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2026-27 season year · 50 states

Deer Season 2026-27: Dates by State

Archery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer seasons, read from each state wildlife agency’s own published page, with the source and read date beside every table. Seasons an agency has not yet posted are labelled not yet published, with the agency link.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 2, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.
50
States covered
every state holds a season
49
Firearms dates published
read from agency pages, as of September 2, 2026
July 11, 2026
Earliest archery opener
California
December 7, 2026
Latest firearms opener
New Jersey
The map of openers

Every state’s deer season, 2026-27

Deer openers do not sweep neatly with latitude the way spring turkey seasons do. They are set around the rut, around agriculture, around crowding and around a century of local habit, which is why California opens archery in July, South Carolina opens gun hunting in August, and half the northern tier waits for the middle of November. Dates below are the overall span across a state’s zones; each state page carries the full zone tables with the agency source and read date beside them.

Northeast

Northeast deer seasons, 2026-27, spans across all zones
StateArcheryFirearmsMuzzleloader
MaineOctober 3 to October 30November 2 to November 28November 30 to December 12
New HampshireSeptember 15 to December 15November 11 to December 6October 31 to November 10
VermontOctober 1 to December 15November 14 to November 29November 30 to December 13
MassachusettsOctober 5 to November 28November 30 to December 12December 14 to December 31
ConnecticutSeptember 15 to December 31November 18 to December 8December 9 to December 31
Rhode IslandSeptember 15 to January 31December 5 to December 31November 7 to December 4
New YorkSeptember 27 to January 1October 1 to January 31October 17 to January 1
New JerseySeptember 12 to October 30December 7 to December 12November 23 to February 20
PennsylvaniaSeptember 19 to January 24November 28 to December 13October 17 to October 25

Southeast

Southeast deer seasons, 2026-27, spans across all zones
StateArcheryFirearmsMuzzleloader
DelawareSeptember 1 to January 31November 13 to January 24October 9 to January 31
MarylandSeptember 11 to January 31November 28 to January 10October 22 to January 2
VirginiaOctober 3 to January 2October 1 to January 2October 31 to January 2
West VirginiaSeptember 26 to December 31November 23 to December 6December 14 to December 20
North CarolinaSeptember 12 to November 13October 17 to January 1October 3 to November 27
South CarolinaAugust 15 to September 30August 15 to January 1October 1 to October 10
GeorgiaSeptember 12 to January 31October 17 to January 10October 10 to October 16
FloridaAugust 1 to November 25September 19 to February 21September 5 to February 28
AlabamaOctober 1 to February 10November 7 to February 10November 2 to November 20
TennesseeSeptember 26 to November 6November 21 to January 3November 7 to November 20
KentuckySeptember 5 to January 18November 14 to November 29October 17 to December 20
MississippiOctober 1 to November 20November 21 to January 20December 2 to December 15
LouisianaSeptember 19 to February 15October 17 to January 24October 10 to January 31
ArkansasSeptember 26 to February 28November 14 to December 28October 17 to December 21

Midwest

Midwest deer seasons, 2026-27, spans across all zones
StateArcheryFirearmsMuzzleloader
OhioSeptember 12 to February 7November 30 to December 20January 2 to January 5
IndianaOctober 1 to January 3November 14 to November 29December 5 to December 20
IllinoisOctober 1 to January 17November 20 to December 6December 11 to December 13
MichiganOctober 1 to January 1November 15 to November 30December 4 to December 6
WisconsinSeptember 12 to January 31November 21 to November 29November 30 to December 9
MinnesotaSeptember 19 to December 31November 7 to November 29November 28 to December 13
MissouriSeptember 15 to January 15November 14 to November 24December 26 to January 5
IowaOctober 1 to January 10December 5 to December 20October 17 to January 10
KansasSeptember 14 to December 31December 2 to December 13September 14 to September 27
NebraskaSeptember 1 to December 31November 14 to November 22December 1 to December 31
South DakotaSeptember 1 to January 1November 1 to December 6December 1 to January 1
North DakotaSeptember 4 to January 3November 6 to November 22November 27 to December 13

Rockies

Rockies deer seasons, 2026-27, spans across all zones
StateArcheryFirearmsMuzzleloader
MontanaSeptember 5 to November 29September 15 to November 29December 12 to December 20
Wyomingon the agency pageon the agency pageno season
ColoradoSeptember 2 to September 30October 14 to November 22September 12 to September 20
IdahoAugust 30 to December 31September 15 to December 1September 8 to December 1
UtahAugust 15 to September 11October 7 to October 25September 23 to October 1
NevadaAugust 10 to January 1October 1 to January 1September 10 to December 20

Southwest

Southwest deer seasons, 2026-27, spans across all zones
StateArcheryFirearmsMuzzleloader
TexasOctober 3 to November 6November 7 to January 17January 4 to January 17
OklahomaOctober 1 to January 15November 21 to December 6October 24 to November 1
New MexicoSeptember 1 to January 15October 24 to December 16September 27 to November 4
ArizonaAugust 21 to January 31October 23 to December 31October 16 to December 31

West

West deer seasons, 2026-27, spans across all zones
StateArcheryFirearmsMuzzleloader
WashingtonSeptember 1 to September 25September 15 to November 22September 15 to December 15
OregonAugust 29 to September 27October 3 to November 6no season
CaliforniaJuly 11 to October 25August 8 to November 29no season
AlaskaAugust 1 to December 15August 1 to December 31no season
Hawaiiunits open year-round per the agencyunits open year-round per the agencynot yet published

Firearms columns carry each agency’s own name for the season on its state page: general season, modern firearms, gun, shotgun, regular firearms and more. The spans above are the outer dates across every zone a state lists, which is why a state with an early zone and a late zone shows a long span.

