How is sharptail hunting different from pheasant hunting?

Sharptails live in open native prairie rather than dense agricultural cover, flush at longer range in loose coveys, and require more walking across open ground rather than working thick grass strips.

Can I hunt sharptail and prairie chicken together?

In areas of range overlap, yes, and some states have combined bag limits — check current regulations since the two species can be hard to distinguish in flight.

What's the best gun setup?

A 12- or 20-gauge with a modified or improved-modified choke and 6 shot handles the typical prairie flush distance better than the more open chokes used for grouse or quail.

Not strictly, but a ranging pointer or flushing dog dramatically improves covey-finding efficiency across large expanses of similar-looking prairie.

When is the best time to hunt?

Early morning and late afternoon, when birds move between roosting cover and feeding areas near grain fields or berry-producing shrubs.

Do sharptails migrate?

No, they are non-migratory and stay on the same general range year-round, though winter flocks can group into larger coveys near heavier cover.

Hunting · Small Game & Birds · Sharp-Tailed Grouse

Sharp-Tailed Grouse Hunting

A prairie grouse that flushes in loose coveys from mixed grass and rolling hills, made for a long walk and an open-choke shotgun.

Sharp-tailed grouse are birds of open mixed-grass prairie, brushy coulees, and grain-field edges across the Dakotas, Montana, and prairie Canada, gathering in loose coveys of 5–15 birds outside of the spring lek-dancing season.

They're a walking hunter's bird — no blinds, no calling, just miles of rolling native prairie covered on foot with a dog ranging ahead, flushing coveys that scatter into singles you can work again.

Sharptails often share range with pheasants and Hungarian partridge, so a single fall walk through prairie CRP and grain-field edges can produce a genuine mixed bag.

Range: Northern Great Plains & prairie Canada
Peak season: Sept – Nov
Tag access: Over-the-counter
Live weight: 1.5–2 lb

Where to hunt sharp-tailed grouse

The best sharptail hunting sits in the transition zone between native mixed-grass prairie and grain agriculture across the northern Plains.

Place	Why it's worth your time	How you get a tag
South Dakota	Strong native prairie populations in the west-river region	Over-the-counter small-game or combination license
North Dakota	Excellent PLOTS public access through native prairie and CRP	Over-the-counter license, PLOTS guide published each fall
Montana	Huge expanses of native prairie with light hunting pressure	Over-the-counter upland bird license
Nebraska (Sandhills)	Unique dune-prairie habitat with good sharptail density	Over-the-counter licenses; Open Fields and Waters access
Saskatchewan & Alberta	Massive native prairie tracts with strong bird numbers	Nonresident license and often a licensed outfitter required

How to hunt sharp-tailed grouse: the repeatable method

Sharptail hunting means long walks across open prairie, working coveys that flush at a distance and often re-flush as workable singles.

1Hunt native mixed-grass prairie, especially rolling hills near grain fields where birds feed morning and evening.
2Walk into or across the wind so a ranging dog can scent birds well ahead of the gun.
3Expect covey flushes at longer range than most upland birds — sharptails are wary and often flush at 30–40 yards.
4Mark where singles scatter after the initial covey flush and work that area methodically for a second and third flush.
5Focus on coulees, brushy draws, and shelterbelts for midday loafing cover when birds aren't in open feeding areas.
6Cover ground steadily rather than stopping often — sharptails hold less tightly than grouse and will run or flush wild if pressured slowly.
7Hunt early morning and late afternoon when birds move between roosting cover and grain-field edges.
8Carry more shells than you think you'll need — covey flushes often present multiple close-together shot opportunities.

Sharp-Tailed Grouse tracks, droppings, and sign

Sharptail sign concentrates on prairie leks and in the transition between native grass and brushy draws.

Tracks

2 in., prairie

Three-toed prints in dust and snow, usually in loose groups because sharptails move in coveys. Winter foot feathering widens the print.

Droppings

Fibrous coils

Dry fibrous coils with white caps in roosting grass. Concentrations in a single grass pocket mean a covey roost.

Leks (dancing grounds)

Spring

Bare, cropped, trampled hilltop openings with heavy droppings and feathers where males dance in April. Coveys stay near lek complexes all year.

