Many grassland species coevolved with large herbivores and require habitats along the entire structural gradient created by grazing. Widespread declines of grassland birds, however, have prompted concerns about rangeland management. Conceptually, rest-rotation grazing functions as a conservation strategy to mimic historic disturbance regimes and create pasture-level heterogeneity in the absence of fire, but its utility for improving wildlife habitat has not been directly tested, particularly in the mesic mixed-grass prairie. We evaluated rest-rotation grazing as a conservation management technique compared with more traditional grazing systems, including summer rotation and season-long grazing, and assessed effects of different grazing systems and stocking rates on nest site selection and nest survival of sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus), an indicator species for grassland ecosystems. Both nest site selection and nest survival were directly related to vertical nesting cover, which was only weakly related to grazing management variables, including grazing system and stocking rate, at moderate stocking rates (≤ 2 animal unit month [AUM] ha^{– 1}). Cattle presence during the nesting period had a positive effect on daily nest survival, potentially through an effect by either the cows or rancher presence on predator behavior. Overall, our results suggest that rest-rotation grazing did not contribute to pasture-level vegetation heterogeneity and that both the selective foraging of cattle and inherent topographic and edaphic variability in our study area may be stronger drivers of heterogeneity at the small spatial scale required by female grouse.