Deer seasons state by state

[richhodg66]

Having this discussion on Facebook with some friends of mine who are scattered about, but was more curious about it.

I view Kansas as having pretty restrictive deer hunting, though it has eased up a lot in the 16 years or so I've been hunting here. Ours is basically like this;

-Youth Season for a week in early September. 16 years of age or younger, any type of weapon

-Muzzle Loader last two weeks of September. Used to have a restriction of no scopes, but the state lifted that a few years ago.

-Archery starts same day as Muzzle Loader (sounds like a problem, but so far has not been for me on public land) and basically runs through the end of the year. Only stipulation is bow hunters have to wear blaze orange if they want to continue to hunt during the regular firearms season. I heard where Kansas now allows crossbows during the regular archery season, I have mixed feelings about this, but that's the way it is.

-One weekend in early October that is antlerless only but you can use a modern rifle if you wish (this started as a special season that was a week long and only in areas around I-70 and US 24 between KC and Topeka mainly to reduce deer/car collisons and it has morphed into this one weekend state wide)

- Fort Riley has a three-day segment where you can hunt on post if you have the proper credentials during Thanksgiving weekend. This doesn't marry up with any Kansas season and you have to be military, retired military, dependent, guest of one of the above, etc. You also have to have a special tag they issue once you've watched a video about safety regs specific to Fort Riley.

-Kansas general firearms deer season begins the Wednesday after Thanksgiving and runs through the next two weekends for a total of 12 days.

-Fort Riley has their general season which has the same number of days, but doesn't correlate with the Kansas season exactly, this year, there was a two day overlap, most years there is no overlap and sometimes it'll be broken into shorter segments, but has the same number of days as the Kansas season.

-Extended antlerless season varies depending on where you are in the state, but I'm lucky in that the area I hunt has always had a pretty long segment for this one. Starts on January 1st and for my unit runs through the 11th. Basically, any deer tags you had for the Fall season become antlerless tags and highpowered rifles are Ok where legal for any of them.

Tags in Kansas are for sale over the counter now, they used to be by appliation and stae drawing when I first got here. The one thing Kansas hasn't budged on since I've been hunting here is that you are only alowed one antlered deer per year by any method; rifle, bow, muzzle loader.

By comparison where I grew up in central S.C., the deer season opened August 15th and ran through the end of the year. No restrictions on weapon type, most popular seemed to be a 12 gauge with 00 buckshot. All you needed was a hunting license, no tags and there wasn't any kind of check system. My county (Orangeburg) had no bag limit as I recall and the counties that did were something ridiculous like five per day. The only real restrictions I remember is that you could only shoot does on special days. Needless to say, though they have a lot of them, the deer aren't of the same quality as they are in the midwest (and there are other reasons for that too, I understand).

I've done some deer hunting in Texas and Oklahoma over the years, both of which are different still, but I can't recall specifics. I remember Oklahoma had a longer muzzle loader season than Kansas and it happenned in October.

How do these two extremes compare to your state?

[dragon813gt]

It's just easier if I post this since there a lot of different start and end dates based on WMU. I left the pic big so you can read it.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa39/dragon813gt/Mobile/86FB8113-C018-4DD8-96AF-F098EBC2E5EF.png (http://s198.photobucket.com/user/dragon813gt/media/Mobile/86FB8113-C018-4DD8-96AF-F098EBC2E5EF.png.html)

Basicslly archery starts in mid October. There is an October muzzleloader season. Rifle is the two weeks after Thanksgiving. Flintlock starts the day after Christmas. Where I live archery starts two weeks early. Continues right up until rifle. And we have an extended late season. The extended parts are doe only seasons. It seems more complicated than it really is.

Reason for the short rifle season is the massive numbers of hunters. If the season lasted any longer the herds would be destroyed. They already are in some of the northern counties.

