Hunting in Massachusetts: 16 Animals To Hunt Year-Round

Hunting in Massachusetts can lead to the harvesting of 16 types of animals that can be taken year-round, each in its own season. Species-specific hunting seasons are split with coyotes, perhaps the most open species to go after, according to the Massachusetts Fish & Wildlife guide online.

Here is 2015’s year-round season schedule:

1. Black bear season for zones 1 through 9 is September. It then resumes the first week of November and ends the third week of the month on the 21st. Ear tags or radio collars must be turned in.

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2. Wild turkey has two seasons: spring in zones 1 to 13 from the third week of April to the third week of May, and fall from the third to last week in October.

3. Crow can be taken almost all year in all zones – from Jan. 1 to the second week of April, and then from July through April.

4. Pheasant can be harvested anywhere from the third week in October to the end of November.

5. Quail can be hunted in zones 11 to 14 from the third week in October to the end of November.

6. Ruffed grouse can be taken during quail season.

7. Deer season is broken into three periods: Archery from the third week in October through November; shotgun season from the end of November through the second week of December,; primitive firearms from mid-December to month’s end.

8. Cottontail rabbit can be hunted in zones 1 to 12 from Jan. 1 to the end of February, and then from mid-October to the end of February 2016. In zones 13 and 14 they can be taken from Jan. 1 through the end of February and then from mid-November to the end of February 2016.

9. Snowshoe hare seasons are identical to cottontail seasons for zones 1 through 4, but ends on February 5 for the other zones.

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10. Jackrabbit can only be hunted in zone 14 from mid-November through the end of the year.

11. Gray squirrel in zones 1 through 9 can be taken from mid-September to Jan. 1, and in zones 10 through 14 from the third week in October to Jan. 1.

12. Hunt bobcat in zones 1 through 8 from Jan. 1 through the first week of March, from the third week in December through the first week of March 2016.

13. Coyote can be hunted everywhere from Jan. 1 to the first week of March, and again from mid-October to the first week of March 2016.

14. Fox can be hunted everywhere from Jan. 1 to the end of February and again from November through February 2016.

15. Raccoon can be hunted everywhere in January then again from the first of October through January 2016.

16. Opossum season mirrors raccoon season.

This article is for information only. Please check current regulations before hunting.

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