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Alaska · 2026-27 season year

Alaska Deer Season 2026-27

Archery hunts: August 1, 2026 to December 15, 2026. General season: August 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026. Every date below was read from Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s own published page, linked beside it, on September 2, 2026.

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.
August 1, 2026 to December 15, 2026
Archery hunts
published
August 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026
General season
published
No separate season
Muzzleloader season
no season
12 zone rows
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
The four questions in one

Alaska deer seasons, 2026-27

“When does deer season open” is four questions wearing one coat. Alaska Department of Fish and Game dates Sitka black-tailed deer seasons separately by weapon, so each one is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

Archery hunts

published

Archery hunts is OPEN now in the Unit 3, Petersburg Management Area, through December 15, 2026.

Alaska archery hunts, as published by Alaska Department of Fish and Game
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Unit 3, Petersburg Management AreaAugust 1, 2026December 15, 2026
Unit 8, Kodiak Road System Management AreaNovember 1, 2026November 14, 2026A short arms restricted window between the general and youth hunts

Dates read from 2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations, unit tables, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-02.

Alaska does not run a statewide archery deer season. Two unit hunts are dated as archery hunts in the 2026-2027 regulations: the Petersburg Management Area in Unit 3, and a two week window on the Kodiak Road System after the general hunt there closes.

General season

published

General season is OPEN now in the Unit 1A, through December 31, 2026, with 11 zone segments open.

Alaska general season, as published by Alaska Department of Fish and Game
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Unit 1AAugust 1, 2026December 31, 2026
Unit 1BAugust 1, 2026December 31, 2026
Unit 1CAugust 1, 2026December 31, 2026The department splits Douglas Island and the Lincoln, Shelter and Sullivan islands into two dated segments inside this span
Unit 2, Prince of Wales IslandAugust 1, 2026December 31, 2026
Unit 3, remainderAugust 1, 2026November 30, 2026
Unit 3, remainder of Mitkof, Woewodski and Butterworth islandsOctober 1, 2026November 7, 2026The department dates this hunt differently for residents and nonresidents
Unit 3, Kupreanof Island on the Lindenberg Peninsula east of the Portage Bay to Duncan Canal portageOctober 1, 2026November 7, 2026Closed to nonresidents
Unit 4August 1, 2026December 31, 2026The department splits this span into segments by which deer may be taken
Unit 5ANovember 1, 2026November 30, 2026Unit 5B has no open season
Unit 6August 1, 2026December 31, 2026The department splits this span into segments by which deer may be taken
Unit 8, remainderAugust 1, 2026December 31, 2026
Unit 8, Kodiak Road System Management AreaAugust 1, 2026October 31, 2026

Dates read from 2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations, unit tables, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-02.

Alaska is the only state where deer season means Sitka black-tailed deer. The department sets a general season for each game management unit in the southeast panhandle, Prince William Sound and Kodiak, with an August 1 opener across most of the range and a Kodiak and Yakutat calendar of its own. Deer occur in Units 1 through 6 and Unit 8; the rest of the state has no deer season at all. Resident and nonresident rows differ inside several units.

Muzzleloader season

no season

Alaska holds no separate muzzleloader deer season. The 2026-2027 unit tables carry no muzzleloader only deer season anywhere in Alaska. The one window where a muzzleloader has dates of its own is the mid November hunt on the Kodiak Road System, which the department dates together with archery equipment and is listed under the archery hunts above. Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Youth hunts

published

Youth hunts is OPEN now in the Unit 5A, through October 31, 2026.

Alaska youth hunts, as published by Alaska Department of Fish and Game
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Unit 5AOctober 15, 2026October 31, 2026Runs ahead of the Unit 5A general season
Unit 8, Kodiak Road System Management AreaNovember 16, 2026December 31, 2026For hunters aged 10 to 17

Dates read from 2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations, unit tables, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, accessed 2026-09-02.

Two youth deer hunts are dated in the 2026-2027 unit tables, one in the Yakutat area and one closing out the Kodiak Road System calendar.

For which days to sit, the Alaska deer movement forecast rates the next 7 days Slow to Prime from the weather and first light.

2026-2027 Alaska Hunting Regulations
Alaska Department of Fish and Game, read September 2, 2026. Read it at the source
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Zones

Alaska deer zones

Alaska does not have a deer season. It has 12 of them, and the boundaries between them were drawn by Alaska Department of Fish and Game along highways, rivers and county fragments rather than anything you can see from a stand. In several states those boundaries are not even the same from one weapon season to the next.

This page publishes the agency’s zone names and links the agency’s own zone map, which is where a hunter’s zone is determined. A wrong zone answer is a wrong season date.

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
Rules

Alaska deer hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Alaska regulations

Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours, tagging and reporting, and license and permit requirements for Alaska are set by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game: current regulations
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

Deer season dates in other states

Alaska deer movement forecastThe next 7 days rated Slow to Prime for deer movement, from the forecast and first light.Alaska deer rutThe biology beside the calendar: when deer actually breed here, from the agency conception studies. Dates are this page; the rut is that one.Alaska turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Alaska duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Alaska fall foliagePeak color and the archery weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Alaska deer season questions

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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

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game page linked beside it, read on September 2, 2026; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours and license rules are set by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national deer season guide and the Alaska rut timing page.