There are point restrictions in some areas. You get one buck, that's it. Doe licenses are extra money, but cheap. And if you don't put in immediately you won't be getting them for most of the state. PETA bought up a tens of thousands this year in my WMU. Firearms restrictions are no semiautomatics and no buck shot. Youth are the only ones allowed to shoot spike bucks. Otherwise minimum is three on one side including the tine.

This link may or may not work but it should take you to the deer season part of the hunting digest: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pgc/pa_huntingdigest1415/index.php#/42

[butch2570]

Not sure if this is working or not. W V dates.126112

[triggerhappy243]

The deer herds are being decimated here by wolves, poachers and cougars...... And you have to draw a licence. It s*#k$

[kungfustyle]

Sounds like they need to open the season on wolves, poachers and cougars:drinks:

[Smoke4320]

[QUOTE=kungfustyle;3075245]Sounds like they need to open the season on wolves, poachers and cougars:drinks:[/QUOTE
Bag limit....unlimited

[JSH]

My biggest gripe about Kansas is you have two days before a full moon to hunt. I have complained about this and was told it has no effect on deer movement. It has been this way for as long as I have hunted. FYI this is for center fire season.
I have been to a couple of meetings and seen very little change. We do have a fairly liberal bag limit. But what good does it do if the blasted season falls on a new moon. Would be better if you could hunt from 8pm to 8am.

[DeadWoodDan]

In Illinois my biggest complaint would be Muzzle Loader season is after the firearm weekends that is 7 days total; weekend before and weekend after Thanksgiving. You can use your Muzzle loader durring the second firearm season. I wish Muzzle loader season was before either shotgun weekends, seems like once deer have been pressured enough or spooky enough getting close enough to them with a Hawkins is impossible.

Archery starts Oct and goes into second week in Jan. And there is a Youth season for 3 days at the end of October. Some Counties have late season or CWD season towards end of year.

I have spent a lot of time archery hunting and my opinion is Moon does affect there movement, but it just dictates how hard or early I hunt.

DWD

[TXGunNut]

Feel fortunate to be hunting in TX, season is long and tag/antler restrictions vary by region. Overpopulated regions have extended seasons. Cougars, coyotes and poachers are a concern but they seem to be under control for the most part. Deer aren't very big around here but some in S TX have some pretty awesome headgear. And then there's hogs. ;-)

[dk17hmr]

Deer Season? nah we don't have one of those here. The area I live in starts October 1st and ends October 4th with an antler restriction of at least 4 points on one side for the rifle hunt no doe tags to be had. No Muzzle loader season. Archery season starts September 1st and goes until September 30th with no restrictions on the animal you take.....except its still 70-90 degrees and the deer are extremely hard to find. The deer really don't show up around here until mid November....season has been closed over a month and a half by then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIAyb-1uwTg
They migrate to the Red Desert....which is basically where I live.

I don't even buy a deer tag anymore....unless I can draw one of the special limited quota areas which I never do.

[Orchard6]

In Michigan there is an early antlerless, youth and handicap hunt weekend in the last part of September. You can use any weapon you choose, rifle, bow or crossbow. Bow season starts October 1st and ends January 1st and you can use crossbow or conventional type bows. Gun season starts November 15 and ends the 30th. During that time if your north of the limited firearms zone you can use centerfire rifle, pistol, shot gun with slugs or buckshot (no "cut shells) or muzzleloader. You can also use a bow during this time but you must wear hunter orange. South of the limited firearms line you can use rifles using strait walled cartridges with a minimum case length of 1.16 inches to a max of 1.8 inches with the minimum of 35 caliber along with muzzle loader, pistol and shotgun. Muzzleloader season is broken up into 3 zones with zone 3 being the southern half of the lower peninsula, zone 2 the northern half of the lower and zone one being the upper peninsula. Zone 3 usually has a full 2 weeks for its season zone 2 is about a week and a half and zone 1 is a week. The start and stop dates vary by year. After that zone 2 and 3 have a late doe season the last full week of December. Zone 1 has no doe tags, zone 2 has doe tags by lottery and zone 3 you can buy over the counter, limit of 2 per day with a maximum of 5 allowed per person. Buck tags can be bought over the counter. You can buy 1 bow and 1 firearm and have no point restriction or buy a combo that allows you to use the tags in any season but one buck must have at least 4 points on one side. You can use an antlerless tag during any one of the seasons.
Im sure I missed a few of the other rules but that is it in a nut shell.

