Every date thatdecides your year.

They are the published 2026–27 framework at the time of writing, and they are genuinely useful for planning a year. They are not a substitute for the current regulations. Every state adjusts dates between seasons, and within a state the hunt you actually hold is defined by its unit, zone, or hunt code — which can differ from the statewide framework. Each state's section links straight to the agency.

Because habitat, herd condition, and rut timing vary enormously inside one state. Louisiana runs ten separately scheduled deer areas so the season can match the local rut rather than force a statewide compromise. Alabama and Mississippi both use zones. For a club holding ground in two of them, that means running two calendars at once — which is exactly the kind of detail a printed rule sheet fails at.

Archery is usually first and longest, before the rut and with the lowest success rates. Muzzleloader sits in the middle and is often limited-draw. Firearms is the shortest and is frequently timed to intersect the rut, which is why it is the most contested. They are effectively different products on the same ground, with different clients and different prices.

Because we are not the system of record and it would be dangerous to read as though we were. A wrong date on a website costs somebody a citation, and 'the platform said so' is not a defense. The agency link on every state page is the point of that section, not a disclaimer bolted onto it.