Skip to content
Connecticut · 2026-27 season year

Connecticut Small Game Season 2026-27

Squirrel: September 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026. Rabbit: October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026. Every date below was read from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s own published page, linked beside it, on September 19, 2026.

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.
October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026
Pheasant
published
October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026
Quail
published
October 17, 2026 to November 30, 2026
Grouse
published
October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026
Rabbit
published
September 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026
Squirrel
published
2 zone rows
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
Five seasons, one state

Connecticut small game seasons, 2026-27

“When does small game season open” is five questions wearing one coat. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection dates pheasant, ruffed grouse, quail, chukar and Hungarian partridge as resident game birds, and gray squirrel, cottontail, European hare and snowshoe hare as small game mammals separately, so each species is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

Pheasant

published

Pheasant runs October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut pheasant, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 17, 2026December 31, 2026Fall segment of the calendar 2026 season

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Connecticut sets its small game seasons by calendar year, and the 2026 guide prints pheasant as a January 1 to February 28 segment plus an October 17 to December 31 segment. The autumn 2026 segment is the one that belongs to the 2026-27 season year; whether a January and February 2027 segment follows will be set in the 2027 guide, which DEEP has not yet published.

Opening day, the daily limit and the full season calendar are on the Connecticut pheasant season page.

Quail

published

Quail runs October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut quail, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 17, 2026October 31, 2026
Nod Brook WMA and the Flaherty, Mansfield and Sugarbrook Field Trial Areas (Extended Quail Season)October 17, 2026December 31, 2026Fall segment; the 2026 guide also prints a January 1 to February 28 segment for these areas in calendar 2026

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

The statewide quail season is a two week window in the second half of October. DEEP's Extended Quail Season keeps four named areas open through December 31, and in calendar 2026 those areas also carried a January 1 to February 28 segment.

Ruffed Grouse

published

Ruffed Grouse runs October 17, 2026 to November 30, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut ruffed grouse, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 17, 2026November 30, 2026

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Ruffed grouse opens on the third Saturday of October with the other resident game birds and closes at the end of November. DEEP asks grouse hunters to record their hunts in its Ruffed Grouse Hunter Log.

Cottontail

published

Cottontail runs October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut cottontail, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 17, 2026December 31, 2026Fall segment of the calendar 2026 season

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Cottontail opens with pheasant on October 17 and runs to the end of December statewide. As with the other small game mammals, the 2026 guide also prints a January 1 to February 28 segment for calendar 2026, and any early 2027 segment will come from the 2027 guide.

Gray Squirrel

published

Gray Squirrel runs September 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut gray squirrel, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideSeptember 1, 2026December 31, 2026Fall segment of the calendar 2026 season

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Gray squirrel is Connecticut's earliest small game opener at September 1 and runs through December 31 statewide. The 2026 guide also prints a January 1 to February 28 segment for calendar 2026.

Pheasant: Jan. 1 - Feb. 28 and Oct. 17 - Dec. 31
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source
A rooster ring-necked pheasant with a red face, iridescent green head and white neck ring striding through dry pale crop stubble
A rooster in harvested crop stubble in North Dakota. Most pheasant openers land in October and November, once the fields are cut. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Ring-necked pheasant (54120901581)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain
The rest of the calendar

Other Connecticut small game seasons the agency names

Beyond the five main species, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection dates 4 further seasons on the same small game pages. They are reproduced here under the agency’s own names, because a hunter reading a calendar needs to know which window a licence or stamp actually covers.

Chukar and Hungarian Partridge

published

Chukar and Hungarian Partridge runs October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut chukar and hungarian partridge, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 17, 2026December 31, 2026Fall segment of the calendar 2026 season

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

DEEP dates chukar and Hungarian partridge together on the same calendar as pheasant.

Junior Pheasant Hunter Training Day

published

Junior Pheasant Hunter Training Day runs October 10, 2026 to October 10, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut junior pheasant hunter training day, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 10, 2026October 10, 2026

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

A single Saturday a week before the regular pheasant opener; DEEP also lists Hunt on Your Own junior pheasant hunts at designated state owned locations.

European Hare

published

European Hare runs October 17, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut european hare, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 17, 2026December 31, 2026Fall segment of the calendar 2026 season

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

European hare shares the cottontail calendar in DEEP's small game mammal table.

Snowshoe Hare

published

Snowshoe Hare runs November 21, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Connecticut snowshoe hare, as published by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideNovember 21, 2026December 31, 2026Fall segment of the calendar 2026 season

Dates read from Small Game and Pheasant Hunting, 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, CT DEEP, accessed 2026-09-19.

Snowshoe hare opens later than the other small game mammals, on November 21. The guide web page prints its calendar 2026 winter segment as January 1 to January 31 while DEEP's season summary PDF prints January 1 to February 28 for the same season.

Rules

Connecticut small game hunting regulations

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

Current Connecticut regulations

Bag and possession limits, legal methods, shooting hours, license and stamp requirements, and youth or special season rules for Connecticut are set by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection: current regulations
Close view of an eastern cottontail rabbit in green grass, ears up, dark round eye and white chin catching the light
An eastern cottontail. Rabbit is usually the last small game season to close, running into February in most of the East and Midwest. Photo: Grayson Smith, USFWS. “Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (48935527872)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Small game season dates in other Northeast states

Every state’s pheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel dates are on the national small game season page.

A pair of northern bobwhite quail standing together in a carpet of purple violets, the male with a bold white throat and eye stripe, the female buff faced
A bobwhite pair. Quail seasons run from late autumn into winter across the South and Midwest; several western states date scaled, Gambel's and California quail on the same row. Photo: Steve Maslowski, USFWS. “Colinus virginianus USFWS”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, Public domain
Connecticut pheasant seasonOpening day, the daily limit and the full Connecticut pheasant calendar, read from the same agency.Connecticut deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer dates for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Connecticut turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, read from the same agency.Connecticut duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Connecticut fall foliagePeak color and the first grouse and squirrel weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Connecticut small game season questions

A fox squirrel with a grey back and rust orange belly crouched on a lichen covered branch against bare winter trees and blue sky
A fox squirrel in bare winter woods in Ohio. Squirrel is the earliest small game opener in many states, from mid August or September, and runs to January or February. “Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger vulpinus) (13255025953)” by Andrew C, CC BY 2.0

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 19, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection page linked beside it, read on September 19, 2026; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Bag and possession limits, legal methods, shooting hours and licence rules are set by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national small game season guide.