[Blackdog]

Sounds kinda depressing.....


Deer Season? nah we don't have one of those here. The area I live in starts October 1st and ends October 4th with an antler restriction of at least 4 points on one side for the rifle hunt no doe tags to be had. No Muzzle loader season. Archery season starts September 1st and goes until September 30th with no restrictions on the animal you take.....except its still 70-90 degrees and the deer are extremely hard to find. The deer really don't show up around here until mid November....season has been closed over a month and a half by then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIAyb-1uwTg
They migrate to the Red Desert....which is basically where I live.

I don't even buy a deer tag anymore....unless I can draw one of the special limited quota areas which I never do.

[MarkP]

Nebraska Deer Dates:
Archery Sept 1 - Dec 31
Firearm Nov 15 - 23
Muzzleloader Dec 1-31

Legal Method of Take Firearm --- must be 22 cal or larger and have 900 ft-lbs @ 100 yds (just added 357 Mag rifle & 45 LC rifle as exceptions to 900 fpe @100 yds) or a 20 ga or larger firing a single slug, Handgun must have 400 ft-lbs @ 50 yds with no caliber restrictions. Muzzle Loader- 45 cal or larger

Iowa Dates Shown Below:

Shotguns firing a single slug and no rifles, Iowa did have a late antlerless firearm season for the lower two tiers of counties in
January, this special season allowed the use of center fire rifles, due to hemorrhagic fever the season was postponed in 2014.

Numbers are down in both Nebraska and Iowa due the disease.
126215

[richhodg66]

In my opinion, the real gem of Kansas hunting is that September muzzle loader season. I HATE to be cold, HATE it. Guess I just have lousy physiology for it, you can generally crank the heat as far as you want, I'll just drink more water and suck it up, but when it gets below 25 degrees or so, life sucks.

September is great and the fact that you don't have to fight the elements, other hunters and spooked deer is great. Unfortunately, Kansas has been screwing with it for years. Youth used to be one weekend after muzzle loader, now it's a whole week before muzzle loader. Archery starts the same day now. There's been a loud minority who have wanted to move it to January because they snivel about t being too hot to hunt. January? After all the other hunting seasons have the deer wised up? Where's the sense in making it harder during the season where you have to use a less capable method?

Late September is my favorite time of the year because of muzzle loader season. I sure hope they don't screw that up.

[starmac]

New Mexico used to have some goofy hunting seasons, as far as I know it has always been one buck only. The way it used to be, if you wanted to hunt opening day, you had a two day season, then the second hunt was a 5 day hunt, the final hunt lasted 7 days. So the season was two weeks, but divided into 3 hunts. To hunt these you had to buy your lisence for the dates you could hunt AND it was only good for the unit you chose when purchasing your license. You could change it, but it had to be before the first day of your hunt. Muzzleloader season was not too bad.
I have heard it has got worse now and it is all lottery draw, instead of over the counter tags.

[clearcut]

In Cali the season never lines up with rut it's all ways too hot to wear full camo in the foot hills.
CC

[Pilgrim]

Haven't hunted here in WA for quite a few years. Almost doesn't seem worth the effort. Antler restrictions, in general 3-pt or better on one side. If you are over 65 there are 2 days in which you can shoot a doe. Doe tags are available, but I don't recall the latest particulars. In any case you can shoot one critter, buck or doe. No way you'll get to hunt the rut. In general the season is over about 6 weeks before the rut could start. This state is interested in your license money...period. License costs go up continually. The state does nothing to help the resource or the hunter, regardless of game hunted. I don't think they really want you to get a deer. You damn near need a law degree to understand the regs. Bottomline...look at the State of WA if you want to know what your state under complete control of the liberals looks like. I vote for local representation, schools, etc. The state issues, as well as state and federal offices are going to be liberals, period. I'd move outta here if the wife would go. G'kids and kids are all here, so moving is WAY below the radar unless the kids move. Hate it, if you couldn't tell.

