DOVER, DE – Numerous Delaware hunting seasons open in October, including Sunday firearm deer hunting opportunities, DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today. Deer hunting is allowed on all Sundays through the end of the deer season on February 2, 2020, using only those hunting methods legal for the respective, established deer hunting seasons. Please refer to Sunday Hunting webpage for Sunday deer hunting information, including hunting opportunities on state wildlife areas.
Hunting seasons opening in October:
· Snow goose: Oct. 1-Jan. 31, 2020, and Feb. 8, 2020
· Antlerless deer: Oct. 4-6, 21, and 25-28, including Sundays
· Muzzleloader deer: Oct. 11-20, including Sundays
· Youth Waterfowl Hunt: Oct. 19
· Ducks, coots, and mergansers: first season split Oct. 25-Nov. 6
· Tundra swan, only by permit issued through a pre-season lottery, Oct. 25-Jan. 31, 2020
Continuing hunting seasons include:
· Moorhen, gallinule, sora, Virginia rail, king rail, and clapper rail: through Nov. 21
· Common snipe: through Nov. 30
· Archery and crossbow deer: through Feb. 2, 2020, including all Sundays
· Gray squirrel: through Feb. 1, 2020 (closed during November shotgun deer season)
· Coyote hunting season: through Feb. 28, 2020
· Crows: through Mar. 31, 2020 (Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays only)
· Groundhog: through June 30, 2020
DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife offers many hunting opportunities on state wildlife areas. Wildlife area maps and rules are available at Wildlife Area Hunting Maps.
A Delaware hunting license or License Exempt Number (LEN) is required to hunt, and most waterfowl hunters require a Delaware waterfowl (duck) stamp. More information on hunting license and Delaware waterfowl stamp requirements is available at Delaware Licenses. Waterfowl and other migratory game bird (except crow) hunters will need a Federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) number. To register for a LEN number or HIP number, hunters can go to Delaware Hunter and Trapper Registration or call toll free 1-855-335-4868. For hunters age 16 and older, a federal migratory bird stamp is also required to hunt waterfowl.
To purchase a hunting license, either in person or online, hunters born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, must have a basic hunter education safety course card/number. Hunters who took a Delaware hunter safety course starting in 2008 can print their hunter safety card by going to http://de.gov/huntersafety. Hunters who took their Delaware hunter safety course before 2008 should call the Hunter Education Office at 302-735-3600, ext. 1 to obtain a hunter safety card.
Registered motor vehicles used to access designated wildlife areas owned or managed by the Division of Fish & Wildlife are required to display a Conservation Access Pass (CAP). Hunters can opt to receive one free annual CAP with the purchase of any Delaware hunting license. To obtain a CAP, hunters will need the registration card for the vehicle to which the pass will be assigned.
Delaware hunting licenses, Delaware waterfowl stamps, and Conservation Access Passes can be purchased online at Delaware Licenses, at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office at 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, or from hunting license agents statewide. Federal migratory bird stamps are available at U.S. Post Offices, Bombay Hook and Prime Hook national wildlife refuges, and online at Federal duck stamps.
For more information on hunting, click 2019-2020 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide and Wildlife Area Hunting Maps. Hard copies of guide and newly-updated hunting maps are also available at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office. More information on hunting licenses, season details, and the Conservation Access Pass is also available by calling the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Wildlife Section office at 302-739-9912.
Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.