09/11/2026
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From North Dakota Game and Fish Department
North Dakotaโs late summer roadside surveys indicated pheasant and sharp-tailed grouse numbers are slightly up from last year, while gray partridge numbers are down.
Total pheasants observed (80 per 100 miles) are up 3.8% from last year. Broods per 100 miles (9.6) and average brood size (5.3) are similar to last year. The statewide number of pheasants observed per 100 miles is 57% above the 10-year average.
Pheasants observed in the northwest were up 7% to 85 pheasants per 100 miles. Broods per 100 miles and average brood size were also up just slightly to 10.5 broods, with an average brood size of 4.7 chicks.
โThe northwest continues to produce good pheasant numbers,โ said upland game bird biologist RJ Gross, โalthough many hunters have caught on to this trend the last few years and hunting pressure has followed.โ
Results from the southeast showed 8.6 broods and 64 pheasants per 100 miles, down from 9.4 broods and 72 pheasants in 2025. Average brood size was 5 chicks. Gross said hunters in the southeast will need to find local areas of suitable habitat that had good production.
The highest counts were found in southwestern North Dakota, which indicated 112 pheasants and 13 broods per 100 miles, similar to 14 broods and 115 pheasants in 2025. Average brood size was 5.7 chicks.
โHabitat conditions in the southwest were very good for nesting, the population has rebounded to about 80% of what it was prior to the 2017 drought,โ said Gross.
Pheasant numbers in the northeast district, generally containing secondary pheasant habitat, have been growing beyond their traditional normal range, said Gross.
โHistorically, the southern part of this district has the best numbers, but the Devils Lake and Jamestown areas both showed nice increases,โ he said.
Observers in the northeast counted 5 broods and 43 pheasants per 100 miles, compared to 3 broods and 22 pheasants last year. Average brood size was 6 chicks.
โSharp-tailed grouse, unfortunately, experienced yet another year of poor production, this time due primarily to extremely hot, dry stretches this summer,โ said upland game management supervisor, Jesse Kolar. โOne perk this year is a slight increase in relative abundance from good overwinter survival.โ
Sharptails were up 16% statewide (9.7 sharptails per 100 miles), but remain 31% below the 10-year average. Brood survey results showed 1.1 broods per 100 miles and an average brood size of 5 chicks.
Partridge observed per 100 miles were down 17% (13 partridge per 100 miles). Observers recorded 1.2 broods per 100 miles, and 8 chicks per brood.
The grouse and partridge seasons open Sept. 12 and continue through Jan. 3, 2027.
The pheasant season opens Oct. 10 and continues through Jan. 3, 2027. The two-day youth pheasant hunting weekend, when legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 and younger can hunt statewide, is set for Oct. 3-4.
As a reminder, nonresidents are prohibited from hunting Private Lands Open To Sportsmen and wildlife management areas from Oct. 10-16.