[Adam10mm]

In Michigan (no "cut shells)
Cut shells are legal in Michigan.

[pworley1]

In Mississippi Bow season opens in early October, Primitive season opens two weeks before Thanksgiving, Gun season opens Thanksgiving day, Muzzle loader is the first two weeks of December, then gun season continues through the end of January. On private land you can use any rifle you want during primitive and muzzle loading seasons.

[Orchard6]

Cut shells are legal in Michigan.
Now that you say that I see I misread. No cut shells during any season other than deer season.

[horsesoldier]

In my unit(8A) here in idaho the deer season is October 10 through the 1st of December. Any weapon any whitetail deer. There is a month long archery season before that

[triggerhappy243]

PILGRIM, I"D give the wife an ultimatum.... Washington or the marriage.

[2thepoint]

New Jersey Whitetail seasons start early and finishes late. Archery in my zone starts the middle of September and ends the last day of January. Unlimited does and the possibility for 3-4 buck. The firearm season is mostly shotgun and runs a week with a limit of 2 bucks. If you buy an extra firearm permit, you get a couple of additional weeks including one buck and unlimited doe. Permit muzzleloader is approximately 3 weeks long mid December to mid January, allowing one buck and unlimited does. Gaining access to private land is a challenge.

[Pilgrim]

PILGRIM, I"D give the wife an ultimatum.... Washington or the marriage.

It's 47 years and counting for us. Don't think I wanna retrain myself to be totally independent. I love your state, however! It would be one of a half dozen or so that I would consider as a "good" destination. Pilgrim

[Brett Ross]

MarkP has already explained the Iowa rules. I miss the late antlerless where we could use center fire as I enjoy the challenge of taking one with my own cast boolit. The plan this year was to hunt with my 45 balckhawk but my accuracy did not come around to where I felt comfortable with it. I’m 52 and kind of quit hunting 20 years ago just grew of uncomfortable with it. Now In Iowa, we party hunt for deer and I never really thought anything of it, just figured everyone did. In my current job I talk to people all over the country. When you start talking hunting and explain the concept of drive hunting they are just amazed you are alive to explain it. These conversations got me to thinking. If it was not trusted adults which started me drive hunting but rather some stranger who tried to talk me into it, my answer would have been a big, NO ARE YOU CRAZY. It’s funny how tradition can bypass your common sense. I have picked up hunting again but no longer drive hunt. I found my discomfort was not with shooting the deer but came from having slugs whistle by from time to time.

Tony

[nekshot]

[QUOTE=dk17hmr;3075864]Deer Season? nah we don't have one of those here. The area I live in starts October 1st and ends October 4th with an antler restriction of at least 4 points on one side for the rifle hunt no doe tags to be had. No Muzzle loader season. Archery season starts September 1st and goes until September 30th with no restrictions on the animal you take.....except its still 70-90 degrees and the deer are extremely hard to find. The deer really don't show up around here until mid November....season has been closed over a month and a half by then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIAyb-1uwTg
They migrate to the Red Desert....which is basically where I live.

I don't even buy a deer tag anymore....unless I can draw one of the special limited quota areas which I never do.[/QUO

That is a slap in the face to the locals who pay the taxes. Is this to promote nonres license sales?

[dk17hmr]

No not really. Its different hunting seasons in different parts of the state. The resident herd around here is very small compared to Wyoming as a whole. I can go hunting in other parts of the states but I don't bother since I can buy 3 elk tags a year. I put in for trophy deer areas just don't have any luck drawing.