Vermont Deer Season 2026-27: Dates, Zones & What to Know

Vermont's 2026 deer seasons are set: archery runs October 1 through December 15, the 16-day regular (rifle) season runs November 14-29, and the December muzzleloader season runs November 30 through December 13. Youth and Novice Weekend falls on November 7-8, and the October muzzleloader antlerless season (by permit only) runs October 29 through November 1. All dates below come straight from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department's official season calendar.

01Vermont Deer Season Dates, 2026-27

A few things worth flagging about the structure:

• Archery no longer closes for rifle season. The archery season runs continuously from October 1 through December 15, overlapping both the regular season and the December muzzleloader season. Bowhunters in the woods during those windows need to follow the applicable requirements for the overlapping firearm seasons.
• The regular season opens on a Saturday. Vermont's rifle opener lands on Saturday, November 14 in 2026 — squarely in the heart of the Green Mountain rut window, which is why it remains the most popular week of the year for Vermont deer camps.
• Antlerless opportunity is set by Wildlife Management Unit (WMU). Vermont issues antlerless permits and sets antlerless rules by WMU each year. Check the Vermont antlerless deer page for the current WMU map and permit allocations before you plan a doe harvest.

02Licenses and the Basics

You'll need a Vermont hunting license plus the applicable add-on for archery or muzzleloader seasons. Antlerless muzzleloader permits for the October season are allocated by lottery, so watch the application window over the summer. Legal buck definitions (antler point restrictions) vary by WMU — verify the rule for the unit you hunt, not just the one you drove through last year. Licenses are sold through Vermont Fish & Wildlife's online license system.

If you're bringing a new hunter, Vermont's combined Youth and Novice Weekend (November 7-8, 2026) is one of the better mentorship setups in New England — novice hunters of any age who recently completed hunter education can participate alongside youth hunters.

03Check the Official Source

Season dates can be amended by the Fish and Wildlife Board, and antlerless rules change year to year. Before you hunt, confirm dates and WMU-specific rules on the Vermont Fish & Wildlife hunting seasons page (accessed July 1, 2026). That page — not this post, not a forum, not a vendor blog — is the source of record. A wrong date isn't a bad day; it's a violation.

04Plan the Season

Dates tell you when you can hunt. The harder question is when you should burn a vacation day. A few tools to stack the odds:

• Vermont Rut Prediction 2026 — our breakdown of when seeking and chasing should peak in Vermont this fall, and how it lines up with the November 14 rifle opener.
• Vermont Solunar Calendar — moon-driven feeding windows for any date, so you can rank your available days before the season starts.
• Best Time to Hunt Today in Vermont — a live, free read on today's conditions.
• Hunt Forecast — Trail Pro Intel's free forecast combines wind, pressure, temperature swings and solunar data into a single score for your exact hunting location, so a 16-day rifle season becomes a ranked list of the four or five days actually worth hunting hardest.

Vermont gives you two and a half months of continuous archery plus a rut-timed rifle season. Mark the dates, confirm your WMU rules, and spend your best days where the intel points.