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Four seasons, not one

Archery, firearms, muzzleloader, youth

The single most common mistake in a deer season page is publishing one date per state. Nearly every state runs at least three separate windows, often with different zone maps for each, and the answer a reader needs depends entirely on what is in their hands. Across the fifty states in this data set, 49 have published archery dates, 49 have published a general firearms window, 45 have published a separate muzzleloader season and 40 a separate youth season.

The structure varies by state. 4 states hold no separate muzzleloader season at all, because a muzzleloader is simply one of the arms allowed inside the general season there. 7 hold no separate youth season, because youth hunt the same calendar as everyone else on a discounted or allocated permit. Each state page says which applies, with the agency’s reason attached.

49 of 50
Archery published
1 with no statewide window
49 of 50
Firearms published
1 with no statewide window
45 states
Separate muzzleloader season
4 hold none
40 states
Separate youth season
7 hold none
Two hunters in blaze orange and camouflage beside a wheelchair at the edge of bare winter woods, one helping the other with gear
Getting ready at the edge of the winter woods on a mobility assisted deer hunt. Many states date a season specifically for hunters with disabilities, and those windows are on the state pages. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps. “USMC-11410” — U.S. Marine Corps (official photo, marines.mil) — Public domain
How the dates are sourced

Every date from the agency, with its season year

Deer season dates change every year, and they are the most republished wildlife numbers on the internet. Every page here states the season year it covers and the date its data was read; every date comes from the state agency’s own published page or regulation document with the source URL captured; a season the agency has not posted is labelled “not yet published”; and zone structures render as the agency draws them.

Harvest limits, antler point restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours and license requirements are set by each agency and published on its regulations page, which every state page links.

Deer zone boundaries run along highways, rivers and county fragments, and in several states they differ between weapon seasons inside the same state, so the zone you hunt is determined from the agency’s own zone map. The pages publish the agency’s zone names and link those maps.

Buck with antlers in velvet standing in tall summer grass in golden light
A buck still in velvet in late summer. The earliest archery openers land within weeks of antlers hardening. “White-tailed Deer Buck in Velvet (48804848567)” — USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain
The two people assume are exceptions

Hawaii and Alaska both hold deer seasons

Hawaii has axis deer, brought to the islands in the nineteenth century and now abundant enough that the Division of Forestry and Wildlife opens its Maui and Molokai public hunting units year-round for game mammals, with the rules stating plainly that any deer encountered on a public hunting area may be taken. Lanai gets a fully dated season of its own each year, drawn by lottery in four hunts.

Alaska has Sitka black-tailed deer through the southeast panhandle, Prince William Sound and Kodiak, with the Department of Fish and Game setting a general season for each game management unit and an August 1 opener across most of the range. The rest of the state has no deer season at all, and the unit list on the Alaska page shows exactly where the line falls.

Aerial survey view of an axis deer herd crossing open ground through kiawe scrub above Kihei on Maui, the survey helicopter casting a shadow below
An axis deer herd counted from the air above Kihei, Maui, the survey helicopter’s own shadow on the ground below. Hawaii’s deer seasons are island and unit based under DLNR, and its Maui and Molokai public hunting units are open year-round. Photo: Forest and Kim Starr. “Aerial view of a large herd of axis deer above Kihei, Maui” by Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 US
The other half of the question

Season dates are not rut dates

Hunters ask two different questions in the same breath: when may I hunt, and when will the deer be moving. They have different answers and different sources. These pages answer the first from agency proclamations. The rut pages answer the second from the conception studies agencies publish, which put a real breeding peak on a calendar rather than repeating folklore about the November moon.

Sometimes the two line up, which is why the November firearms opener is the fixture it is across the Midwest and Northeast. Sometimes they do not, which is why southern hunters plan around a rut that can fall anywhere from October to February depending on the county. The two page sets link each other and duplicate nothing.

Heavy antlered mule deer buck standing shoulder deep in snowy sagebrush in Wyoming
A mule deer buck in Wyoming sagebrush. Western general seasons run by unit and draw. Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS. “Mule Deer Buck in Southwest Wyoming (23007137314)” — Tom Koerner / USFWS Mountain-Prairie — Public domain
The deer rut, nationallyWhen deer actually breed in each state, from agency conception studies. Biology, not dates.Turkey season datesSpring and fall wild turkey seasons for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Waterfowl season datesDuck and goose seasons for 2026-27, organized by flyway.Fall foliage forecastPeak color and the archery weeks overlap. The national color map.

Deer season questions

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Alert white-tailed buck standing in bare late fall brush at dusk
A buck on the move in bare November brush at Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota. Photo: Liz Julian/USFWS. “White-tailed Deer, Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota” — Liz Julian / USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain

This hub covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026. Every date is republished from the named state wildlife agency’s own page, read on the date shown on each state page; seasons an agency has not yet posted are labelled not yet published, and states that set dates hunt area by hunt area link the agency table. Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours and license rules are set by each agency, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. Start with your state in the table above.