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Maine · 2026-27 season year

Maine Small Game Season 2026-27

Grouse: September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026. Squirrel: September 26, 2026 to January 30, 2027. Every date below was read from Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’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.
September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026
Pheasant
published
September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026
Quail
published
September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026
Grouse
published
No open season
Rabbit
no season
September 26, 2026 to January 30, 2027
Squirrel
published
Statewide
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
Five seasons, one state

Maine small game seasons, 2026-27

“When does small game season open” is five questions wearing one coat. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife dates ruffed grouse and bobwhite quail (dated together), pheasant, gray squirrel and snowshoe hare; cottontail rabbit has no open season 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 September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Maine pheasant, as published by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
All WMDsSeptember 26, 2026December 31, 2026

Dates read from Hunting Season Dates, Maine IFW, accessed 2026-09-19.

Maine opens pheasant on the same day as grouse, the last Saturday of September, and runs it through December 31 in every Wildlife Management District. The department lists it in its Upland Birds table with no zone splits.

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

Ruffed Grouse & Bobwhite Quail

published

Ruffed Grouse & Bobwhite Quail runs September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Maine ruffed grouse & bobwhite quail, as published by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
All WMDsSeptember 26, 2026December 31, 2026

Dates read from Hunting Season Dates, Maine IFW, accessed 2026-09-19.

The department prints bobwhite quail in the same dated row as ruffed grouse, one window across all WMDs, so the identical dates sit under both the quail and grouse keys. Recorded exactly as the season dates page shows it.

Ruffed grouse, the bird Mainers call partridge, opens the last Saturday of September and runs through December 31 statewide. The department dates it in one row together with bobwhite quail, so the same dates appear under the quail key.

Cottontail Rabbit

no season

Maine has no open rabbit season for 2026-27. The department's season dates page lists cottontail rabbit alongside spruce grouse and lynx under No Open Season for Hunting. Maine's rabbit hunting is the snowshoe hare season, recorded under otherSeasons. Source: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Gray Squirrel

published

Gray Squirrel runs September 26, 2026 to January 30, 2027 across all zones.

Maine gray squirrel, as published by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
All WMDsSeptember 26, 2026January 30, 2027

Dates read from Hunting Season Dates, Maine IFW, accessed 2026-09-19.

Gray squirrel opens with the other upland seasons on the last Saturday of September and runs into late January statewide. Red squirrel is listed separately by the department with no closed season and is not a game season row.

Pheasant | All | September 26, 2026 | December 31, 2026
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 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 Maine small game seasons the agency names

Beyond the five main species, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife dates 2 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.

Snowshoe Hare

published

Snowshoe Hare runs September 26, 2026 to March 31, 2027 across all zones.

Maine snowshoe hare, as published by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
All WMDsSeptember 26, 2026March 31, 2027
Island of VinalhavenSeptember 26, 2026February 27, 2027The department prints a separate, shorter season for the island

Dates read from Hunting Season Dates, Maine IFW, accessed 2026-09-19.

Snowshoe hare is Maine's long small game season, opening the last Saturday of September and running to the end of March, with a separately dated season on the Island of Vinalhaven.

Woodcock

published

Woodcock runs September 26, 2026 to November 17, 2026 across all zones.

Maine woodcock, as published by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideSeptember 26, 2026November 17, 2026

Dates read from Hunting Season Dates, Maine IFW, accessed 2026-09-19.

Woodcock sits in the Migratory Game Birds table of the same season dates page and opens on the grouse opener.

Rules

Maine 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 Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Maine regulations

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

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife: 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
Maine pheasant seasonOpening day, the daily limit and the full Maine pheasant calendar, read from the same agency.Maine deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer dates for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Maine turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, read from the same agency.Maine duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Maine fall foliagePeak color and the first grouse and squirrel weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Maine 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 Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 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 Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national small game season guide.