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Florida Hunting Seasons 2026–27
Florida runs four deer zones, a separate line for spring turkey, its own zones for bear, and a set of rules for public land that overrides all of it. Here is what is open, where, and when — with every date linked back to the FWC page it came from so you can check us.
⚠ This page is showing dates from a season year that has ended. Do not rely on anything below. Season dates change every year. Go straight to FWC's current season dates and let us know this page needs updating.
Season year 2026–2027 · Dates verified against FWC on 8 September 2026 · Always confirm with FWC before you hunt.
This is not legal advice, and we are not attorneys. Burnt Offerings Defense is a licensed firearms dealer, not a law firm and not a government agency. This page reflects what is published by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as of the verification date above, and no later.
FWC's rules change every year, and sometimes mid-year. We may not have caught the latest change. Before you hunt, confirm the season, the bag limit and the permit requirement on FWC's own website — every answer below links to the exact page. If this page and FWC disagree, FWC is right and we are wrong.
Hunting out of season, without the correct permit, or over the bag limit is a criminal offence in Florida. You are responsible for your own compliance with all applicable federal, state, county and area-specific rules. If you are unsure, do not hunt until you have checked.
What's open, where
Pick what you want to hunt and where you want to hunt it.
Season lookup
Areas within about 90 minutes of Palm City. Public land dates are set per area and are usually different from the surrounding zone.
The single most important line on this page, and FWC says it themselves: seasons, dates and bag limits do not apply to wildlife management areas.
Every date in the lookup above is for private land. Take those dates onto a WMA and you can be cited even though the date is correct — because that area runs its own calendar. Public land always means reading that area's brochure. There is no shortcut, and we are not going to invent one for you.
Why we don't ask for your county
Every other website will ask what county you're in and tell you your zone. We won't, and the reason is worth two minutes.
FWC does not define hunting zones by county. It defines them by legal boundary descriptions running along highways — U.S. 27, S.R. 80, I-75, S.R. 50, S.R. 70 and others. Those lines cut straight through counties. Part of Palm Beach County sits in one deer management unit and part of it sits in another. A county-to-zone lookup is a guess dressed up as an answer, and if it guesses wrong on the side of "open," someone gets a citation.
So we ask you for your zone, and we link you to the map to find it. Thirty seconds, and it is right.
FWC deer zone map → Deer management units →
The same trap, one layer down. Season dates run by zone (A, B, C, D). Antler rules run by deer management unit (A1, A2, A3, C1–C6, D1, D2) — a finer grid. A hunter who reads Zone A dates and assumes Zone A antler rules can be legal on the date and illegal on the deer. Check both.
In general terms: some units require two points on one side, others require three points on one side or a 10-inch main beam. A "point" is any antler projection an inch or longer. Which rule applies to you is on the DMU page above — read it, don't assume.
What you need to buy before you go
Prices from FWC's licence fee page. Buy everything at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, the state's official vendor, or by phone on 888-486-8356, or at a tax collector's office or licence agent.
| Resident hunting licence | $17.00 annual · $79.00 for five years |
|---|---|
| Non-resident hunting licence | $151.50 annual — see the warning below |
| Deer permit | $5.00 — required to take deer anywhere in Florida |
| Archery / crossbow / muzzleloading permits | $5.00 each — required to hunt during that season |
| Turkey permit | $10.00 resident · $125.00 non-resident |
| Management Area Permit | $26.50 — required on most FWC-managed land |
| Florida waterfowl permit | $5.00, plus the free migratory bird permit and a federal duck stamp |
| Quota / limited entry permit | $0.00 to apply and $0.00 to hold — but you must be drawn |
Non-residents: the 10-day licence is gone. Most hunting websites still list a non-resident 10-day licence at around $46. FWC's fee page no longer offers any short-term non-resident hunting licence — the only option shown is the $151.50 annual. The change came out of the May 2026 Commission meeting, amending Rule 68A-4.001.
If you are planning a trip on a budget you saw quoted somewhere else, budget again. And confirm on FWC's fee page before you travel — we have not been able to find FWC's own statement of the exact effective date.
