New Hampshire, 2026-27 season year

New Hampshire Bear Season 2026-27

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

General Season: September 1, 2026 to November 30, 2026, varying by zone across 2 rows in the agency table. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department publishes these dates and the full zone tables on this page were read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

Q: Does New Hampshire have a spring bear season in 2027?

No. New Hampshire holds no spring bear season. The 2026 Bear Hunting Seasons table in the state digest lists only the fall general, baiting and dog windows, all opening in September. 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 New Hampshire?

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, on its page titled Black Bears in New Hampshire, which is linked from the agency notice on this page. That page is the agency's own guidance for New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire bear hunting rules?

At New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 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.

Hard mast -- beechnuts, acorns, and hickory nuts -- are the staple fall food source. When natural foods are not abundant, black bears will seek alternative foods such as agricultural crops, bees from commercial hives, garbage, suet and sometimes livestock.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

General Season: September 1, 2026 to November 30, 2026. People report black bears in New Hampshire most in May, and 16 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’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.

September 1, 2026 to November 30, 2026

General Season

published

No season

Archery bear season

no season

No season

Spring bear season

no season

May

Busiest reported month

987 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in New Hampshire

NH Fish and Game says the black bear is the only bear species in New Hampshire, with population estimates of 4,800 to 5,000 bears statewide, found statewide with the highest densities in central New Hampshire and the White Mountains.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for New Hampshire, by calendar month, across every year the platform holds. The busiest month in the record is May, 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.

987 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for New Hampshire 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 May, 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 New Hampshire by year, 2016 to 2025: 18 in 2016 and 185 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 New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says

Fall feeding

Hard mast -- beechnuts, acorns, and hickory nuts -- are the staple fall food source. When natural foods are not abundant, black bears will seek alternative foods such as agricultural crops, bees from commercial hives, garbage, suet and sometimes livestock.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Denning

In New Hampshire, bears typically enter dens between mid-October and late November and emerge from dens during late March or early April. During periods of winter thaws, male bears may occasionally get up and move around until cold weather returns.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

When conflicts and sightings rise

The Granite State's black bears are emerging from their winter dens and beginning to actively search for any available food sources. Because of the limited menu of options during this time of the year, bears will be easily enticed by a wide variety of human-produced food sources, especially bird feeders, backyard poultry, and unsecured garbage.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 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

New Hampshire bear seasons, 2026-27

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department 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 Season

published

General Season is OPEN now in the WMUs A, B, C2, D1, H1, I2, through November 10, 2026, with 2 zone segments open.

New Hampshire general season, as published by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
WMUs A, B, C2, D1, H1, I2	September 1, 2026	November 10, 2026
WMUs C1, D2, E, F, G, I1, J1, J2, L, M, H2, K	September 1, 2026	November 30, 2026

Dates read from Bear Hunting Seasons, New Hampshire Hunting Digest, NH Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-19.

New Hampshire's general (stalking) bear season opens statewide on September 1 and closes on one of two dates depending on the Wildlife Management Unit group. The baiting and dog seasons are separate windows inside it and are listed under other seasons.

Archery bear season

no season

New Hampshire holds no separately dated archery bear season. New Hampshire dates no separate archery bear season. The department describes three bear seasons only, the general (stalking) season, the baiting season and the dog season, and the 2026 digest table carries no archery window. Source: New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Spring bear season

no season

New Hampshire holds no spring bear season. New Hampshire holds no spring bear season. The 2026 Bear Hunting Seasons table in the state digest lists only the fall general, baiting and dog windows, all opening in September. Source: New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Other New Hampshire bear seasons the agency names

Baiting Season

published

Baiting Season has closed for the season year; the last segment ended October 5, 2026.

New Hampshire baiting season, as published by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
WMUs A, B, C2, D1, H1, H2, I2, K, L, M	September 1, 2026	September 28, 2026
WMUs C1, D2, E, F, G, I1, J1, J2	September 1, 2026	October 5, 2026

Dates read from Bear Hunting Seasons, New Hampshire Hunting Digest, NH Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-19.

The baiting season opens with the general season and runs about four to five weeks depending on the WMU group, per the 2026 digest table.

Dog Season

published

Dog Season is OPEN now in the WMUs A, B, C1, C2, D1, D2, E, F, G, H1, I1, I2, J1, J2, through November 10, 2026.

New Hampshire dog season, as published by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
WMUs A, B, C1, C2, D1, D2, E, F, G, H1, I1, I2, J1, J2	September 21, 2026	November 10, 2026	The digest lists the dog season as closed in WMUs H2, K, L and M

Dates read from Bear Hunting Seasons, New Hampshire Hunting Digest, NH Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-19.

The dog season opens three weeks after the general season and is closed in the four southeastern units H2, K, L and M, per the 2026 digest table.

The agency's own season sentence

New Hampshire's bear hunters can take advantage of three seasons: stalking ("general"), dog season, and baiting season. Bears are found statewide, with the highest densities in central NH and the White Mountains.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Current New Hampshire regulations

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

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department: 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

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

New Hampshire bear season questions

When are black bears most active in New Hampshire in the fall?

In the observation record for New Hampshire, research grade black bear reports peak in May and 16 percent of all 987 reports fall in September, October and November. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department 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 New Hampshire in 2026-27?

Does New Hampshire have a spring bear season in 2027?

When do black bears go into dens in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department describes the denning timing for New Hampshire 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 May peak by September 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 New Hampshire increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for New Hampshire went from 18 in 2016 to 185 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. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department describes when sightings and conflicts rise in New Hampshire in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in New Hampshire?

Where are the rest of the New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’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.