Washington’s forest grouse season opens Monday

The best kind of hiking season is about to start.

Washington’s forest grouse season opens Monday, and hunters and their dogs will be headed to their favorite honey holes in the woods with dreams of flushing birds, fast shooting and good eating.

All three species of forest grouse – ruffed, dusky and spruce – are available to hunters in Washington. Spruce grouse are the more rare species. They’re found in the highest elevation forests while ruffed grouse are more likely found at lower elevations and in valley bottoms. Dusky grouse, also known as blue grouse, are generally found in the areas between the other two species.

Grouse numbers aren’t in great shape, at least according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The agency tracks the population through harvest reports and wing barrel collections.

All three are available in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recently published hunting prospects, however, harvest numbers have been trending down for roughly 16 years.

Data for the most recent season wasn’t available, but the report showed hunters took between 5,000 and 6,000 grouse in the three counties in 2023, which was down from close to 9,000 in 2020.

In Spokane, Lincoln and Whitman counties, where only ruffed and dusky grouse are found, biologists say the population numbers appear to be low but stable. The prospects say conditions should have allowed for good hatching success, but that hot and dry conditions may have reduced the forage available to the birds.

The Blue Mountains in southeastern Washington are home to both dusky and ruffed grouse. Harvest has trended downward there, too, and the hunting prospects also flagged the hot and dry conditions as a concern for recruitment of young grouse.

Wildfire season is still on, so hunters will need to check for closures when making plans. A handful of fires burning in northeastern Washington have forced road and area closures that might limit hunting opportunities.

Hunters should also plan to help WDFW track grouse numbers. The agency is again urging hunters to save wings and tails from the grouse they harvest and drop them off at one of the barrels they have set up around the state. A map of the sites is available on WDFW’s website.