Buffaloberry & bud feeding

Fall & winter

Stripped buffaloberry, chokecherry, and rosehip thickets in draws, and clipped birch and aspen buds in trees during hard winter.

Loafing cover

Draws

Flattened grass and feathers on the leeward side of a draw or a snowberry patch, usually on the sunny side in cold weather.

Tags, licenses, and seasons

Sharptail tags require only a basic upland bird or small-game license — the effort is in finding native prairie access, not securing permission from a draw system.

1Buy a small-game or upland bird license online from the state wildlife agency.
2Check whether it's bundled with a general combination license alongside pheasant and partridge, common in the Dakotas.
3Use public/PLOTS/walk-in access maps to identify native prairie tracts, since sharptails avoid dense monoculture cropland.
4Confirm season dates and bag limits — usually 3–4 birds daily, sometimes combined with prairie chicken in overlapping range.
5If hunting Canada, book with a licensed outfitter or confirm nonresident licensing requirements well in advance of the season.

What the hunt is actually like

A sharptail hunt feels like a pheasant hunt turned up in scale — miles of open, rolling prairie instead of grassy draws, with a dog working hundreds of yards ahead across visible terrain rather than hidden cover.

The covey flush is loud and sudden even at distance — a dozen birds cackling up together and scattering across a hillside, several within range and several not. It rewards a hunter who can pick a single bird out of a rising group.

The follow-up work on scattered singles is often the best shooting of the day, since individual birds hold tighter after a covey break and offer closer, more deliberate flushes.

Unknown photographer / Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Gear that decides the outcome

Not a shopping list — the handful of items that change whether you fill the tag and whether the meat gets home in good condition.

12- or 20-gauge with modified/improved-modified choke

Longer shots

Sharptail flushes are often farther than pheasant or grouse; a tighter choke than typical upland guns helps reach out.

6 shot for range

Balance pattern and reach

Slightly larger shot than grouse loads helps retain energy at the longer distances typical of prairie flushes.

Good optics or binoculars

Spot coveys at distance

Glassing a hillside before walking in can locate feeding coveys and save miles of unproductive walking.

Sturdy hiking boots

Miles of open ground

Prairie terrain is uneven with badger holes and cactus in some areas — ankle support and tough soles matter.

GPS dog collar

Wide-ranging dogs

Dogs cover huge ground on open prairie; a GPS collar keeps you oriented to where your dog is working relative to you.

How to harvest and field dress sharp-tailed grouse

Sharptails flush wild and far, and they land in country where everything looks the same. Marking matters more than shooting.

1Mark the fall the moment the sharptail folds. Pick a landmark behind the bird — a stump, a color change in the cover — and walk straight to it without taking your eyes off it.
2Send the dog immediately if you have one; a runner covers a shocking amount of ground in thirty seconds. If you are hunting without a dog, walk a tight grid from the fall and look for feathers, not the whole bird.
3Dispatch a cripple immediately by pressing your thumb behind the head and firmly extending the neck, or by cervical dislocation with a quick pull. Do not wring wings or crush the breast.
4Check your bird against the daily limit and, where required, leave a fully feathered wing or head attached for species identification during transport.
5Field dress hot birds right away: open the vent, hook two fingers in, and pull the entrails out in one motion. This drops core temperature immediately and keeps the meat sweet.
6Keep birds cool and uncrowded in a game bag or vest with airflow. Stacking warm birds in a plastic sack is how a good day turns into sour meat by the truck.

Safety and legal notice

This is general educational information, not legal advice and not a substitute for hunter education. Hunting law is set by the state, province, territory, tribal nation, or country you are standing in, and it changes every year.

Confirm the current season dates, legal hours, weapon and ammunition restrictions, tagging, and transport rules with the governing wildlife agency before you hunt.
Public-land, tribal, refuge, and private-property rules can differ from statewide regulations — verify the rules for the exact unit you are hunting.
Complete a certified hunter-education course and follow firearm and archery safety rules at all times; identify your target and what is beyond it before you release a shot.
Knife work on a downed animal causes most non-firearm hunting injuries. Cut away from your body, use cut-resistant gloves, and never work a blade toward a partner.
Recovering game in remote terrain, cold water, steep ground, or bear country carries real risk. Carry communication, tell someone your plan, and be willing to leave an animal rather than get hurt.

