Washington, 2026-27 season year

Washington Bear Season 2026-27

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

No. WDFW's spring black bear special permit page states that, per Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission decision, no spring black bear permit season is currently offered in Washington, and that the decision does not affect the fall black bear general season. 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 Washington?

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, on its page titled Living with Wildlife: Be Bear Aware, which is linked from the agency notice on this page. That page is the agency's own guidance for Washington 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 Washington bear hunting rules?

At Washington 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.

When preparing for hibernation in the fall and after waking in the spring, bears look for high-calorie, easy-to-find food sources.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Fall Black Bear General Seasons: August 1, 2026 to November 15, 2026. People report black bears in Washington most in August, and 24 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is Washington 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 1, 2026 to November 15, 2026

Fall Black Bear General Seasons

published

No season

Archery bear season

no season

No season

Spring black bear special permit hunts

no season

August

Busiest reported month

2,175 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in Washington

WDFW says black bears are common throughout Washington except the interior of the arid Columbia Basin, including suburban areas where greenbelts facilitate movement, and estimates approximately 22,000 black bears in the state across all land ownerships. Grizzly bears are rare in Washington, with a small population in the Selkirk Mountains of northeast Washington and documented presence in the Okanogan Highlands and the North Cascades.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for Washington, 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 October. 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.

2,175 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Washington across every year the platform holds, and 24 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 October. 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 Washington by year, 2016 to 2025: 25 in 2016 and 302 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 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says

Fall feeding

When preparing for hibernation in the fall and after waking in the spring, bears look for high-calorie, easy-to-find food sources.

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

Denning

Black bears are beginning to emerge from winter dens across the state, prompting state wildlife managers to remind residents how to avoid possible conflicts with hungry animals looking to scavenge an easy meal.

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

When conflicts and sightings rise

Bears may opportunistically seek food in human-occupied areas when natural foods are scarce. This occurs annually in early spring before natural foods become available and in late fall as bears prepare for hibernation.

Washington 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

Washington bear seasons, 2026-27

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife dates American black bear and grizzly 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.

Fall Black Bear General Seasons

published

Fall Black Bear General Seasons is OPEN now in the BBMU 1 Northeast, through November 15, 2026, with 14 zone segments open.

Washington fall black bear general seasons, as published by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Zone	Opens	Closes
BBMU 1 Northeast	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 2 Columbia Basin	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 3 Southeast	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 4 Okanogan Highlands	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 5 Okanogan	August 15, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 6 Central Cascades East	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 7 South Cascades East	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 8 North Cascades West	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 9 South Cascades West	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 10 Urban	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 11 Mount St. Helens	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 12 Olympic Peninsula East	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 13 Olympic Peninsula West	August 1, 2026	November 15, 2026
BBMU 14 Willapa Hills	August 15, 2026	November 15, 2026

Dates read from 2026 Big Game Hunting Seasons and Regulations, Fall Black Bear General Seasons, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-19.

Washington runs one fall black bear general season per Black Bear Management Unit, and the rows above are the complete BBMU table from page 68 of the 2026 pamphlet: twelve units open August 1 and two open August 15, all closing November 15. The BBMU numbers, names and their game management units changed in 2026 with the 2026 Game Management Plan, and the pamphlet lists the GMUs that make up each unit and the GMUs closed to fall bear hunting.

Archery bear season

no season

Washington holds no separately dated archery bear season. The 2026 pamphlet dates a single fall black bear general season per Black Bear Management Unit and no separately dated archery bear season. Bow hunting for bear happens inside that general window, which is a methods question for WDFW rather than a date. Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Spring black bear special permit hunts

no season

Washington holds no spring bear season. WDFW's spring black bear special permit page states that, per Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission decision, no spring black bear permit season is currently offered in Washington, and that the decision does not affect the fall black bear general season. Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The agency's own season sentence

GMUs 157, 410-417, 419-424, 490, 522, and 655 are closed to fall bear hunting.

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

Current Washington regulations

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

Washington 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

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

Washington bear season questions

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

In the observation record for Washington, research grade black bear reports peak in August and 24 percent of all 2,175 reports fall in September, October and November. Washington 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 Washington in 2026-27?

Does Washington have a spring bear season in 2027?

When do black bears go into dens in Washington?

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife describes the denning timing for Washington 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 October 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 Washington increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for Washington went from 25 in 2016 to 302 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. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife describes when sightings and conflicts rise in Washington in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Washington?

Where are the rest of the Washington 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 Washington 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.