California, 2026-27 season year

California Bear Season 2026-27

Q: When does bear season open in California in 2026-27?

General bear season: August 8, 2026 to December 27, 2026, varying by zone across 9 rows in the agency table. Archery bear season: August 15, 2026 to September 6, 2026. California Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes these dates and the full zone tables on this page were read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

Q: Does California have a spring bear season in 2027?

No. California holds no spring bear season. CDFW's Bear Hunting page for the licence year valid July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 lists only a 2026 Archery Season and a 2026 General Season, both ending by December 27, 2026. Spring bear seasons are mostly a western pattern, and the national page lists the states that hold one in 2027.

Q: Who publishes guidance on living with bears in California?

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, on its page titled Human-Wildlife Conflicts: Black Bears, which is linked from the agency notice on this page. That page is the agency's own guidance for California residents on attractants, encounters and who to call, and its sentence on fall activity is quoted verbatim beside the link, read on September 19, 2026.

Q: Where are the rest of the California bear hunting rules?

At California Department of Fish and Wildlife, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding, change annually and vary by zone and land ownership; the permit and tag system, zone maps, methods and reporting requirements are all published there. This page carries the season windows themselves, with the source page and read date attached.

In the fall, an adult bear can consume 20,000 to 24,000 calories a day and can gain multiple pounds per day.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife

General bear season: August 8, 2026 to December 27, 2026. People report black bears in California most in August, and 26 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s own words and dates, read on September 19, 2026, beside the record of what people reported.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 19, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

August 8, 2026 to December 27, 2026

General bear season

published

August 15, 2026 to September 6, 2026

Archery bear season

published

No season

Spring bear season

no season

August

Busiest reported month

9,787 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in California

CDFW estimates the statewide black bear population at between 49,000 and 71,000, and reports human-black bear conflict in urban, rural, and mountain communities through much of California.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for California, by calendar month, across every year the platform holds. The busiest month in the record is August, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by November. The drop into winter reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency’s sentences below, not the curve, carry the timing.

9,787 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for California across every year the platform holds, and 26 percent of them fall in the three shaded fall months. The busiest month in the record is August, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by November. These are counts of what people reported, so they measure observers as well as bears; they are not a population, not a survey and not a statement about this autumn. See the records on iNaturalist.

Research grade black bear reports uploaded for California by year, 2016 to 2025: 208 in 2016 and 1,320 in 2025. Most of the climb is the platform itself growing, and every species on it shows the same shape, so this is a record of reporting rather than a population trend.

What California Department of Fish and Wildlife says

Fall feeding

In the fall, an adult bear can consume 20,000 to 24,000 calories a day and can gain multiple pounds per day.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Denning

They generally enter their dens (which may be under fallen logs, in vegetation thickets, high up trees, in crevices, or even under decks and patios) from October-December and will remain there from a few weeks to several months depending on local climate and other conditions.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

When conflicts and sightings rise

Human-black bear conflict is reported in urban, rural, and mountain communities through much of California.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

A young black bear resting its chin on a bare dead branch in a green hardwood forest, ears forward, looking at the camera — A young black bear on a dead limb in the hardwoods. In the eastern forests the fall feeding season runs on acorns and beechnuts, which is why the agency sentences quoted on these pages talk about hard mast and mast years. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear (20083897724)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Hunting dates

California bear seasons, 2026-27

California Department of Fish and Wildlife dates American black bear seasons under its own names, and each is below under that name with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them, the source page linked beside each table, and the date it was read.

General bear season

published

General bear season is OPEN now in the Zone A, through December 27, 2026, with 7 zone segments open.

California general bear season, as published by California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Zone A	August 8, 2026	December 27, 2026	Opens with the zone's general deer season
Zone B-4	August 22, 2026	December 27, 2026	Opens with the zone's general deer season
Zones B-1, B-2, B-3, B-5, B-6, C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, D-6, D-7, X-9a, X-9b, X-12	September 19, 2026	December 27, 2026	Opens with the zone's general deer season
Zones D-3, D-4, D-5, D-8, D-9, D-10, X-8, X-10	September 26, 2026	December 27, 2026	Opens with the zone's general deer season
Zone D-19	October 3, 2026	December 27, 2026	Opens with the zone's general deer season
Zones D-11, D-13, D-14, D-15, D-17	October 10, 2026	December 27, 2026	Opens with the zone's general deer season
Remaining deer X zones (X-1, X-2, X-3a, X-3b, X-4, X-5a, X-5b, X-6a, X-6b, X-7a, X-7b, X-9c)	October 10, 2026	December 27, 2026	Fixed October 10 opener set by CDFW for the remaining X zones
Zone D-16	October 24, 2026	December 27, 2026	Opens with the zone's general deer season
Zone D-12	November 7, 2026	December 27, 2026	Opens with the zone's general deer season

Dates read from Bear Hunting, 2026 General Season and 2026 Archery Season, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-19.

