In their recent meeting, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave preliminary approval to the 2025-26 hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits. The preliminary seasons and bag limits are nearly identical to those in place for 2024-25. The one modification proposed for the 2025-26 season relates to snowshoe hares. Because the hare population is limited to isolated segments within the state, concern about overharvesting has prompted the season limit to be reduced from 6 to a seasonal limit of 3.
The next board meeting is scheduled to be held at the Game Commission’s Harrisburg headquarters on April 11 and 12. The public may offer comments on all proposed 2025-26 seasons and bag limits and other board actions between now and the board’s April meeting, when the 2025-26 seasons and bag limits will be finalized, and antlerless deer license allocations will be presented.
Since the preliminary seasons and bag limits are historically approved as proposed, the dates within the proposal should allow you to set aside a few vacation days and mark your calendar for this coming fall seasons.
Over the years, participation in the fall squirrel hunting season has slowly dwindled, yet the abundant population presents numerous hunting opportunities. The special season for eligible junior hunters with or without the required license runs from September 13-27, with a daily limit of 6 and a possession limit of 18. The regular season runs from September 13-November 28 and includes Sunday hunting on November 16 and 23. The later season runs from December 15-24 and from December 26 to February 28, 2026. In the regular seasons, the daily limit is 6, with a possession limit of 18.
With a daily limit of 6 and a possession limit of 18, squirrels provide an excellent opportunity for early fall hunting and the perfect scenario for mentoring youth or adults. While squirrel hunting is not as popular as it once was, it remains one of the best opportunities to teach a new hunter about all facets of hunting safety, ethics, and responsibilities, and the importance of patience, staying alert, and learning from watching other forms of wildlife. As a bonus, one of the most memorable and quite delicious aspects of squirrel hunting is making “squirrel pot pie” in an old cast iron Dutch oven.
Throughout October, the statewide seasons for ruffed grouse, rabbit, and pheasant will open. While each of these species of the game has its own appeal, hunting any of them is so much more enjoyable when you have the opportunity to hunt with a well-trained dog. It is truly a thrill to watch a pointer lock up and go on point when it zeroes in on a pheasant or grouse. The sound of a beagle baying as it trails behind a cottontail rabbit is one you will always remember with a smile once you have heard it in the field!
The ruffed grouse and rabbit seasons open on October 18 and run through November 28. Grouse season reopens from December 15-24. The rabbit season runs until November 28 and then reopens December 15-24, with a final season from December 26 to February 28, 2026. The pheasant season opens October 25 and runs to November 28, then reopens December 15-24 and December 26 to February 28, 2026.
Big game hunting begins statewide on October 4 through November 21 in the form of archery deer hunting, with a day of Sunday archery deer hunting on Sunday, November 16. The statewide muzzleloader antlerless-only season runs from October 18 to October 25, and a Junior-Senior special firearms antlerless-only season is held from October 23-25. The regular firearms season begins on November 29 and goes until December 13, with a day of Sunday hunting on Sunday, November 30. The flintlock antlered and antlerless season occurs from December 26 to January 19, 2026.
The fall hunting seasons include ample opportunities to hunt black bear throughout the state. The regular statewide firearms season is a four-day season from Saturday, November 22 to Tuesday, November 25 – this includes another Sunday hunting opportunity for this year’s hunters – Sunday, November 23. Throughout most of the WMUs, there is also a season to pursue black bears with archery equipment, and it runs from October 18 to November 8. A muzzleloader bear season is held statewide from October 23-25, and this year, during the special Junior and Senior special antlerless deer firearms season of October 23-25, a black bear is also legal game.
Mark your calendars, set your vacation days, and Good Luck this coming season!
