongame species, so there is no closed season.

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

Nonresidents hunting on public lands and privately owned lands that are a part of a hunting access program begin hunting 10 days later than residents for all species except mountain grouse.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 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 Montana small game seasons the agency names

Beyond the five main species, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks dates 5 further seasons 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.

Youth Pheasant Hunt

published

Youth Pheasant Hunt runs September 19, 2026 to September 20, 2026 across all zones.

Montana youth pheasant hunt, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideSeptember 19, 2026September 20, 2026Legally licensed youth ages 15 and under

Dates read from 2026 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations, Montana FWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

A two day statewide youth pheasant hunt three weeks before the regular opener.

Sharp-tailed Grouse

published

Sharp-tailed Grouse runs September 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027 across all zones.

Montana sharp-tailed grouse, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Residents on all lands and nonresidents on private lands not in a hunting access program (east of the Continental Divide)September 1, 2026January 1, 2027
Nonresidents on public lands and private lands in a hunting access program (east of the Continental Divide)September 11, 2026January 1, 2027

Dates read from 2026 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations, Montana FWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Sharp-tailed grouse run September 1 to January 1 and are closed west of the Continental Divide.

Sage Grouse

published

Sage Grouse runs September 1, 2026 to September 30, 2026 across all zones.

Montana sage grouse, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Residents on all lands and nonresidents on private lands not in a hunting access program (east of the Continental Divide)September 1, 2026September 30, 2026
Nonresidents on public lands and private lands in a hunting access program (east of the Continental Divide)September 11, 2026September 30, 2026

Dates read from 2026 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations, Montana FWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

A September only sage grouse season, closed west of the Continental Divide.

Partridge

published

Partridge runs September 1, 2026 to January 10, 2027 across all zones.

Montana partridge, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Residents on all lands and nonresidents on private lands not in a hunting access program, statewide except the Carbon County portionSeptember 1, 2026January 1, 2027
Nonresidents on public lands and private lands in a hunting access program, statewide except the Carbon County portionSeptember 11, 2026January 1, 2027
Residents on all lands and nonresidents on private lands not in a hunting access program, portion of Carbon CountySeptember 1, 2026January 10, 2027The Carbon County portion is described by boundary in the regulations
Nonresidents on public lands and private lands in a hunting access program, portion of Carbon CountySeptember 11, 2026January 10, 2027

Dates read from 2026 Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations, Montana FWP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Hungarian and chukar partridge are dated together as partridge; the agency notes chukar occur primarily in Carbon County, where the season runs nine days longer.

Ptarmigan

no season

Montana has no open ptarmigan for 2026-27. The 2026 regulations mark ptarmigan Closed in every column of the season table. Source: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Rules

Montana 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 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Montana regulations

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

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks: 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 Rockies states

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

A ruffed grouse standing on snow with its feathers puffed against the cold, crest raised, in front of bare frosted branches
A ruffed grouse in northern Minnesota snow. Grouse seasons open in September or October in the northern forest states and several run through the winter. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Ruffed grouse (53480965635)”, USFWS Midwest Region, Public domain
Montana pheasant seasonOpening day, the daily limit and the full Montana pheasant calendar, read from the same agency.Montana deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer dates for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Montana turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, read from the same agency.Montana duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Montana fall foliagePeak color and the first grouse and squirrel weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Montana small game season questions

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 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks 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 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national small game season guide.