Oregon · Pheasant · 2026 Edition
Oregon Pheasant Season 2026: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Rooster pheasant — general season | Statewide | Oct 10 – Dec 31 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily | 2 rooster pheasants |
|---|---|
| Possession | 8 rooster pheasants |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (October 10, 2026) 06:41 — 18:25
Rule: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset — stated repeatedly as the general upland game bird shooting-hours rule throughout ODFW's 2026 staff summary and season framework documents (e.g. for chukar, partridge, quail, grouse), though not restated specifically in the pheasant row of the season table itself, so treat this as the strong general-framework rule rather than a pheasant-specific citation. The Western Oregon Fee Pheasant Hunts run their own site-specific hours (e.g. ending 5 p.m. at E.E. Wilson and Fern Ridge, 6 p.m. at Sauvie Island) that do not apply to the statewide season covered here. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Oregon sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Pheasant hunters in Oregon need an Oregon hunting license — A regular Oregon hunting license plus an upland game bird validation covers the statewide pheasant season. The separate Western Oregon Fee Pheasant Hunts require an additional $25 Western Oregon Fee Pheasant Permit (a $10 youth version exists) good for two birds, on top of the license and validation.
Where to hunt public land in Oregon — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does pheasant season open in Oregon?
The earliest 2026 opener is October 10, 2026. See the table above for each segment and zone.
When does pheasant season end in Oregon?
The latest 2026 closing date is December 31, 2026. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Can I shoot hen pheasants in Oregon?
See the bag limit table above — most states restrict the daily bag to roosters only, but rules vary and this is worth double-checking against Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife before you hunt.
How many pheasants can you shoot in Oregon per day?
2026 bag limits: Daily — 2 rooster pheasants. Possession — 8 rooster pheasants. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting pheasant in Oregon?
On opening day (October 10, 2026) legal light runs 06:41 to 18:25. The rule is: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset — stated repeatedly as the general upland game bird shooting-hours rule throughout ODFW's 2026 staff summary and season framework documents (e.g. for chukar, partridge, quail, grouse), though not restated specifically in the pheasant row of the season table itself, so treat this as the strong general-framework rule rather than a pheasant-specific citation. The Western Oregon Fee Pheasant Hunts run their own site-specific hours (e.g. ending 5 p.m. at E.E. Wilson and Fern Ridge, 6 p.m. at Sauvie Island) that do not apply to the statewide season covered here. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Oregon sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt pheasant on my own land in Oregon without a license?
Oregon exempts a resident hunting on land they or an immediate family member owns and lives on — for every species except the ones that need a tag or permit, which still applies for big game.
Verified · Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · Last verified 2026-08-15
Publisher's note. Official ODFW Fish and Wildlife Commission staff summary for the April 2026 meeting, downloaded and read directly (Table 4: 'The 2026-27 season proposals for forest grouse, partridge, pheasant, quail, and general turkey' — Rooster Pheasant, Statewide, Oct. 10–Dec. 31, daily bag 2). Cross-checked against ODFW's own 2025-2030 Upland Game Bird Hunting Season Framework document (dfw.state.or.us), which fixes the standing rule as 'From the second Saturday in October through December 31' with a daily/possession limit of '2 rooster pheasants/8 rooster pheasants' — Oct 10, 2026 is confirmed as the second Saturday of October 2026, and the possession figure of 8 (4× the daily bag) comes from this framework document rather than the staff summary table, which lists only the daily bag. A third source, eRegulations' Oregon game-bird page, independently corroborates both the Oct 10–Dec 31 dates and the 8-bird possession limit. IMPORTANT ZONE FINDING: unlike several other Oregon game species (e.g. squirrel, many big-game units), the rooster pheasant season is explicitly STATEWIDE with no zone or unit split in either ODFW source document — this directly contradicts a Zone 1/Zone 2 date split claimed by some third-party aggregator sites, which appears to conflate pheasant with a different, zoned species; the official documents were checked specifically for this and show one uniform statewide date range. Separately, ODFW runs Western Oregon Fee Pheasant Hunts — a paid, stocked-bird program at four public wildlife areas (Fern Ridge, Sauvie Island, Denman, E.E. Wilson) with pen-raised roosters released throughout each hunt window, requiring a $25 Western Oregon Fee Pheasant Permit (good for two birds) in addition to a regular license and upland game bird validation; per the same staff summary, these 2026 hunt windows run roughly Sept 14–Oct 31 depending on site (all earlier than and outside the statewide season), and about 3,800 pheasants are purchased annually to stock them. ODFW also runs reservation-based youth-only upland bird hunts at ten wildlife areas in mid-to-late September. Both of these are real, popular, well-documented programs, but — because they are site-specific stocked-bird events rather than a second statewide season type — this file's opener/seasonCloses are kept to the statewide general season only, with the fee-hunt and youth-hunt programs described here rather than folded into the top-line window.