Buy the lifetime licence
This is the one piece of advice on this page we'll give without hedging, and we give it because one of us bought one and has never regretted it.
Florida sells lifetime hunting and sportsman's licences to residents. You pay once. Not once a year — once.
| Lifetime Hunting | $201.50 age 4 and under · $351.50 ages 5–12 · $501.50 age 13 and up Bundles the hunting licence plus the deer, management area, archery, muzzleloading, crossbow, turkey and Florida waterfowl permits. |
|---|---|
| Lifetime Gold Sportsman's | $401.50 age 4 and under · $701.50 ages 5–12 · $1,001.50 age 13 and up Everything above plus freshwater and saltwater fishing, snook and lobster. |
Do the arithmetic
An adult buying the same permits one year at a time — hunting licence, deer, management area, the three weapon permits, turkey, waterfowl — is spending roughly $78.50 a year at today's prices. The Lifetime Hunting licence at $501.50 pays for itself in about six or seven seasons. The annual Gold Sportsman's is $100; the lifetime version pays back in about ten.
Then it keeps paying, because the price never goes up again. Florida raises licence fees over time like every other state. A lifetime licence is bought at today's number and settles every future increase in advance. That is the actual argument, and it gets stronger the younger the buyer is.
Buy it for a child and it's not close. A lifetime hunting licence for a four-year-old is $201.50 — under three years of adult permits, covering the next seventy. The Gold Sportsman's at $401.50 for the same child covers hunting and fishing, fresh and salt, for life.
It is the least sentimental-looking gift you can give a kid who is going to hunt or fish anyway, and it is the one they'll still be using when you're not around to go with them.
Lifetime licences are a Florida-resident product, so if you're going to establish residency, buy after you do. Prices above are FWC's published figures as of the verification date at the top of this page — confirm on FWC's site before you buy.
FWC lifetime licences → Buy one →
The two combinations people actually ask about
Deer, rifle, private land, Florida resident: hunting licence ($17) + deer permit ($5) = $22. No management area permit, no quota permit.
Deer, rifle, on a WMA, Florida resident: hunting licence ($17) + deer permit ($5) + management area permit ($26.50) = $48.50 — plus a general gun quota permit on the areas where general gun is quota-managed. You must already hold the management area permit before you can apply for the quota permit.
Hunter safety
FWC's rule is a birth date, not an age: anyone born on or after 1 June 1975 must have completed a hunter safety course to buy a licence to hunt with a firearm, muzzleloader, bow or crossbow. Born before that date, you're exempt.
Under 16 may hunt supervised without the course. Anyone 16 or over born after 31 May 1975 can use the mentoring deferral — buy a licence and hunt under the supervision of a qualified hunter aged 21 or older.
Hunter safety requirement → Find a course →
Quota hunts and the draw
Many of the better public-land hunts are limited entry — you apply, and you're either drawn or you're not. Regular quota permits cost nothing to apply for and nothing to hold, and each one comes with a guest permit. You need a valid management area permit before you can apply.
Applications run in phases. Phase I is the main random draw, where preference points apply. Phase II is a second draw from what's left. Phase III is leftovers, first come first served, until they're gone. All windows open at 10 a.m. Eastern on the first day and close at 11:59 p.m. on the last.
There is no published draw date. Hunters ask us this constantly. FWC does not put draw dates on a calendar — results post to your GoOutdoorsFlorida account typically within three business days after applications close, and permits become printable ten days before the hunt. Anyone who tells you a specific draw date made it up.
Preference points, briefly
Miss out in a Phase I draw and you earn a point for that hunt type. You can also apply "points only" to bank one without entering. Points only affect Phase I, they're specific to the hunt type, and they're forfeited after five consecutive years without applying — skipping one year costs you nothing. They don't apply to waterfowl or to special-opportunity hunts.
All application windows → Preference points → What's still available →
Public land near the Treasure Coast
These are the FWC-managed areas within reasonable driving distance. We deliberately do not list season dates for any of them.
