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Vermont · 2026-27 season year

Vermont Small Game Season 2026-27

Grouse: September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026. Rabbit: September 26, 2026 to March 31, 2027. Every date below was read from Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’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.
No open season
Pheasant
no season
No open season
Quail
no season
September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026
Grouse
published
September 26, 2026 to March 31, 2027
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

Vermont small game seasons, 2026-27

“When does small game season open” is five questions wearing one coat. Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department dates ruffed grouse (partridge), gray squirrel, and hare and rabbit dated together; no pheasant or quail 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

no season

Vermont has no open pheasant season for 2026-27. Neither the department's Hunting and Trapping Seasons table, its 2026 seasons summary PDF nor the Small Game chapter of its digest lists a pheasant season; the table's upland bird rows are ruffed grouse and woodcock only. Source: Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.

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

Quail

no season

Vermont has no open quail season for 2026-27. The department's season tables and Small Game digest chapter carry no quail row of any kind; bobwhite quail are not among the small game species Vermont dates. Source: Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.

Ruffed Grouse (Partridge)

published

Ruffed Grouse (Partridge) runs September 26, 2026 to December 31, 2026 across all zones.

Vermont ruffed grouse (partridge), as published by Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideSeptember 26, 2026December 31, 2026

Dates read from Hunting and Trapping Seasons, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-19.

Ruffed grouse, partridge to Vermonters, opens the last Saturday of September and runs through December 31 statewide.

Hare & Rabbit

published

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

Vermont hare & rabbit, as published by Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
All WMUs except D and ESeptember 26, 2026March 14, 2027
WMUs D and ESeptember 26, 2026March 31, 2027

Dates read from Hunting and Trapping Seasons, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-19.

Vermont dates snowshoe hare and cottontail rabbit together in one Hare & Rabbit season that opens the last Saturday of September; it closes the second Sunday of March in most of the state and stays open to March 31 in WMUs D and E. Because the two are dated together there is no separate hare entry.

Gray Squirrel

published

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

Vermont gray squirrel, as published by Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideSeptember 1, 2026December 31, 2026

Dates read from Hunting and Trapping Seasons, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-19.

Gray squirrel opens September 1 and runs through December 31 statewide.

September 26 - December 31, 2026 | Ruffed Grouse (Partridge)
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source
A ruffed grouse standing on snow with its feathers puffed against the cold, crest raised, in front of bare frosted branches
A ruffed grouse in northern Minnesota snow. Grouse seasons open in September or October in the northern forest states and several run through the winter. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Ruffed grouse (53480965635)”, USFWS Midwest Region, Public domain
The rest of the calendar

Other Vermont small game seasons the agency names

Beyond the five main species, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department dates one further season 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.

Woodcock

published

Woodcock runs September 26, 2026 to November 9, 2026 across all zones.

Vermont woodcock, as published by Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideSeptember 26, 2026November 9, 2026

Dates read from Hunting and Trapping Seasons, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-19.

The seasons table points woodcock to the department's 2026-2027 migratory game bird syllabus, which dates woodcock and Wilson's snipe statewide September 26 to November 9.

Rules

Vermont 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 Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Vermont regulations

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

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

Vermont 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 Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department 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 Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national small game season guide.