How to skin and process sharp-tailed grouse

Sharptail is darker and stronger than pheasant. Handle it well and it is excellent; handle it badly and it earns its reputation.

1Get the entrails out within minutes on a warm September day. More than any other upland bird, sharptail flavor is decided in the first hour after the shot.
2To pluck dry, work while the bird is still warm and pull small pinches of feathers in the direction they lay, starting on the breast. Ripping big handfuls tears the skin.
3To scald, dunk the bird 30–60 seconds in 150°F water with a squirt of dish soap, then the feathers slip off in sheets. Do not boil — hot water cooks the skin and it will tear.
4To breast the bird out, lay it on its back, pinch the skin at the keel and tear it open, then run a boning knife down each side of the breastbone and lift the fillets off the ribs.
5Take the legs and thighs too — pop the hip joint back and cut through. Bird legs make the best braise on the whole animal and most hunters throw them away.
6Reach in behind the ribs for the heart, liver, and gizzard. Split the gizzard, peel out the yellow lining, and rinse it — it is one of the best parts of the bird.
7Pick out shot pellets, trim bloodshot meat, and rinse briefly in cold water. Pat completely dry — wet birds freezer-burn fast.
8Age whole birds uncovered in the fridge 2–4 days before cooking or freezing. Vacuum-seal or wrap tight in freezer paper; breasted birds keep about a year, whole birds about six months.

Safety, health, and legal notice

Skinning and processing steps here are educational only. Food-safety outcomes depend on your handling, temperatures, and local health and wildlife rules.

Wear gloves and eye protection; wild game can carry brucellosis, tularemia, rabies, trichinella, and other zoonotic disease. Wash hands, blades, and surfaces thoroughly.
Follow your agency's chronic wasting disease, avian influenza, and carcass-transport rules, including mandatory testing and restrictions on moving intact heads or spinal columns across boundaries.
Chill meat below 40°F quickly and cook wild game to the USDA-recommended internal temperature — 165°F for game birds and 160°F for ground meat.
Do not eat meat from an animal that looked or behaved sick, and contact your wildlife agency if you find anything abnormal.
Selling, bartering, donating, or shipping wild game meat is restricted or prohibited in many jurisdictions. Check before you give any of it away.

Meat care and what you take home

Sharptail grouse yields lean, mild breast meat similar to ruffed grouse, typically 6–8 ounces per bird.

Best cooked quickly and kept rare to medium in the breast; older birds taken late season benefit from braising.

Combine several birds for a full meal, and save legs for stock given their toughness from a life of walking prairie terrain.

Sharp-Tailed Grouse photo gallery(6 photos · tap to zoom)

Official sources and further reading

Seasons, bag limits, and shell restrictions change every year — especially for migratory birds. Confirm with these agencies before you hunt.

North Dakota Game and Fish Department
PLOTS public access guide and upland season information.
South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks
Licensing and public land access for prairie grouse.
Pheasants Forever
Prairie habitat programs that also benefit sharptail grouse.
USFWS — Hunting
Federal hunting resources and public land access information.

Keep going

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Northern Bobwhite Quail

Pointing dogs locking up on a covey, then an explosive close flush — the quintessential Southern upland hunting tradition.

Questions

Frequently asked

How is sharptail hunting different from pheasant hunting?: Sharptails live in open native prairie rather than dense agricultural cover, flush at longer range in loose coveys, and require more walking across open ground rather than working thick grass strips.
Can I hunt sharptail and prairie chicken together?: In areas of range overlap, yes, and some states have combined bag limits — check current regulations since the two species can be hard to distinguish in flight.
What's the best gun setup?: A 12- or 20-gauge with a modified or improved-modified choke and 6 shot handles the typical prairie flush distance better than the more open chokes used for grouse or quail.
Is a dog necessary?: Not strictly, but a ranging pointer or flushing dog dramatically improves covey-finding efficiency across large expanses of similar-looking prairie.
When is the best time to hunt?: Early morning and late afternoon, when birds move between roosting cover and feeding areas near grain fields or berry-producing shrubs.
Do sharptails migrate?: No, they are non-migratory and stay on the same general range year-round, though winter flocks can group into larger coveys near heavier cover.

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