California's general bear season opens concurrently with the general deer season in the A, B, C, D, X8, X9A, X9B, X10 and X12 deer hunting zones and begins October 10 in the remaining X zones, all running through December 27, 2026. The rows group the deer zones that share an opener in CDFW's Approved 2026 Deer Seasons by Zone table. The Department may end the general season before December 27 and posts the current status on its Bear Hunting page.

Archery bear season

published

Archery bear season has closed for the season year; the last segment ended September 6, 2026.

California archery bear season, as published by California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
All bear zones	August 15, 2026	September 6, 2026

Dates read from Bear Hunting, 2026 General Season and 2026 Archery Season, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-19.

A statewide archery bear season ahead of the general season, dated by CDFW as August 15 through September 6, 2026 in all bear zones.

Spring bear season

no season

California holds no spring bear season. California holds no spring bear season. CDFW's Bear Hunting page for the licence year valid July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 lists only a 2026 Archery Season and a 2026 General Season, both ending by December 27, 2026. Source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The agency's own season sentence

Archery bear season in all bear zones opens August 15, 2026, and runs through September 6, 2026.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Current California regulations

Permit and tag requirements, zone maps, permitted methods, tagging and reporting, and everything else a bear hunter is bound by for California are set by California Department of Fish and Wildlife, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife: current regulations

A black bear track pressed into wet grey mud, five rounded toes in an arc above a broad pad, with a second fainter print beside it — A black bear track in mud in Shenandoah National Park. Tracks, scat, turned over logs and claw marks on smooth beech bark are the sign most people meet in the fall woods, weeks before they meet the bear. Photo: M. Punches, NPS. “Black Bear Track in Mud (44654784885)”, ShenandoahNPS, Public domain

Bear season in other states

California deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.California small game seasonPheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel openers, read from the same agency.California foraging calendarThe acorns, beechnuts and berries the agency names as fall bear food are the same mast a forager follows.

An adult black bear standing on a broken limb high in a hardwood tree above two small cubs, all three looking down — A mother black bear and two cubs of the year in a hardwood tree. The denning sentences quoted on the state pages describe when family groups like this one go to ground, and it moves by weeks between a Gulf Coast winter and a northern one. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear Family (20083894064)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

California bear season questions

When are black bears most active in California in the fall?

In the observation record for California, research grade black bear reports peak in August and 26 percent of all 9,787 reports fall in September, October and November. California Department of Fish and Wildlife describes the fall feeding period in its own words, quoted on this page with a link to the page it came from. Reports count people as well as bears, so the shape of the curve is the useful part and the exact numbers are not.

When does bear season open in California in 2026-27?

Does California have a spring bear season in 2027?

When do black bears go into dens in California?

California Department of Fish and Wildlife describes the denning timing for California in the sentence quoted on this page, read on September 19, 2026 from the page linked beside it. In the observation record, reports fall below 40 percent of the August peak by November and reach their low in February. That drop reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency's sentence, not the curve, is the denning answer.

Are black bear sightings in California increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for California went from 208 in 2016 to 1,320 in 2025. Most of that rise is the platform itself growing, since every species on iNaturalist shows the same climb, so the year bars on this page are a record of reporting rather than a population trend. California Department of Fish and Wildlife describes when sightings and conflicts rise in California in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in California?

Where are the rest of the California bear hunting rules?

A brown wooden Bear Country sign with a white bear pictogram and a red band, on two posts at the edge of a lodgepole pine campground in low sun — A Bear Country sign at Indian Creek Campground, Yellowstone. The land manager writes the rules on the board, and they change by campground and by season: food storage orders, closed drainages, and whether a soft sided tent is allowed at all. “Bear Country Sign for Indian Creek (14457698423)”, Yellowstone National Park from Yellowstone NP, USA, Public domain

A snow covered track running between pines bent low under heavy snow, with a strip of blue sky above — Midwinter at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Maine. This is denning season in the north; each agency's own sentence on when its bears enter and leave their dens is quoted on the state pages, and the month bars show the reports thinning to match. “Winter at Moosehorn (11714166893)”, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with agency data read on September 19, 2026 and an iNaturalist record to September 19, 2026. Every sentence about bear behaviour is California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s own, quoted exactly with a link to its page; every season window is republished from the agency page linked beside it, and windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. The month bars count what members of the public reported and are not a population. See also the national bear season guide.