Last weekend, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave final approval to the 2026-27 hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits.

With a few exceptions, the structure of the 2026-27 seasons will generally mirror those of last year. Sundays will be included in all seasons when a Sunday falls between the opening and closing dates of that season. Seasons that typically ended on a Saturday will now end on Sunday giving an extra day to the season.

There will be no Sunday hunting in 2026-27 for migratory game birds, which include waterfowl, woodcock and mourning doves. The seasons and bag limits for migratory game birds are set through federal guidelines.

Including Sundays in the various migratory game bird seasons would require slightly shorter seasons overall. Recent hunter surveys revealed a preference for the traditional format of excluding Sundays and a longer season.

If Pennsylvania starts including Sundays, it must continue to do so for future seasons according to federal rules. Therefore, the commissioners decided to maintain the traditional season structure and possibly reconsider the issue in the future. All migratory game bird seasons for 2026-27 are not finalized and will be announced later.

The seasons for squirrels, ruffed grouse, rabbits and pheasants will all remain open during the firearms deer season. The season for ruffed grouse opens on Oct. 17 and continues through Dec. 24. The squirrel season opens on Sept. 12, the rabbit season opens on Oct. 17, and the pheasant season opens on Oct. 24. All of those seasons continue through Feb. 28 except for Christmas Day.

The 2027 spring turkey season will include Sundays and return to a season bag limit of one bird. Hunters should remember that no Sundays are included in the upcoming 2026 spring turkey season. Hunters are permitted to take two turkeys if they posses the required licenses.

Regulated hunting grounds have long been a part of Pennsylvania’s hunting environment.

These privately-owned commercial properties operate under rules and regulations completely separate from the general Pennsylvania game laws, although Sunday hunting was always prohibited there just as in the rest of the state.

When the Sunday hunting ban was repealed last year, however, it did not apply to regulated shooting grounds. Proprietors of those commercial hunting properties requested that the ban be lifted for their businesses as well, and the commissioners voted to allow Sunday hunting on regulated hunting grounds.

The adoption of general Sunday hunting necessitated the need to modify some regulations affecting non-hunting users of state game lands. During much of the year, non-hunters have been allowed to ride non-motorized vehicles and horses on state game lands other than roads open to public travel.

From late September until late January and from mid-April until the end of May, only persons engaged in lawful hunting, trapping or fishing were allowed to ride non-motorized vehicles and horses on state game lands, except on Sundays.

With Sunday hunting now fully integrated into all our hunting seasons (except migratory birds, for now), the commissioners adopted two changes pertaining to non-hunters using state game lands.

From Oct. 1 through Jan. 31 and from April 20 through May 31, recreational riding on state game lands will be prohibited.

Persons engaged in lawful hunting, trapping or fishing will be allowed to ride non-motorized vehicles and horses on state game lands at any time. During those same spans of dates, non-hunting game lands users must wear either a fluorescent orange hat or 250 square inches of fluorescent orange on the head, chest and back combined, visible from 360 degrees when they are on state game lands.

Hunters and trappers who are lawfully participating in any hunting season during those time periods that doesn’t require them to wear orange are exempt from wearing orange on state game lands; anglers who are lawfully fishing on state game lands are also exempt from wearing orange as well.

The commissioners also approved the antlerless deer license allocations for each Wildlife Management Unit. The total allocation statewide is 1,469,000, which is an increase of 157,000 from the 1,312,000 licenses allocated for 2025-26.

Of the 22 WMUs in Pennsylvania, 12 WMUs received an increased allocation from last year, 10 WMUs received the same allocation as last year. In our region, WMU 2C was allocated 117,000 licenses, up 24,000 from last year; WMU 2E was allocated 63,000 licenses, up 12,000 from last year; WMU 4A was allocated 64,000 licenses, the same as last year; and WMU 4D was allocated 120,000 licenses, up 37,000 licenses from last year and the biggest increase of any WMU in the state.

The antlerless license sales process will be fundamentally the same as last year with each Pennsylvania resident hunter being guaranteed one antlerless deer license in the Wildlife Management Unit of their choice, if they buy the license anytime between 8 a.m. on June 22, when 2026-27 hunting licenses go on sale, and 8 a.m. on July 13, when sales to nonresidents begin.

After the guaranteed period ends, all antlerless licenses are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis, for any WMU that still has licenses remaining during four rounds of sales. The second round of sales begins July 27 at 8 a.m. and the third round begins at 8 a.m. Aug. 10. The fourth round begins Aug. 24 at 8 a.m. when hunters can purchase additional tags to reach their personal limit of six active antlerless licenses.