FWC moved every area brochure into an application that we cannot read reliably, and the only WMA dates still sitting in open PDFs are years out of date. Publishing a stale WMA date is precisely how a reader ends up in front of a wildlife officer holding a printout of our website. So what follows is what we could verify — where each area is, what lives there, and the area-specific rules that catch people out — and a direct link to that area's official brochure for the dates.
Use the lookup at the top of this page, choose "public land," and pick your area.
Reading a WMA brochure is not optional and not quick. Each one sets its own seasons, its own quota requirements, its own dog rules, check station requirements, camping rules and sometimes its own antler rules. Budget ten minutes with the brochure before you budget a day in the truck.
Common questions
Can I hunt hogs year-round?
On private land with the landowner's permission, yes — no closed season, no bag limit, no size limit, either sex, and no hunting licence required. You may also take them at night with a gun and a light, with permission. On public land it is completely different: hogs may only be taken during that area's established seasons under that area's rules, and hog hunting is closed during spring turkey season. Two different worlds; don't mix them up.
Is the alligator season open right now?
Florida's statewide alligator season runs 15 August to 1 November, in assigned weekly harvest periods followed by an open period from 12 September. It is permit-only and all four 2026 application phases closed back in June. If you didn't apply, next year's Phase I opens in May.
Is there a bear season?
Yes. 5 to 27 December 2026, with 193 permits across four bear harvest zones — and note those are not the deer zones. Applications ran 11–21 September 2026, with permit claim windows following through to early November. Check FWC for whether any claim rounds remain.
Why do the dates on my WMA not match the dates on this page?
Because they aren't supposed to. Zone dates govern private land. Every WMA sets its own calendar, and it routinely differs — sometimes by weeks. This is the most common mistake we hear about, and it is an expensive one.
I'm a non-resident. What's the cheapest way to hunt Florida for a weekend?
As of the 2026-27 season there isn't a cheap way. The short-term non-resident licence was eliminated, so a weekend now costs the same $151.50 annual licence as a full season, plus whatever permits your quarry needs. Confirm current pricing on FWC's fee page before you book anything.
Is the lifetime licence actually worth it?
Yes, and we say that as people who bought one. An adult buying the equivalent permits annually spends around $78.50 a year, so the $501.50 Lifetime Hunting licence pays back in six or seven seasons and then costs nothing forever — including nothing when Florida raises its fees. For a child it isn't a close call: $201.50 covers a four-year-old for life. See the section above.
Do I need a licence to hunt on my own land?
Florida residents hunting freshwater game on their own homestead within their county of residence are exempt, as are a spouse or minor children on that homestead. That exemption is written narrowly — read FWC's page rather than assuming it covers your situation.
Legal notice — please read
Not legal advice. Burnt Offerings Defense is a federally licensed firearms dealer and manufacturer. We are not a law firm, not attorneys, and not a government agency, and nothing on this page is legal advice or an official statement of Florida law. Reading this page creates no advisory or attorney-client relationship.
Accurate as of a date, not forever. Every date here reflects what the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission published as of the verification date shown at the top of this page. Hunting regulations change every single year, and FWC amends them mid-year as well. We make no representation that this page is current, complete or correct on the day you read it.
FWC is the authority, not us. Every season, date, fee and permit rule above links to the FWC page it came from. If this page and FWC disagree, FWC governs and this page is wrong. Confirm before you hunt.
Public land is not covered by these dates. Wildlife management areas set their own seasons, bag limits, quota requirements and area rules. Read the area's official brochure every season.
Your compliance is yours. Hunting out of season, without required licences or permits, over the bag limit, or in violation of area rules is a criminal offence. This page does not account for federal rules, county ordinances, tribal land, private lease terms or your own eligibility. If you are unsure whether something is lawful, do not hunt until you have confirmed it with FWC or a Florida attorney.
We review this page at the start of each season year and the verification date above changes when we do.
Season year 2026–2027 · Verified 8 September 2026 · Burnt Offerings Defense · Palm City, Florida