Maryland, 2026-27 season year

Maryland Bear Season 2026-27

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

Black Bear Season: October 26, 2026 to October 31, 2026. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service publishes these dates and the full zone tables on this page were read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

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

No. Maryland prints no spring bear season. The department's only dated bear window falls in October, and its fact sheet has bears denning from late November through December and cubs born in January. Spring bear seasons are mostly a western pattern, and the national page lists the states that hold one in 2027.

Largely vegetarian, common foods include berries, cherries, other fruits, acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts, insects, roots, grasses, reptiles, amphibians, and carrion. Acorns remain the single most important natural food for bears in Maryland. As the opportunity arises, bears will also eat garbage, agricultural crops, and bird food. Bears feed heavily during the fall months in order to increase fat reserves for the upcoming winter.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service

Black Bear Season: October 26, 2026 to October 31, 2026. People report black bears in Maryland most in July, and 16 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service’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.

October 26, 2026 to October 31, 2026

Black Bear Season

published

No season

Archery bear season

no season

No season

Spring bear season

no season

July

Busiest reported month

319 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in Maryland

Maryland's bears live in the western end of the state. The department puts them primarily in Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick counties, with the highest numbers in Garrett and Allegany and the count rising in the other two. In spring, bears turn up well outside that range, in other parts of the state, though the department does not describe them as established there.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for Maryland, by calendar month, across every year the platform holds. The busiest month in the record is July, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by September. 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.

319 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Maryland across every year the platform holds, and 16 percent of them fall in the three shaded fall months. The busiest month in the record is July, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by September. 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 Maryland by year, 2016 to 2025: 4 in 2016 and 32 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 Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service says

Fall feeding

Largely vegetarian, common foods include berries, cherries, other fruits, acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts, insects, roots, grasses, reptiles, amphibians, and carrion. Acorns remain the single most important natural food for bears in Maryland. As the opportunity arises, bears will also eat garbage, agricultural crops, and bird food. Bears feed heavily during the fall months in order to increase fat reserves for the upcoming winter.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Denning

Prior to denning, black bears will consume up to 20,000 calories per day and will increase their mass by 30-35%. Black bears are not true hibernators, but they do slow down their heart rate and breathing while denning. Typically, Maryland black bears den in late November through December, pending on the weather.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

When conflicts and sightings rise

Trash and bird feeders are the most common attractants responsible for luring bears to human dwellings. Pet food, charcoal grills, fruit trees and gardens may also attract bears. Once a bear finds food around your home it will likely return.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

What Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service says about bears in Maryland

Living with Black Bears is the agency’s own page for Maryland residents and visitors: attractants, encounters, and who to call about a bear.

Largely vegetarian, common foods include berries, cherries, other fruits, acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts, insects, roots, grasses, reptiles, amphibians, and carrion. Acorns remain the single most important natural food for bears in Maryland. As the opportunity arises, bears will also eat garbage, agricultural crops, and bird food. Bears feed heavily during the fall months in order to increase fat reserves for the upcoming winter.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, 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

Maryland bear seasons, 2026-27

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service 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.

Black Bear Season

published

Black Bear Season opens in 16 days, on October 26, 2026 (Allegany, Frederick, Garrett and Washington counties).

Maryland black bear season, as published by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Allegany, Frederick, Garrett and Washington counties	October 26, 2026	October 31, 2026	The whole of Maryland's bear season, six days in the four western counties.

Dates read from Guide to Hunting Black Bears in Maryland, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, accessed 2026-09-19.

Maryland runs one bear season and it lasts six days, the Monday through Saturday at the end of October. The department describes the hunting zone as all of Allegany, Frederick, Garrett and Washington counties, which is the same four counties its fact sheet names as the state's bear range.

Archery bear season

no season

Maryland holds no separately dated archery bear season. Maryland prints no separate archery window for bears. The six days at the end of October are the whole season, and the department's bear pages list no second or earlier set of dates. Source: Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service.

Spring bear season

no season

Maryland holds no spring bear season. Maryland prints no spring bear season. The department's only dated bear window falls in October, and its fact sheet has bears denning from late November through December and cubs born in January. Source: Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service.

The agency's own season sentence

Right before denning, black bears can actively forage for up to 20 hours per day!

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Current Maryland regulations

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

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service: 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

Maryland deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Maryland small game seasonPheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel openers, read from the same agency.Maryland 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

Maryland bear season questions

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

In the observation record for Maryland, research grade black bear reports peak in July and 16 percent of all 319 reports fall in September, October and November. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service 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 Maryland in 2026-27?

Does Maryland have a spring bear season in 2027?

When do black bears go into dens in Maryland?

Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service describes the denning timing for Maryland 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 July peak by September and reach their low in January. 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 Maryland increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for Maryland went from 4 in 2016 to 32 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. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service describes when sightings and conflicts rise in Maryland in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Maryland?

Where are the rest of the Maryland bear hunting rules?

At Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, 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.

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 Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service’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.