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Massachusetts, 2027 shed season

Massachusetts Shed Antler Season 2027

Since the 2025 season, MassWildlife lets anyone collect naturally shed deer and moose antlers with no permit, tag or license.

“The new regulation allows anyone to collect and possess naturally shed antlers without needing any permit, tag, or license.” Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife)

Agency statement
Rule type
from Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife)
3
Rules quoted
each linked to the agency page
None named
Course or permit
in the agency rules quoted below
September 21, 2026
Rules read
from the agency page
The rule

Shed antler rules in Massachusetts

Agency statement

The exemption covers antlers dropped on their own, never ones pulled free with a device such as a shed antler trap. Searching for sheds is not hunting under Massachusetts rules, so the Sunday hunting ban leaves a Sunday shed walk alone.

Statewide

Anyone may collect and possess naturally shed antlers with no permit, tag or license.

The new regulation allows anyone to collect and possess naturally shed antlers without needing any permit, tag, or license.
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read September 21, 2026. Read it at the source

Statewide

The possession exemption covers deer and moose antlers only when they were shed naturally, not pulled off with a device such as a shed antler trap.

(14)The possession of deer and moose antlers is exempt from the possession permit requirements provided they were found naturally shed in the environment without the use of any device that encourages the removal of antlers such as a shed antler trap.
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read September 21, 2026. Read it at the source

Statewide

Searching for shed antlers is not hunting, so the Sunday hunting ban does not apply to it.

Yes, searching for shed antlers is not actually hunting and is not limited by the statutory ban on Sunday hunting.
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read September 21, 2026. Read it at the source
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When antlers drop

When deer shed antlers in Massachusetts

For white-tailed deer, Iowa Department of Natural Resources puts the drop at mid January to mid March.

Whitetail deer have about a two-month shedding period in Iowa, beginning mid-Jan. and ending mid-March.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Read it at the source
A large elk antler lying in green grass with snow covered mountains in the distance
An elk shed on the National Elk Refuge, Wyoming, with the Tetons behind. Elk winter range in the West is where most dated shed closures fall, because the closures exist for the animals wintering there. “Shed Antler on the National Elk Refuge (53662858076)”, USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain

Massachusetts shed antler questions

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Shed antler rules in other states

Massachusetts deer seasonArchery and firearms dates for Massachusetts, read from Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife).Massachusetts deer rutWhen bucks breed in the fall, months before those antlers drop.Shed antler rules by stateEvery state's shed rule, the dated western closures and when each species drops.
A bull moose with broad palmate antlers walking across a snowy flat
A bull moose near Soda Butte, Yellowstone. Colorado Parks and Wildlife dates the moose drop from November through January, the earliest of the antlered animals it names. Photo: Jacob W. Frank, NPS. “Bull moose near Soda Butte (b95e1acc-f297-4abd-8b01-bd4f25a9a6a5)”, Jacob W. Frank, Public domain

Compiled September 21, 2026. Every rule above is republished from New deer hunting regulations in effect for 2025 season, MassWildlife and the other Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) pages linked beside each quote, read on September 21, 2026. Rules change between winters, so the agency page is the one to check before a trip. Every state is in the national shed antler guide.