Now that the various hunting seasons are getting underway, I suspect that, like a lot of other people, I find myself rambling through the Game Commission’s Hunting and Trapping Digest in search of what and how the seasons have changed.
If you’ve ever delved into the Hunting and Trapping Digest, you’ve probably concluded that it’s not exactly the most entertaining reading. However, if you want to know what’s legal to hunt, when it can be hunted, and what can be used, it’s a good idea to keep that digest on hand.
Checking out the Hunting and Trapping Digest may be even more important this year, as the Game Commission has given final approval to the 2025-26 seasons and bag limits. There are a handful of significant changes compared to last year.
For starters, there are two changes to the after-Christmas extended firearms season for antlerless deer. First, the extended firearms deer season will be open on all Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) properties statewide from December 26 to January 24, 2026. You must have a valid DMAP permit for the property you are hunting. The other change involves an extended firearms deer season, which will run from January 2 to January 19, 2026, in WMU 4C, where Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was recently found. WMU 4C was not initially a part of the extended season.
If you are into bear hunting, be aware of these changes. The statewide archery bear season is being shortened from three weeks to one week. The early bear season was established to increase the bear harvest, and it has apparently been effective. The statewide archery seasons this year will be from October 18 to 25, while the archery bear seasons in WMUs 2B, 5B, and 5D will retain their longer formats.
If you happen to be interested in hunting snowshoe hares, there is now a season limit of three hares per hunter. Previously, a hunter with his one per day limit could take as many as six hares in a season. The change is no doubt a move to protect hares from overharvest in isolated segments of the snowshoe hare population.
By the way, the number of antlerless deer licenses to be allocated statewide for 2025-26 has also changed considerably. In 2024-25, 1,186,000 licenses were allocated; however, this year, 1,312,000 antlerless licenses have been allocated.
Of course, there is a whole lot more information in your Hunting and Trapping Digest that’s important to know, like how many of what critter can you take and the 2025-26 legal hunting hours table. It’s a good idea to check that hunting hours table out before you head out into the field.
I’m not interested in hunting on Sundays, but for those who are, some additional Sunday hunting days have also been added to the hunting calendar this year. The expanded Sundays are November 16, November 23, and November 30.
Something else worth checking out is what to wear and when to wear it when it comes to fluorescent orange.
Well, I guess that’s why they give us that digest when we buy our license; check it out, it’s probably more entertaining than watching television.
